very few people are aware of the link between being overweight and cancer

More people are becoming aware of this anyway and a new study has confirmed the fact that being overweight and obese can increase the likelihood of you getting cancer. In a study which is thought to be one of the biggest medical studies ever organised called The Million Woman Study which was done in the United Kingdom the connection between excess body fat and developing or dying from cancer was confirmed. The study authors say that the extra weight in a person can cause cancers of the endometrium, ovary, esophagus, kidney and pancreas to name just a few.

Most individuals know that being overweight can cause heart disease, arterial problems, diabetes and high blood pressure however very few are aware of the dangerous link between being overweight and cancers. Older women should be especially careful about being overweight as it appears that post menopausal females who are overweight have a much increased chance of getting breast cancer.  Interestingly however women who were overweight before they reached menopause had a slightly reduced risk of getting breast cancer.

Other research projects have confirmed the link between cancer and obesity however this particular obesity study is important because of its huge scale. The larger the amount of people involved in a study like this, the greater the chances of getting accurate results. One thing that was not confirmed by this study which has been seen to be the case in many other studies is that is a link between being obese and cancer of the colon.

In all roughly 1.2 million women between the ages of 50 and 64 have been monitored for cancer rates and their Body Mass Index for over ten years. The findings have been released by the British Medical Journal in the United Kingdom and should help to inform people and make them aware of the fact that being overweight has this danger of cancer associated with it.