5 ms·

What is the mechanism to correlate an incidence of cancer with being over weight versus another risk factor?

AstralStorm 9y ago
Likely generalized inflammation. It is also not unlikely that overweight people eat less nutritious diet in terms of phyto- and micronutrients some of which may prevent cancer. Fat cell proliferation uses some of the same mechanisms as certain cancers too.
- atupis 9y ago
  Also overweight people have more cells than thin people. So there is bigger risk to malicious cell mutations. Taller people have same problem https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/01/taller-people-more-likely-to-get-cancer-say-researchers https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/01/taller-peopl...
  - nonbel 9y ago
    Yes. The current thought is that cancer arises by tissue stem cells accumulating mutations at a low rate until it goes out of control. Every division there is some chance of error. If you have more divisions, there is a higher chance of cancer. If you always keep this in mind: cell division -> cancer, so much will make sense. Anything requiring an increase in cell division will increase the chances of cancer in that tissue (smoking damages lung cells which need to be replaced, uv damages skin cells, being larger means you have more cells). That is not to say that immune surveillance for clearing these bad cells plays no role, or that DNA damage sensitivity/repair can't be increased/decreased, or that those rates need be similar in different species. However, the main idea behind the entire modern cancer research programme is that cell division -> cancer. More info: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC54830/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC54830/
    - rsync 9y ago
      "If you always keep this in mind: cell division -> cancer, so much will make sense." I am not so sure this is a good heuristic. An athlete, or even a moderately active (fit) person is inducing quite a bit of cell division due to the teardown and regrowth of muscle and bone, etc., caused by exercise. However, activity and exercise seem to be (strongly) negatively correlated with cancer. Instead, I think a better mental model is the winnowing of a population. When you subject your (muscles/bones/heart/lungs) to a highly stressful exertion, some of the cells just can't maintain that output and so they are killed off, or commit suicide by the process of apoptosis. But if you never subject your cell population to an apoptosis-inducing level of stress, you're just cultivating an increasingly weak population of cells. I highly recommend the book by Nick Lane titled: Power, Sex, Suicide which explores these topics... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power,_Sex,_Suicide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power,_Sex,_Suicide
- 0xFFC 9y ago
  >overweight people eat less nutritious diet in terms of phyto- and micronutrients Would you mind to explain this a little bit further? It seems paradox at first.
  - girvo 9y ago
    A typical developed world diet that is easiest to become overweight or obese from would have to include extremely calorie dense but nutritionally empty foods; junk food, basically. They’re usually not all that great in terms of nutrients in general, and are basically made whole-cloth via hardcore processing and chemical transformations (quite fascinating really!). Also, sugar. Can easily dump 30% by weight of sugar into what amounts to edible “plastic” and have it taste “good” as well as being super cheap, but of course, completely lacking in any birdies other than carbs/sugars.
ihsw2 9y ago
As mentioned by another commenter, chronic low-level inflammation is one risk factor. This can lead to DNA damage that leads to cancer. Gallstones are a characteristic of chronic gallbladder inflammation, and a history of gallstones is a strong risk factor for gallbladder cancer. Obese people have increased levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), high levels of IGF-1 may promote the development of multiple cancers. Correlations between several cancers and obesity range between 5-50% (eg: ~10% in women can be directly attributed to obesity, ~50% of gallbladder cancer in women can be directly attributed to obesity). Correlations between cancer risk and healthy weight levels are strong, where (for example) those that maintain healthy weight levels are more likely to be more mindful of what they eat.
- hliyan 9y ago
  As a person frequently prone to various forms of inflammation, is there something I can do to minimize this risk?
  - ihsw2 9y ago
    Definitely, it usually boils down to reducing the intake of inflammation-causing food: * soda, snack bars, candy, baked sweets * mayonnaise, most salad dressings, barbecue sauces, most crackers, most breads, most potato chips * fried foods (fries, fried chicken, fish sticks, chicken tendies, onion rings) * refined white flour foods (pizza, white bread, most pasta, pretzels, flour tortillas, breakfast cereals, bagels) * most milks and milk-based products (soft cheeses, butter) * grain-fed meats, processed meats (bacon, hot dogs, bologna, sausage, jerky) * chronic intake of alcoholic beverages * doughnuts, cookies, muffins, frosting While this list might seem excessive and it is by no means exhaustive or applicable or every person suffering from chronic inflammation, I'm sure you can speak from personal experience that several items on these lists have caused you some manner of discomfort. There are so many substitutions available in every large grocery store and substituting fractions of every meal can go a long way. It's tough to get into the habit of regularly purchasing (for example) a variety of fruits and vegetables but it is definitely worth it. For many of the items in the lists above, there are plenty of low-inflammatory options (eg: switching to whole grain breads instead of refined white flour breads, having dark leafy greens instead of Caesar salad, adding almonds, swapping in skim milk and yogurt from regular full-fat milk, any of the berries). EDIT: removed coffee

