Obesity most likely increases the risk of cancer by raising levels of hormones such as oestrogen and insulin.
In early life, oestrogen is mainly produced by a woman’s ovaries, but this stops after menopause. Instead, fat in the body becomes the main source of oestrogen and obese women have up to twice as much oestrogen as women with a healthy weight. They also have lower levels of SHBG, or ‘sex hormone binding globulin’, which mops up oestrogen in the body 38. This is almost certainly why obesity increases the risk of breast and womb cancers.
Obesity also increases levels of insulin in the body. It’s not clear how this could lead to cancer, although high insulin levels are a common feature of many cancers. High insulin levels could explain why being obese increases the risk of bowel, kidney and pancreatic cancer.
Obesity could also cause cancer through other means, including:
increasing the risk of oesophageal cancer by causing ‘gastric acid reflux’, a condition where the stomach’s acids are briefly pushed back into the throat. This damages the lining of the oesophagus.
increasing the risk of gallstones, which in turn increase the risk of gallbladder cancer.
being associated with physical inactivity or unhealthy diets.source:http://www.cancerresearchuk.org
In early life, oestrogen is mainly produced by a woman’s ovaries, but this stops after menopause. Instead, fat in the body becomes the main source of oestrogen and obese women have up to twice as much oestrogen as women with a healthy weight. They also have lower levels of SHBG, or ‘sex hormone binding globulin’, which mops up oestrogen in the body 38. This is almost certainly why obesity increases the risk of breast and womb cancers.
Obesity also increases levels of insulin in the body. It’s not clear how this could lead to cancer, although high insulin levels are a common feature of many cancers. High insulin levels could explain why being obese increases the risk of bowel, kidney and pancreatic cancer.
Obesity could also cause cancer through other means, including:
increasing the risk of oesophageal cancer by causing ‘gastric acid reflux’, a condition where the stomach’s acids are briefly pushed back into the throat. This damages the lining of the oesophagus.
increasing the risk of gallstones, which in turn increase the risk of gallbladder cancer.
being associated with physical inactivity or unhealthy diets.source:http://www.cancerresearchuk.org