Cancer of the colon is far more prevalent in western societies...

Scientists from the University of California in San Diego have recently published some research regarding cancer of the colon in the British Journal of Surgery and it appears that being obese puts you in a much higher risk category for developing the deadly disease. Cancer of the colon is the third most reported type of cancer in the western world affecting literally tens of thousands of people all over Europe and America every year.

Scientists say that this is possibly due to fat cells in the human body producing a chemical called leptin which is in fact a hormone that can cause the cancer cells to multiply and grow more quickly. Fatter people tend to have far more of the leptin hormone in their bloodstreams and this is why the scientists believe that they are more at risk from this type of cancer.

The research was done isolating human cancer cells and then exposing them to the leptin and it was clearly seen that cancer growth was enhanced and stimulated by this hormone. While the research can not explain completely why being obese will increase your chances of getting cancer of the colon it nevertheless does open up new avenues of research for cancer researchers and drug companies to develop new remedies to beat the illness that claims thousands of lives every year.

Cancer of the colon is far more prevalent in western societies where there is an emphasis on processed food compared to poorer countries like Africa and Asia where people tend to eat more natural home grown foods with more fibre, fruit and vegetables. The world famous Doctor Birkett who conducted numerous studies in Africa was the first doctor to advocate the eating of fibre such as brown bread and potatoes skins in order to lower the risk of colon cancer especially in older people.