Likely generalized inflammation. It is also not unlikely that overweight people eat less nutritious diet in terms of phyto- and micronutrients some of which may prevent cancer. Fat cell proliferation uses some of the same mechanisms as certain cancers too.

atupis 9y ago
Also overweight people have more cells than thin people. So there is bigger risk to malicious cell mutations. Taller people have same problem https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/01/taller-people-more-likely-to-get-cancer-say-researchers https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/01/taller-peopl...
- nonbel 9y ago
  Yes. The current thought is that cancer arises by tissue stem cells accumulating mutations at a low rate until it goes out of control. Every division there is some chance of error. If you have more divisions, there is a higher chance of cancer. If you always keep this in mind: cell division -> cancer, so much will make sense. Anything requiring an increase in cell division will increase the chances of cancer in that tissue (smoking damages lung cells which need to be replaced, uv damages skin cells, being larger means you have more cells). That is not to say that immune surveillance for clearing these bad cells plays no role, or that DNA damage sensitivity/repair can't be increased/decreased, or that those rates need be similar in different species. However, the main idea behind the entire modern cancer research programme is that cell division -> cancer. More info: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC54830/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC54830/
  - rsync 9y ago
    "If you always keep this in mind: cell division -> cancer, so much will make sense." I am not so sure this is a good heuristic. An athlete, or even a moderately active (fit) person is inducing quite a bit of cell division due to the teardown and regrowth of muscle and bone, etc., caused by exercise. However, activity and exercise seem to be (strongly) negatively correlated with cancer. Instead, I think a better mental model is the winnowing of a population. When you subject your (muscles/bones/heart/lungs) to a highly stressful exertion, some of the cells just can't maintain that output and so they are killed off, or commit suicide by the process of apoptosis. But if you never subject your cell population to an apoptosis-inducing level of stress, you're just cultivating an increasingly weak population of cells. I highly recommend the book by Nick Lane titled: Power, Sex, Suicide which explores these topics... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power,_Sex,_Suicide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power,_Sex,_Suicide
0xFFC 9y ago
>overweight people eat less nutritious diet in terms of phyto- and micronutrients Would you mind to explain this a little bit further? It seems paradox at first.
- girvo 9y ago
  A typical developed world diet that is easiest to become overweight or obese from would have to include extremely calorie dense but nutritionally empty foods; junk food, basically. They’re usually not all that great in terms of nutrients in general, and are basically made whole-cloth via hardcore processing and chemical transformations (quite fascinating really!). Also, sugar. Can easily dump 30% by weight of sugar into what amounts to edible “plastic” and have it taste “good” as well as being super cheap, but of course, completely lacking in any birdies other than carbs/sugars.

ihsw2 9y ago

As mentioned by another commenter, chronic low-level inflammation is one risk factor. This can lead to DNA damage that leads to cancer. Gallstones are a characteristic of chronic gallbladder inflammation, and a history of gallstones is a strong risk factor for gallbladder cancer. Obese people have increased levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), high levels of IGF-1 may promote the development of multiple cancers. Correlations between several cancers and obesity range between 5-50% (eg: ~10% in women can be directly attributed to obesity, ~50% of gallbladder cancer in women can be directly attributed to obesity). Correlations between cancer risk and healthy weight levels are strong, where (for example) those that maintain healthy weight levels are more likely to be more mindful of what they eat.

hliyan 9y ago
As a person frequently prone to various forms of inflammation, is there something I can do to minimize this risk?
- ihsw2 9y ago
  Definitely, it usually boils down to reducing the intake of inflammation-causing food: * soda, snack bars, candy, baked sweets * mayonnaise, most salad dressings, barbecue sauces, most crackers, most breads, most potato chips * fried foods (fries, fried chicken, fish sticks, chicken tendies, onion rings) * refined white flour foods (pizza, white bread, most pasta, pretzels, flour tortillas, breakfast cereals, bagels) * most milks and milk-based products (soft cheeses, butter) * grain-fed meats, processed meats (bacon, hot dogs, bologna, sausage, jerky) * chronic intake of alcoholic beverages * doughnuts, cookies, muffins, frosting While this list might seem excessive and it is by no means exhaustive or applicable or every person suffering from chronic inflammation, I'm sure you can speak from personal experience that several items on these lists have caused you some manner of discomfort. There are so many substitutions available in every large grocery store and substituting fractions of every meal can go a long way. It's tough to get into the habit of regularly purchasing (for example) a variety of fruits and vegetables but it is definitely worth it. For many of the items in the lists above, there are plenty of low-inflammatory options (eg: switching to whole grain breads instead of refined white flour breads, having dark leafy greens instead of Caesar salad, adding almonds, swapping in skim milk and yogurt from regular full-fat milk, any of the berries). EDIT: removed coffee