The duration of an adult American woman's obesity and being overweight has been associated with an increased risk for several types of cancers, according to a new study. The study used information from the United States Women's Health Initiative to see the relationship between having a high body mass index (BMI) and the possibility of developing different cancer types.
Researchers led by Melina Arnold from the International Agency for Research on Cancer and Prof. Hoda Anton-Culver from the University of California-Irvine looked into BMI measurements over time of 73,913 postmenopausal women. Among these women, around two thirds were overweight or obese, reported Medical News Today. In a mean follow-up of 12.6 years, 6,301 obesity-related cancers were diagnosed.
How much a decade of obesity raises your cancer risk: https://t.co/SenJ8ZfxxV pic.twitter.com/IKbBUXqZAf
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According to the report, 60 percent of the postmenopausal women involved in the study were overweight at some point in adulthood while almost 50 percent of the women were obese at some point in adulthood. The researchers discovered that among these postmenopausal women, 40 percent were never overweight during adulthood.
Science Daily reported that for every ten-year increase in adulthood overweight duration in the women, the researchers found an association of 7 percent greater risk of obesity-related cancers. The ten-year increase in adulthood overweight duration was also associated with a 5 percent greater risk of postmenopausal breast cancer and 17 percent greater risk of endometrial cancer.
The researchers then reportedly adjusted for the intensity of the women's being overweight and found that the associated increased cancer risk for these postmenopausal women also grew. The adjustment yielded the results of an 8 percent greater risk for postmenopausal breast cancer and 37 percent greater risk for endometrial cancer.
According to CNN, Anton-Culver said she and her colleagues are planning to conduct further studies on obesity and cancer. The epidemiology expert said they are considering factors such as age at obesity, lifelong normal weight and obesity after cancer. Their current study has been published in the journal PLOS Medicine.
