Medical practitioners have emphasized the importance of maintaining a healthy weight to improve general health, and a large study has also shown that future gastrointestinal cancer risk may also be reduced. .
The researchers found that an obese or overweight BMI in early and middle adulthood was associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal cancer. It was also found that regular aspirin use did not alter this increase in risk in obese and overweight individuals.
Colorectal cancer is the 3rd most common cancer in women and men in the United States. Although improvements in screening have led to more cancer findings at an earlier stage, more than 150,000 new cases of rectal and colon cancer are diagnosed annually.
As obesity rates are increasing worldwide and 70% of the US population is considered obese or overweight, understanding the relationship between obesity and long-term risk of disease, including cancer, is crucial. needed to improve public health.
This study indicates that being obese or being overweight at some point in life can increase the risk of gastrointestinal cancer later in life.
The researchers wanted to understand how changes in BMI that occur during several stages of adulthood might affect gastrointestinal cancer risk.
Previously collected data were evaluated from 131,161 individuals participating in a randomized study to investigate the effectiveness of ovarian, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer screening tests for reducing rates of cancer. cancer-related mortality. The study was conducted between 1993 and 2001 in people between the ages of 55 and 74 at enrollment.
Obesity is the result of the formation and accumulation of white adipose tissue. An inflammatory response can be triggered and immune cell dysfunction promoted by fat cells leading to the development of disease including cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, metabolic conditions such as diabetes type 2 sugar and some cancers affected by fat cells.
Age 20 was considered early adulthood for this analysis, middle age was considered age 50, and age 55 and older was considered later adulthood.
BMI was determined according to data from height and weight questionnaires completed by participants at the time of initial enrollment in these ages.
They were then classified based on the WHO criteria for underweight as a BMI below 18.5, normal as a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9, overweight as a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9. 25 to 29.9, and obesity is a BMI over 30.
They were also asked to report how often they used aspirin or aspirin-containing products during the study. They were then followed for 13 years.
An increased risk of gastrointestinal cancer has been observed in obese and overweight individuals in early, mid, and post-adulthood. An increase in BMI over time is also associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal and extra-rectal cancers. This relationship was not altered by regular aspirin use.
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