Weight loss surgery may cut cancer risk

[The Journey Messenger]

The increased risk of cancer in obese women appears to be reduced by weight-loss or ?bariatric? surgery, according to a report in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.Severely ?obese women are at incredible risk for multiple cancers, primarily breast and (uterus) cancer but also colorectal and other gynecologic cancers,? Dr. Susan C. Modesitt from University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, told Reuters Health by email. ?I hope that physicians begin to be proactive in evaluating these women for cancer promptly when indicated.?Modesitt and colleagues studied 1482 severely obese women who underwent bariatric surgery at the University of Virginia and compared them with a population of severely obese women who did not undergo surgery.


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Bariatrics The branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity. The term bariatrics was created around 1965, from the Greek root baro ("weight," as in barometer), suffix -iatr ("treatment," as in pediatrics), and suffix -ic ("pertaining to"). Besides the pharmacotherapy of obesity, it is concerned with obesity surgery.

Obesity Obesity results from the excessive accumulation of fat that exceeds the body's skeletal and physical standards. Obesity has been defined as a weight more than 20% above what is considered normal according to standard age, height, and weight tables, or by a complex formula known as the body mass index. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an increase in 20 percent or more above your ideal body weight is the point at which excess weight becomes a health risk. CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE JOURNEY BMI CALCULATOR!