Losing weight reduces the risk of cancer, but it may cause… cancer?!

The study used data of approx 160,000 healthcare workers whose research lasted an average of 28 years. These people reported details about their health and lifestyle every two years until 2016, and the researchers paid particular attention to changes in their weight. Participants were then divided into three groups depending on their intended weight loss.

The “high” group included people making changes to both diet and exercise, the “medium” group included improving diet or physical activity, and the “low” group included people who lost weight without any obvious changes in diet or activity. Scientists quickly noticed a pattern here: In people who lost more than 10%. weight, the risk of developing cancer in the following year was much higher.

Not all cancers were equally associated with weight loss, but it was observed Strong relationship between weight loss and cancer of the upper gastrointestinal tract (esophagus and stomach), liver, pancreas, and bile ducts.. For these types, the risk was much higher and increased from three to more than seven times compared to people who did not lose weight.

However, this association was weaker in the case of colorectal and lung cancer It does not appear to have an effect on the risk of developing breast cancer, prostate cancer, or cancers that only affect women.

However, the authors are aware of the limitations of their study, therefore They are very careful in drawing conclusions. Not only did they rely on self-reports and only screened participants every two years, so they may have missed some details, but the program mostly included health care workers in the United States, who are likely to be more aware of cancer and have better access to health care. Care.

However, it is worth noting that The risk was highest in people who made the least effort to lose weight, which makes you wonder why this happens – Maybe something bad was really going on in these people's bodies, hence the unplanned weight loss? Scientists point out that thanks to this analysis, it is possible to indicate the types of cancer that may be the cause of unexpected weight loss.

This means that When someone loses weight for no apparent reason, doctors may focus more on checking for certain types of cancerFor example, tumors in the stomach or liver area to see what is happening. They also plead that regardless of the results of their study, we should strive to shed excess weight, because there are many studies documenting the benefits of controlling weight and staying physically active.