New Study Reveal Obesity Causes More Cases of Certain Cancers Than Smoking

By
Boon Hun
-
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Is it worse to be fat or be a smoker?

Well, if you’ve thought that the latter is worse because it has caused more cases of cancers, think again.

Here’s What The UK Research Cancer Is Saying

A recent study released by the UK Research Cancer found that obesity causes more cases of certain cancers than smoking.

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They are bowel, ovarian, kidney and liver cancer.

The study suggests that excess weight (obesity) causes around 1,900 more cases of bowel cancer than smoking in the UK each year.

Similarly, obesity causes 1,400 more cases, 460 more cases for ovarian cancer and 180 more cases for liver cancer.

And It’s Not Just These Four

The study also mentioned that nine other types of cancers were linked to obesity.

They are:

  • Breast cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Oesophageal cancer
  • Upper stomach cancer
  • Gallbladder cancer
  • Womb cancer
  • Blood cancer
  • Brain cancer

However, they admitted that while they managed to identify that obesity causes these 13 types of cancer, they don’t really understand how.

Further Research Needed

The Cancer Research UK chief executive Michelle Mitchell mentioned that “further research is needed to find out more about the ways extra body fat can lead to cancer.”

Right now, they can only say that being overweight, or obese, will increase the chance of cancerous cells being made.

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“Extra body fat sends out a signal that can tell cells to divide more often and, similar to smoking, can cause damage that builds up over time and raises the risk of cancer.”

Awareness Campaign Gone Wrong

If you think that’s the end of the story, think again.

So, now that the organisation is now aware of how obesity causes cancers, what do they do next? Let other people know about it, right?

They put up advertisements featuring cigarette packaging, except they replaced the brands with the word Obesity.

They wanted people to know that being obese is just as dangerous as smoking (which everybody knows, is killing yourself).

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Unfortunately, not everybody appreciates their effort.

The organisation is now facing accusations of engaging in fat-shaming. And this wasn’t even the first time they were embroiled in such controversy.

Comedian and campaigner Sofie Hagen took to Twitter to criticise their campaign and called for it to be taken down.

But Is It Really?

And that’s a question that we cannot answer without getting called out for fat-shaming other people.

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But food for thought: why is smoker-shaming okay but fat-shaming not? Why is shaming that couple who bullied an uncle at the food centre okay but not fat-shaming?

Is it because we shouldn’t shame people who “don’t deserve it”? And how do we decide who deserves it and who doesn’t?

What do you think?

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Boon Hun
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