Teen obesity: increased risk of bowel cancer at age 50
Studies continue to show that suffering from obesity in adolescence leads to risks of contracting other pathologies in adulthood. One of these studies, published in the journal Gut(1) in May 2015, would show that adolescents with diabetes aretwice more likelyto suffer from bowel cancer when they reach their fifties.
The study
This study was conducted on 240,000 Swedes aged 16 and 20 between 1969 and 1976 while performing their military service. 5% of them were overweight at that time, of which 1% suffered from obesity.
The study was led by Elisabeth KANTOR working at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston (USA). It shows that in the 35 years following the start of the research, of the 240,000 Swedes studied, 885 of them developed colorectal cancer, 501 colon cancer, and 384 rectal cancer. Among them, people who suffered from obesity in adolescence were more than 2 times more likely to have suffered from bowel cancer than those who did not suffer from obesity.
This study also shows that the youngest individuals at the time who had a high ESR (sedimentation rate*) had an increased risk of developing cancer. Obesity is therefore a risk factor for bowel cancer, as well as sedimentation rate. The researchers nevertheless specified that the results of this study are to be refined, and that further examinations would be necessary before fully affirming these links. The link between obesity and cancer had already been made in other older studies, but the link between sedimentation rate and cancer had been less studied.
This research undoubtedly reminds us that obesity must be takenseriously from childhood, because this pathology is not trivial and associated with other risk factors, leads to other pathologies in adulthood such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension for example, or cancer.
As a reminder and/or information
Remember that colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer, it is also called bowel cancer. Screening for this disease is recommended from the age of 50 and should be done on average every 2 years. It is a simple examination that allows, the earlier it is done, a better management of the disease.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.