Check Your Weight as Obesity Ups Risk of Ovarian Cancer: Study

Researchers have suggested that healthy lifestyle cuts down cancer risks and thus obesity in women ups the chance of developing ovarian cancer. Researchers said that if women have a healthy weight, then the risk of developing ovarian cancer, among other types of cancers, automatically comes down.

According to the study, fat tissue produces hormone like compounds that cause inflammation and produce certain proteins that lead to growth of cells and increases the chance of cancer.

"We estimated a 6 per cent increase in (ovarian cancer) risk per five (points) increase in body-mass index," said report author Dr. Elisa Bandera, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, in New Brunswick.

The study found that women with a BMI over 30 come in the category of obese and they form the highest-risk group for developing ovarian cancer. The risk decreased for women with BMI over 25, who are considered overweight.

According to the American Cancer Society, around 22,400 American women suffer from ovarian cancer with over 14,000 of them dying from the illness.

Another report suggests that every year in the US, nearly 600,000 people develop one of the eight cancers which are associated with overweight and obesity.

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"Research suggests that up to 90 per cent to 95 per cent of cancers may be preventable with diet and lifestyle," said Heller, clinical nutrition coordinator at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital, in Derby, Conn.

Source-Medindia