Obesity increases the risk of cancer

Lack of exercise and obesity increase the risk of cancer. Obesity and physical inactivity are a significant contributor to the growing number of cancers. This was announced by the expert of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) on the sidelines of a congress in Heidelberg.

Countless researchers are searching for the possible causes of various cancers. Now the Director of Preventive Oncology at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) in Heidelberg, dr. Cornelia Ulrich, at a congress more casually informed that overweight and lack of exercise have a major factor in the growing prevalence of cancer.

Direct connection with numerous cancers
According to the expert, 20 to 25 percent of cancers in Germany are caused or at least favored by lack of exercise and obesity. In the US, experts estimate that up to 40 percent of cancers are related to physical inactivity and obesity. The connection is according to Dr.. Cornelia Ulrich especially with the common cancers such as colon and breast cancer especially large. The lack of exercise plays a significant role in colorectal cancer. Liver cancer, on the other hand, is favored, for example, by the development of fatty liver directly through obesity. According to the specialist, esophageal and renal cancer are also related to being overweight. In addition, both obesity and physical inactivity significantly increase the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Ulrich on the sidelines of the Heidelberg Congress.

More and more cancer patients due to obesity
So far, the adverse effects of overweight and lack of exercise on the cardiovascular system have mostly been in the foreground, but the Preventive Oncology Director at the NCT is now leading the discussion towards the relationship between the various cancers. For example, with the growing numbers of obese people, individual types of cancer, such as esophageal cancer, which were a rare disease until just a few decades ago, have increased dramatically over the last 20 years. Ulrich. According to the expert, the USA is particularly affected because the proportion of overweight people in the total population is particularly high. While smoking also plays a significant role in the growing number of cancers in Germany, Dr. Ing. According to Ulrich, overweight in the US is the determining factor in terms of the rising number of cancer patients.

Maintain minimum physical activity
There is usually a direct relationship between sedentary lifestyle and obesity, with obesity gradually diminishing with increased physical activity. Therefore, appropriate exercise training can make a significant contribution to effective cancer prevention. But even for patients who already have cancer, Dr. med. Ulrich a certain amount of physical activity. Recently, the American College of Sports Medicine has recommended that cancer patients should play sports. This is according to Dr. In the future, Cornelia Ulrich will also have to take into account the results of ongoing studies on whether other physical mechanisms, such as the repair of DNA, can be positively influenced by sport.

Sports as a prevention and treatment for cancer
With the recommendation of the expert panel of the American College of Sports Medicine based on numerous medical studies, a long-standing principle in cancer medicine is finally out of date. Cancer does not rule out sports, as was the usual medical recommendation, but a certain amount of physical activity should always be maintained and, after cancer therapy, may favorably influence survival prognosis. Ulrich. In general, most cancer patients are able to complete a sports program adapted to them, which can have a beneficial effect on the healing process. For example, the NCT and the German Cancer Research Center are currently investigating the success of targeted movement as a treatment against fatigue in a study. However, the training must be explicitly adapted to the clinical picture of each patient to exclude negative effects, for example, in metastases in the bones or in breast cancer patients with edema in the limbs. (fp, 17.11.2010)

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Cancer research and treatment under one roof
Breast cancer most common cancer in women

Image: Dieter Schütz