Results of a new study indicate that weight gain after middle age can increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer by as much as 40 percent.
It has long been known that gaining excess amounts of weight can greatly increase your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease or even sleep problems, and now with this additional news, women should be especially careful not to gain extra weight post-menopause.
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, looked at data from more than 99,039 women who were part of a diet and health study of the National Institutes of Health.
They found that for women not taking any form of hormone replacement therapy, gaining 40lbs or more after the age of 18, can raise their risk of developing breast cancer by a considerable amount.
“Our study is the first to suggest that weight gain at any stage of life was associated with breast cancer risk,” said Jiyoung Ahn, a researcher in the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the National Cancer Institute and one of the study’s authors.
“Weight and weight gain have been associated with breast and other cancers in prior studies,” said Dr. Clifford Hudis, chief of the breast cancer medicine service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “This adds important information because it is a large study and is not limited to a narrow age range.”
The study is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Technorati Tags: breast cancer – obesity
Hi Elaine,
I live on Long Ilsnad, and I read that Long Island has one of the highest rates of breast cancer, per-capita int he country. many belive it has to do with the ground water which has been infected with decades of insecticides used for farming and for lawn maintence. Either way, your article creates grave concern because obesity is a common factor among all of us in America (as men can get breast cancer too). I have a wife and a daughter, and three sisters, and to think that at leat one of them, perhaps even two, has a high risk of developing breast cancer is frightening. Articles such as yours are welcome in making sure that women go the doctor on a regular basis and not only have a mammagraphy, but live a healtheir lifestyle. Weight loss can be a life saver for many reasons, up to and including heart disease and diabetes, as stated in your article. Add breast cancer to that list, and what else does a medical professional have to say to make someone live healthier? Thank you so much for your post. I am going to make sure many people I know read this.
Hmm… somehow I’m not surprised that obesity contributes to cancer. It is so destructive on so many levels, both emotionally and physically to start with!
Hi Lainey,
Good post. The link is strong. Slim down! What a simple way to cut a huge health risk. Good stuff nursie. Hope you’re well. kab625
Through all my research about diabetes, that is a common thread. Lose weight and lower your chance of getting diabetes and many other dieases. In our world of fast food and a rather seditary lifestyle, it seems to be increasing harder to lose that weight.