Can losing weight prevent you from getting cancer?

Research indicates that when weight goes up, so does the risk of many cancers.

Here are highlights from a great article posted by The Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund on the relationship between obesity and cancer.

12 Facts About the Link Between Body Weight and Cancer

  • When weight goes up, so does the risk of many cancers
  • When weight goes down the risk of certain cancers also goes down
  • Excess body weight doesn’t only increase the risk of developing cancer, it can also make treatment more difficult and cause tumors to grow more quickly
  • There are many health benefits to achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight, including lowering the risk of cancer and improving cancer treatment outcomes
  • After giving up tobacco, watching your weight and staying active are your best forms of health insurance
  • The habits that lead to excess body fat might also increase the risk of developing certain types of cancer
  • Weight loss can reduce the risk of breast cancer
  • The risk of obesity-related cancer for women was found to be almost three times the risk for men,
  • 20 to 30 percent of the most common cancers in the United States “may be related to being overweight and/or lack of physical activity
  • Excess weight in men was most strongly associated with cancer of the esophagus, the thyroid, colon cancer, and cancer of the kidneys
  • An overweight man with prostate cancer is more likely to die of it than a man with prostate cancer who is not overweight
  • Excess weight in women is most strongly associated with endometrial (uterine) cancer, cancer of the gallbladder and the esophagus, and kidney cancer

Read the whole article:
Weight and Cancer: What You Should Know

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