Body weight is considered a risk factor for cancer, but can losing it reverse that risk? One study suggests that the answer is a resounding yes, at least for those who lose weight significantly through bariatric surgery.
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Patients who underwent this operation were 32% less likely to develop cancer and 48% less likely to die from cancer than those who did not have surgery, according to research published in JAMA. a long-term study of more than 30,000 patients at Cleveland Clinic between 2004 and 2017. All patients had a body mass index of 35 or higher, considered “class 2” or “moderate risk” obesity. by medical professionals, according to the Washington Post.
The researchers looked at about 5,000 patients between the ages of 18 and 80 who underwent gastric bypass or gastric sleeve surgery during the study period. None of the people studied had been previously diagnosed with cancer.
And their chances of developing or dying from obesity-related cancers, such as ovarian and pancreatic cancer, were significantly lower. During the study, 2.9% of patients who underwent surgery developed cancer, compared to 4.9% of their counterparts; 0.8% died compared to 1.4% of non-surgical patients. The effects were observed in all areas and appeared to be independent of age, sex or race.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1.7 million new cancers were reported in 2019 alone. In addition, nearly 42% of US adults were obese by March 2020.
“Given the growing epidemic of obesity, obesity-related cancers are a major public health concern,” said Ali Aminian, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Bariatric and Metabolic Institute and lead author of the study. “If we help patients lose weight, we can significantly reduce that risk.”
Bariatric surgery has gained momentum as a treatment for obesity in recent years, with an estimated 256,000 such procedures performed in the United States in 2019, according to an industry group. The researchers said that “substantial weight loss” was needed to reduce the risk of cancer. (AFP)-
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