Since the year 1975, the prevalence of obesity has tripled. This was mentioned by WHO or World Health Organization. Obesity refers to excessive build up of fat and it is a serious health concern. It is worth mentioning here that when the body mass index or BMI of a person goes above 30 then the person is said to be obese. It is true that obese persons face humiliation from society. As a result they get depressed. People try several ways to reduce their body weight but only few succeed.
These are the various causes for obesity:
Obesity can be due to many factors like environmental, genetic, behavioral etc. Poor diet intake and sedentary lifestyle plays a role in making a person obese. Obesity can also be due to lack of sound sleep, certain health conditions, medicines etc.
Relationship between obesity and cancer:
There is a complex relationship between obesity and cancer that has many biological processes. This was according to Dr. Dinesh Singh of Andromeda Cancer Hospital in Sonipat, Haryana. He was of the opinion that obesity can lead to chronic inflammation and this could create an environment favorable for the development of cancer. The growth of cancer cells would be encouraged by the increase in insulin and insulin like growth factor or IGF. He concluded that excess estrogen produced by adipose tissue has been associated with the risk of getting several cancers.
The link between obesity and liver cancer is a cause for concern. It is known that the liver plays an important role in metabolism and excess body fat would affect the liver functions.
The bitter fact is that obese people would have NAFLD or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and this could form NASH or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Point is that NASH is an inflammatory liver disease and it could result in liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis and finally liver cancer also. Those who are obese have twice the risk of getting liver cancer when compared with healthy weight persons.
There are certain early signs of liver cancer that we might fail to notice. These are unexplained weight loss, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, enlarged liver etc.
How to prevent and manage liver cancer?
It is noteworthy that persons who are obese would d be able to avoid liver cancer if they adopt a multifaceted strategy. By this, the general health and weight management would be improved. Eating a well balanced diet consisting of fruits, vegetables etc, doing exercises regularly plus restricting the intake of processed and sugary foods etc would help a person to prevent or manage liver cancer. Regular screenings and liver function testing must be carried out and these would help the person to prevent liver cancer.
Note:
Obesity epidemic could be fought by means of medical interventions, individual lifestyle changes and public health campaigns etc. It would be possible to stem the growing epidemic of obesity related issues and improve our health by increasing public awareness, supporting early detection and taking preventive measures etc.