Weight and Breast Cancer Links
Weight and Breast Cancer Links
“Watch Your Weight”
By Sue Martori
According to Dr. Susan B. Love, “a growing body of research indicates that there appears to be an association between weight gain and breast cancer in postmenopausal women. This also appears to be true for premenopausal women with a BRCA1 mutation. (Kotsopoulos J, Olopado O, Ghadirian P, et al. Changes in body weight and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. Breast Cancer Research. 2005; 7: R833-R843.)
The link between breast cancer and weight gain is not fully understood. But we do know that postmenopausal women who are overweight have higher circulating estrogen levels-and as we’ve known for some time, estrogen fuels breast cancer growth. Obesity also appears to impact insulin, glucose and triglycerides levels, all of which may influence breast cancer risk, apart from the estrogen mechanism. In premenopausal women, whose ovaries make most of their estrogen, the connection between weight and circulating estrogen levels has not been seen.
There are factors that influence breast cancer risk that are beyond our control-such as whether a woman has a BRCA mutation. But trying to maintain a healthy weight through proper diet and exercise-and encouraging young women to do so-is a lifestyle choice that has many benefits, even if it doesn’t reduce breast cancer risk.” We couldn’t have said it better Susan!
For more info go to - www.susanlovemd.com