Coming soon: Obesity to surpass smoking as leading cause of cancer

Coming soon: Obesity to surpass smoking as leading cause of cancer

Cancer is a frightening disease that plagues millions of people around the world. Some are lucky to survive the ordeal, others less so. In integrative medicine, it is believed that naturopathic oncology can be of great benefit for the treatment and prevention of all types of cancer. This is important to know because the diet and lifestyle we live in America directly impacts the development of various types of cancer. So much so that diet rises to the top as one of the main causes of the disease. Alternative cancer treatments are available if you or someone you know is suffering from this debilitating disease.

Lifestyle choices and cancer development

In the past, smoking was the most common cause of cancer, but recent studies show that obesity will soon be the most common cause. And what causes obesity? Diet and lack of exercise. This is a major problem because over 2.1 billion people are considered overweight or obese, representing 30 percent of the world's population. Obesity is also responsible for around five percent of annual deaths around the world.

This is all due to the various diseases that result from obesity, including high blood pressure, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, heart disease, cancer and dementia (just to name a few). In America alone, just eight obesity-related diseases account for 75 percent of the country's health care costs. Obesity leads to two main problems – insulin/leptin resistance and extreme inflammation. Integrative medicine doctors attack these problems by improving the diet and lifestyle of the cancer patients they care for.

Obesity #1 cause of cancer

This is not yet true, but the path that the Americans are taking will certainly take us there quickly. Obesity is known to cause 10 different types of cancer. This range of cancers is expected to increase over the next 10 years.

The evidence is pretty obvious and suggests that being overweight contributes to a significant increase in cancer risk. For example, women who are overweight have a 600 percent higher risk of developing uterine cancer.

There are also increases in colon, breast, prostate and other gynecological cancers if you are overweight. Obesity appears to accelerate the growth of tumors. There is also a connection between cancer recurrence and obesity. For example, obese prostate cancer survivors were three percent more likely to have a recurrence. They were also seven percent more likely to spread the disease.

If you're battling obesity, it's a good idea to consult an integrative medicine doctor. In the event that you are battling cancer or need to undergo screening tests, visit one of the reputed alternative cancer treatment centers near you to be examined by a naturopathic oncologist.