Women who have excess fat around their waists, so-called central adiposity, have an increased risk for colon cancer according to a study in the March 2000 issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
Studying 24,000 women over 10 years, researchers in Australia measured waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratios (WHT) ratios at the beginning of the study. During the ten years, there were 212 colon cancers. Women whose waist measurements were larger than their hips, a sign of central adiposity, were about 30% more likely to have colon cancer than women with narrow waists. Larger waist measurements (waist circumference) increaed colon cancer risk by about 15%.
There was some evidence that additional central fat predisposed women in the study to cancers in the proximal colon or the first section of colon. Given their increased risk for colon cancer and the stronger possibility that the cancer might be located near the beginning of the colon, women with excessive waist fat probably should consider screening tests like colonoscopy that examine the entire colon.
Other studies have showed a similar increase in colorectal cancer risk for men with excess waist fat.
An article about the study is available from Reuters Health..
waist fat colon cancer risk colon cancer in women
Leave a Reply
Your comments are welcome. However, specific medical advice will not be provided, and we urge you to consult with a qualified physician for diagnosis and for answers to your personal questions. FightCRC is not responsible for the medical accuracy of any comments left by persons other than FightCRC staff members. FightCRC staff members monitor comments and may respond publicly where appropriate.
Please note that we automatically publish the name that you enter next to your post. Also note that our pages are automatically indexed by Google and other search engines, and your name may therefore appear in search results on those sites. So if you wish to remain anonymous please use a different name or enter 'Anon' as the name.
We regret that we are unable to privately answer questions left as comments. So please do not include your phone number, email or mailing address in the body of your comment. For the best personal and direct response to your colorectal cancer treatment questions, please call our Answer Line at 1-877-4CRC-111 (1-877-427-2111).