Can Obesity Increase the Risk of Breast Cancer?

Although smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol increase the risks of developing cancer, being overweight increases the risks of developing breast cancer, particularly in women who are beyond menopause. New research shows a correlation between breast cancer in postmenopausal women and high sex hormone levels such as testosterone and estrogen.

According to the study at the University of Oxford, commissioned by Cancer Research UK, obesity is becoming the biggest driving force behind the most common form of breast cancer, beating out cigarettes and alcohol as a leading cause of death for women beyond menopausal age.

According to the researchers who conducted the study, “Although the breast cancer risk for postmenopausal women is known to be associated with levels of sex hormones such as estrogens, the factors that determine the levels of these hormones are not well understood. While obesity is thought to increase the risk of cancer through its association with high levels of estrogen, it is unclear how other risk factors affect sex hormone levels.”

The researchers preformed an analysis that combined the results of thirteen previously completed studies of 6,000 women who did not have breast cancer to see how their hormone levels were related to age, alcohol and cigarette use, and weight.

The BBC study, which was published in the British Journal of Cancer, concluded that “Compared to slim women, the hormone levels, chiefly the estrogen hormones, were higher in overweight women.” The study also found that women who drink two or more alcoholic drinks a day, or who smoked 15 or more cigarettes a day, had higher hormone levels.

Although the findings give weight to the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, it should be noted that because the factors were analyzed at only a single point in time, the study does not take into account how factors such as lifestyle changes and health issues are related to each other. For example, the study cannot prove whether or not the rise in a woman’s hormone levels causes weight gain, or if a woman’s weight gain causes a rise in hormone levels.

The study did not analyze data on women with cancer, instead it focused on whether obesity and lifestyles were related to hormone levels which can increase cancer risk.

Daily Diet: Increase in Incidence of Celiac Disease

Apparently you are never too old to be diagnosed with celiac disease, and new findings challenge the notion that it is something that you develop in childhood. A study published in the latest issue of the Annals of Medicine has found not only an increased incidence of the disease, but that the incidence (or risk) of celiac disease rises with age.

Researchers found that the incidence of celiac disease has doubled in the United States every 15 years since 1974. The number of individuals with celiac disease blood markers rose from 1 in 501 in 1974 to 1 in 219 in 1989, and then to 1 in every 133 people in 2003. Results also confirmed previous research that elderly people are twice as likely to develop the disease compared to the general population.

Celiac disease is an inherited digestive system disorder caused by an intolerance to gluten that affects the digestive process of the small intestine. Once thought to be a rare condition, research shows that it affects about 3 million people. The disease often goes undiagnosed because there are as many as 300 different symptoms, many of them subtle and seemingly unrelated. In fact, it is sometimes confused with irritable bowel syndrome, iron-deficiency anemia, Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis, intestinal infections, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

When a person who has celiac disease eats foods containing gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, their immune system responds by attacking the small intestine, destroying the intestinal villi, thus inhibiting the absorption of vital nutrients into the body. Left untreated, the disease may increase the risk of many other conditions, including hepatitis, thyroiditis, lymphoma, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Although genetic markers for celiac disease have been identified, the actual trigger that causes an individual to lose gluten tolerance is unknown. Study leader Alessio Fasano, M.D., director of the University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research, said, “Even if you have these genetic markers, it's not your destiny to develop an autoimmune disease. Our study shows that environmental factors cause an individual's immune system to lose tolerance to gluten, given the fact that genetics was not a factor in our study since we followed the same individuals over time.”

The only treatment for celiac disease is a gluten-free diet. But despite the fact that manufacturers are required to label food that contains gluten, adhering to a gluten-free diet can be tricky business. In addition to the obvious places gluten can be found in a normal diet, such as breads, cereals and pasta, there are many hidden sources of gluten. Everyday products such as medicines, vitamins and even lip balms contain gluten, as does thickening agents, emulsifiers, fillers, flavor enhancers, and food stabilizers.