Weight Risk Factor And Cancer - Article Example

?Weight risk factor and cancer Cancer is prevalent among post-menopause women, which is a threat. Its prevalence has been increasing in numbers and this has caused alarm in the world. Cancer has been claiming the lives of both men and women in the world. According to research, cancer deaths are escalating if the patients are not given early intervention. The cancer deaths have been increasing and cancer has been mentioned as one of the leading causes of deaths besides other diseases. However, cancer is a preventable disease since the causative factors can be reduced to minimal and manageable levels. Cancer in menopause and post-menopause women can be reduced especially in relation to weight matters. This paper will go to greater lengths to focus on the issue of menopause and post-menopause women in relation to cancer and body weight. These two factors are closely related as they are considered some of the risk factors that instigate cancer development. The paper will take a deeper look into the relationship between weight and cancer developments and how each of them increases the risk factors. Previously, studies have been conducted to ravel the misery behind cancer risk factors. Though many researchers have come up with succinct researches, they do not explicitly exploit the relationship between weight, cancer and post-menopause women. Therefore, this research will take a deeper insight on the issue and relate the two factors for an explicit outcome. Discussion Researchers have considered it a fact that there is a close relationship between breast cancer development and diet. The diet is one of the risk factors that are liable for cancer development. People that do not watch their diet are at higher risks of developing breast cancer than people that are keen on their diet. It is explicitly stated that cancer can be prevented by taking healthy diet and constantly using foods that repel cancer cells (Carlson, Eisenstat and Ziporyn, 2004: 21). With constant intake of such foods, it creates a scenario where the cancer cells struggle to survive in the body. Since they do not have an environment that is conducive to their living, they are kept dormant. Though it is hard to completely annihilate these cells, keeping them dormant is the best solution to a person. Intervention by medical practitioners was a strategy that was used to show that the cancer risks can be reduced to manageable levels. This is evident in table 1, which explains the reasons why the women were put under intervention. Women who are overweight with a waist of over 90 cm are art a higher risk of developing cancer, and this should be reduced. To begin with, the intervention was deemed to reduce the concentration of insulin in the body. According to research, insulin is one of the risk factors of cancer development. Therefore, there is a need to reduce the insulin concentration in the body. The reduction of insulin in the body is a better strategy in reducing the risks of cancer. Secondly, CEPT activity was to be reduced. When the CEPT activity in the body is reduced, the body is prepared to fight cancer development in the body. As such, the persons in the intervention recorded a positive result after the intervention. Thi9dly, there was a significant reduction in the body’s free fatty acids. Fatty acids pave way for cancer development in the body. Therefore, looking for a way of reducing free fatty acids in the body is the best prevention of cancer. In addition to this, ApoB and cortisol were reduced. However, some other aspects were increased, which includes ApoA1and OGTT. As stated in table 2, there is strong evidence on the need for intervention. For instance, the overweight women have higher levels of mean tissue concentra5tion, which should be reduced to manageable levels. This includes IL-6 (pg/ml), IGF-1 (ng/ml), CRP (?g/ml), TNF-? (pg/ml), PAI-1 (ng/ml), VEGF (pg/ml), Leptin (ng/ml) and Resistin (ng/ml). However, there was a need to increase Adiponectin (?g/ml) levels since they were in low concentration. Menopause is a risk factor that is considered natural. Natural risk factors are almost uncontrollable. For instance, menopause is a natural occurrence which is not controlled. When women reach this age, it is natural to have reached menopause and their menstrual flow is likely to reduce. It is considered that women reach menopause at 35 years to those whose menopause comes early (Carlson, Eisenstat and Ziporyn, 2004: 25). Therefore, women in this age bracket are at risk of contacting breast cancer. However, this is not a confirmation that women in this age bracket will get breast cancer. The breast cancer in the women in this age bracket is instigated by other causative factors which increase the growth rate of cancer cells. Therefore, there is a need to get focused on any other factors that would lead to contacting cancer. It is considered that women with longer menstrual flow are at a slightly higher risk of developing cancer in their later stages in life. This is due to the excessive release of Estrogen and progesterone during this period. As such, they will have higher risk of propagating the cancer cells in the body. However, this is not an ultimate risk in cancer development. There are some other factors that could be used to reduce the development of breast cancer in women (Winchester, 2006: 15). Therefore, women have to be more vigilant on ensuring they reduce any risk factors that will bring about breast cancer. This will ensure the person will have a longer life without any effects that are brought by cancer and its side effects. It is a confirmed fact that women reduce the risk of developing breast cancer through a number of methods. First, there is a high possibility that women reduce the risks of developing cancer by maintaining a healthy weight. According to research, women maintaining a healthy weight will likely reduce the chances of developing breast cancer by 38%.in the United States alone. Similarly, women maintaining a healthy weight would reduce the chances of contacting cancer by 42% in Brazil. These are substantial numbers that would lead to better results especially in preconvention of breast cancer in the world (Haslam and Osuch, 2006: 17). Despite the population of china, it is