Today is World Cancer Day-February 4, 2021
Over time, these comorbidities can evolve into much more serious health problems, such as heart disease, cancer, and even early death. However, losing weight can often help your body overcome and reverse these diseases, while also improving your overall quality of life.
The scientific link between obesity and cancer
Those who carry excess body weight for long periods of time will often experience changes in their hormones and immune systems that can lead to inflammation and eventually trigger cancer. As a result, those who are overweight or obese are often at much higher risk for cancer than those with healthy and normal body weights. However, those who decide to undergo weight-loss surgery can greatly reduce their risk for developing cancer.
Bariatric surgery and lower cancer rates
In recent years, scientists have found that bariatric surgery has the ability to reverse most comorbidities related to obesity as a patient continues to slim down following surgery. New scientific research is continuously being published on a regular basis that proves that weight-loss surgery has the ability to greatly reduce the risk for a number of different cancer types.
A study presented at last year’s American Association for Cancer Research meeting found that patients who underwent weight-loss surgery were able to reduce and reverse the inflammation in their bodies, which in turn, reduced their cancer risk. From a physiological standpoint, weight loss helped patients by changing the molecular structure of their abnormal cells which otherwise would have developed into cancerous cells if left untreated.
A separate study published a year earlier examined the effects of weight-loss surgery on women who were at especially high risk for developing cancer. During the course of the study, women were randomly assigned to either take part in a fitness routine, a low-calorie diet, or both. Researchers found that regardless of the weight-loss method being used, the women who experienced the most drastic weight loss were the most successful at lowering their risk for cancer. Researchers have also recognized that bariatric surgery is another acceptable method for reducing the risk for cancer since the surgery is associated with weight-loss results that are just as drastic, if not more.
If you are interested in weight loss surgery, check out MBL’s Ultimate Guide To Weight Loss Surgery.
