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New Research: If You're Overweight
You
Have a
Greater Risk of
Cancer and Death.
By
Mark Glazier - President, Nutrabio.com Inc.
It’s
an unfortunate reality that being overweight has reached epidemic levels
among Americans. This isn’t breaking news to those of you who have read my
columns in the past as I’ve made it a point to mention this many times. Once
again, I feel compelled to report on this issue because new studies have
surfaced proving that health risks associated with being overweight are
becoming more prominent and that statistics continue to show an alarming
trend of increasing obesity.
More
than 97 million adults in the U.S. are considered overweight, and nearly 40
million of them are considered obese. Approximately 280,000 adult deaths in
the United States each year are attributable to obesity. These statistics
don’t even include the millions of children who are plagued by the epidemic
of obesity.
Historically, the biggest worry about being overweight has been a concern
with our physical appearance, while the health risks associated with being
overweight have taken a back seat. But recent studies linking obesity to
increased risks of death from cancer might impact the way people view those
extra pounds they’re carrying around. The fact is simple; there are more
important reasons for losing weight than just looking better in a bathing
suit.
A
recent study linked being overweight to a long list of cancers including;
cancers of the breast, uterus, colon, rectum, kidney, oesophagus, gall
bladder, cervix, ovaries, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, pancreas,
liver, stomach and prostate. We’ve always known that being overweight did
more then just harm our appearances, but these scary new facts make losing
weight more compelling then ever.
The
study, which recently appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine,
evaluated over 900,000 people over a 16-year span. The study, conducted by
the American Cancer Society, concluded that excess weight may account for
14% of all cancer deaths in men and 20% of those in women. It has been known
for sometime that excess weight can cause a number of health risks including
diabetes and some types of cancer. This new study not only convincingly
proves the links to previously known cancers but also links excess weight to
8 additional cancers not previously associated with being overweight.
The study conclusively showed that death rates from
cancers were 52 percent higher for overweight men and 62 percent
higher for overweight women than the rates in men and women of normal
weight. The conclusion of this study is
that increased body weight was associated with increased death
rates for all cancers combined.
Although this study is important, it is not the first research to implicate
being overweight with increased health risks. Past studies have shown the
following complications are also caused by obesity: diabetes mellitus,
hypertension, glucose intolerance, pulmonary disease, sleep apnoea, chronic
lung disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), gallbladder stones,
hypercholesterolemia, gout, degenerative arthritis, renal failure, and early
death.
What’s
most disturbing about this new study is that the majority of the cancer and
deaths caused by being overweight are preventable. As a matter of fact,
being overweight continues to be the number one preventable cause of death
in the United States. People can take steps to reduce excess weight and by
doing so will reduce their chances of cancer and other life threatening
diseases. So why don’t they? Is it that they just don’t care? No, trends
continue to show an increased interest among Americans to lose weight and
get in better shape.
The
problem is that people are poorly educated when it comes to understanding
weight loss. In the absence truthful knowledge, they too often rely on
marketing hype that brainwashes them with cheesy commercials promising
immediate results with little or no effort. They are trapped by enticing
claims of ab-rollers, magic pills, vibrating belts and fad diets, which are
all endorsed by celebrities and doctors who promise miracles but deliver
nothing more than a lighter wallet.
It’s
time each of us becomes educated on the true facts of weight loss. Here’s a news
flash; exercise along with proper nutrition is the only safe and sure
long-term solution to weight problems.
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