considered that if the women in china maintain healthy living and a healthy weight, they are likely to slash the chances of developing breast cancer by 20%. Healthy weight is maintained in a number of ways, where some are easy and practical exercises. For instance, there is a need to take brisk walking exercises. Brisk walking exercises ensure the muscles are working properly and burn any excess weight in the body. As such, the chances of sprouting cancer cells in the body are reduced (Carlson, Eisenstat and Ziporyn, 2004: 26). Therefore, it is a prudent factor to consider taking these exercises in a move to prevent any development of breast cancer. Most breast cancer patients find it hard to start taking exercises when the situation is worse and uncontrollable. First, High fat diet is one of the causative diets that enhance cancer developments (Winchester, 2006: 12). A fat diet has been known to expose the body to the entire negative health situation, which also includes heart attacks. For instance, a post-menopause or menopause woman that has increased fat intake is at a higher risk of developing cancer. The same woman is also at risk of developing heart related diseases since the diet is not keenly moderated. Therefore, reduction of fat diets will enhance the person’s protection against developing cancer. Secondly, obesity is one of the propagators of breast cancer. Menopause women that are obese are at a higher risk of developing cancer than other women that have a healthy weight (Winchester, 2006: 18). The situation is made worse in post-menopause and menopause women that are obese. The issue of obese women after menopause being at a higher risk of contacting cancer is explained as follows. In the initial stages during ovulation, the ovaries produce most of the estrogen and the fat tissues in the body produce considerably small amounts of fat. However, after menopause, most of the estrogen is produced by the fat tissues in the body (Balch, 2006: 11). The issue of having more fat tissues increases the risk of getting breast cancer as they raise the estrogen levels. Similarly, obese women are considered at a higher risk of getting breast cancer sine they have higher blood insulin levels. High insulin levels have been linked to breast cancer. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evidently seen that women who are overweight are at a higher risk of getting breast cancer. The situation is worse in women in menopause or post menopause period. There is a need to reduce the intake of fat diet, which will reduce the chances of getting cancer. Apparently, overweight women have fat tissues that produce estrogen in the body, which increases the chances of getting cancer. However, a healthy weight limits production of estrogen, which instigates cancer. Similarly, working out is a perfect relegation of the risk factors. Burning excess fat in the body reduces the risk factors. Research translation The study was effective in showing hat there is a need to maintain a healthy weight if a person needs to reduce the risk factors of getting cancer. The study involved women with a waist circumference that is less than 80 cm and those with waist circumference exceeding 90 cm. The overweight women were exposed to dietary feeding, which was a way of controlling their healthy living. In such dietary expansion, the women had reduced fat intake (Winchester, 2006: 21). This included glucose intake. On the other hand, the women that had a waist circumference of 80 cm did not receive any dietary expansions. As such, they were kept as control measurements in the experiment. This would bring the intended results in search for a practical solution in breast cancer prevention especially affecting menopause and post-menopause women. According to the research, watching the weight is a perfect prevention of cancer development. First, after intervention of the research, it was considered that the insulin concentration in the body had reduced. Insulin in the body is considered one of the propagators of cancer development. Therefore, reduction of insulin levels is a form of preventing cancer development. Secondly, there was reduction of OGTT, CETP activity, ApoB and cortisol which maintain a healthy body. With such instances, a person is likely to be at a lower risk of contacting cancer. However, without any intervention in these cases, there is a high possibility that the overweight women would still be at a higher risk of contacting cancer. According to the results, it is explicitly seen that the overweight women recorded positive results after intervention (Patt, 2004: 15). For instance, according to their IGF-1 (ng/ml), the overweight women recorded 170, a drop from a whooping 430. This drop is significant in that it brings them closer to the level of the other women with a waist circumference of 80, which stands at 148. All the values in the results are significant in that they have brought the overweight women to a better level. For instance, the obese women’s TNF-? (pg/ml) was recorded at 1.05, which is almost at the same level of 1.06 recorded by the other women. A significant reduction is explained in the results as follows. The overweight women recorded a decrease in VEGF (pg/ml) from 100 to 70. Secondly, they dropped PAI-1 (ng/ml) from 3.44 to 3.15, CRP (?g/ml) from 1.15 to 1.00, IL-6 (pg/ml) from 0.89 to 0.71, Resistin (ng/ml) from 3.50 to 3.00 and Leptin (ng/ml) from 4.25 to 3.35. However, their Adiponectin (?g/ml) increased from 1.35 to 2.30, which was almost at the same level with the other women. With such results, it is openly seen that reducing weight and eating diets that are not fatty is a prudent way to prevent the body against breast cancer. References Balch, P. A (2006), Prescription for Nutritional Healing: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and Food Supplements, Penguin, New York. Carlson, K. J., Eisenstat, S. A. & Ziporyn T. D., (2004), The New Harvard Guide to Women's Health, Harvard University Press, Harvard. Haslam, S. Z. & Osuch J. R. (2006), Hormones and Breast Cancer in Post-menopausal Women: Breast Disease, IOS Press, New York. Patt, M., (2004), Natural Hormone Therapy for Men, Women and Children, We Publish Books, New York. Winchester, D. P., (2006), Breast cancer, PMPH-USA, New York. Read More