Obesity Raises Risk Of Higher Cancer Rates In Younger People - Study

Scientists have said that obesity, which has become a global public health concern, is now fueling certain types of cancers among young adults. These are the results of a new study published in the journal; ‘The Lancet Public Health.’ 

According to the study, which was released to coincide with World Cancer Day, February 4, the study found that rates of certain cancers linked to obesity, including multiple myeloma, colorectal, uterine, gallbladder, kidney and pancreatic cancers, increased among adults aged 25 to 49. 

Lead author of the study and a scientist with the American Cancer Society, Ahmedin Jemal, said: “Primary care physicians should regularly assess body weight,” with a view to determine those at risk so as to counsel them appropriately.

“Only a third of obese patients actually get a diagnosis of and counseling for obesity,” he added. Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, and was responsible for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018. Globally, about one in six deaths is due to cancer. The number of global cancer deaths is projected to increase by 45 per cent between 2008 and 2030 and approximately 70 per cent of deaths from cancer oc-cur in low- and-middleincome countries.

In Nigeria, about 100,000 new cancer cases were recorded, according to estimates from the World Health Organisation (WHO) annually and an estimated 80,000 die from the medical condition in Nigeria because ‘most of the cancer patients report late, when it’s late to help them, except for palliative measures only. Previous studies have shown that about 30 per cent of cancer deaths could be avoided by a change of lifestyle and through the adoption of more healthy behaviours.

The team in the current research studied the incidence of 30 of the most common cancers, including 12 that are obesity related, from 1995 to 2014 in people ages 25 to 84 in more than 14.6 million cases. Using five-year age cohorts, they found that for six of the 12 obesity-related cancers, the risk for disease increased in adults 25 to 49, with the magnitude of the increase’s steeper with younger age. 

For example, compared with people born in 1950, those born in 1985 had a risk of multiple myeloma 59 per cent higher, and a risk of pancreatic cancer more than twice as high at comparable ages.