The Guardian this morning obesity causes breast cancer

Hi everyone I have just been on the tv teletext on it has got that in the guardian that obesity now causes breast cancer in women. I do believe now that they are just using any story they can find to fill there newspaper. When I was having my treatment I didnt see many fat ladies there I think that I was the fatest at 11 stone.When you do read these stories it does stop and make you think thats why I have only ate a banana for breakfast this morning LoL I will probably watch what I eat for the next 3 days now then I will forget all about the story and go back to being my normal greedy self. Linda

Hi Linda

it was also in the telegraph and on the bbc news site. I’m just ignoring it.

i remember when my ldest was a baby, and was poorly. I was told it was because she was ‘teething’ - when i recounted this to my gp he rightly told me that teething causes nothing but teeth.

i feel that obesity causes fat. the fact that some obese people may develop cancer does not mean that obesity causes it. Obesity is the new social pariah - all our ills are now as a direct result of over eating. In a few years they will have another axe to grind - maybe car drivers? And that is not as far fetched asit sounds as, when they removed lead from petrol they added a known carcinogen as an anti-knocking agent. So, how many cancer sufferers fill up their petrol tanks?

Not again, I’ve only got just got over last weeks binge! (defiant binge in light of cancer and weight link).

I asked my oncologist about this on Monday and she said that there is no definate link with breast cancer but strong evidence for bowel cancer.

I am going to ignore this one. Just had kiwi fruit and 0.1% fat natural yoghurt for breakfast!

Well I know 4 women including me who have breast cancer, not one of them over 9 stone. (although I’m 9.5 now, blimmin steroids!)

Cecelia. x

The report does NOT say simplistically that being overweight causes breast cancer. This is an interim report of the Million Women Study. The report considers post menopausal and older women and finds that putting on weight is associated with an increased risk in 10 out of 17 common cancers. In the case of breast cancer it is estimated that 7% of cases in post menopausal women may be attributed to being overweight. In pre menopausal women those who are heavy for their height have a decreased risk of breast cancer.

There are loads of research projects on cancer risk factors being published at the moment and some jounrnalists distort them with spin (though not I thought in the case of Sarah Boseley’s report in the Guardian which seems to be reported factually and in a non hysterical way.) I think we need to be wary of confusing risk factors with causes. Breast cancer is a complex disaese. Yes there are known risk factors, including being overweight if you are over 50, but this does not mean that the risk factor ‘caused’ the cancer.

In my own case I have some of the risk factors associated with breast cancer…particularly being over 50, having no children (therfore no breastfeeding), drinking too much and probably not exercisng enough. Not unlike many of my friends who don’t have breast cancer, Somehow we have to find a way of understanding scientific research while rejecting those who seek to to blame us for our cancer. Breast cancer is ‘caused’ by a complex interaction between envrionmental, genetic and lifestyle factors…the relationship not being understood fully at all. Reports such as this one provide a little bit of important extra information, but it needs to be balanced with other information and with research not yet even contemplated.

Jane

I am the same as Cecelia, only weighed 8 stone most of my life, size 10. Although now after 5 lots of chemo and stuffing my face, have put on stone and a half.

Dawn

Personally I feel that the main point is how the media are portraying the reports, not the reports themselves. It appears that they have latched onto the newest *bad* thing in society and elevate it out of all proportion.

It is precisely bad reporting like this that has people look at the risk factors and decide that, as they have none, they do not have cancer and then fail to go for a check up. But, it sells papers.

I am sorry, but the media know most people do not read past the headline and highlighted first paragraph. The idea is to get as much of what you want to say into that small space and hope that a few just might read on.

So, I did a quick scan of how the media are portraying this - and this is what I found. The columns may or may not then give the report a fair hearing but the headlines are what people remember. The language they use speaks for itself.

from the telegraph online : thousands are suffering from cancer every year because they are overweight, the largest British study of its kind has concluded.

from the bbc online: Obesity ‘fuels cancer in women’ About 6,000 middle-aged or older UK women develop cancer each year because of excess weight, a study says.

from the guardian online: Around 6,000 cancers a year in women are the result of putting on weight, according to an authoritative study published today.

from the daily express online: Cancer risk fears for obese women -Being overweight or obese accounts for around 6,000 women’s cancers

from the times online: Women who are overweight are at a greater risk of contracting a wide range of cancers, a study has shown. The authors calculate that 6,000 cancers a year – 5 per cent of all cancers in women – can be attributed to being overweight or obese.

from the sun online: 6,000 fat women a yr get cancer. SIX thousand women develop cancer every year through being obese, a study reveals

I love the Sun’s ‘fat women’ terminology- lol!

kate - i gave up at that point !!!

I was slim when I was diagnosed but I’m not now…due to treatments and chemically induced menopause.

Thanks to Linda for starting this thread. Thanks Jane and Quisie for your posts - I agree we have to get a better understanding of our disease and at the same time we have to become PR gurus! I’m getting so sick of this partial coverage and lurid headlines, but if I could reduce my risk factors I might stand a chance of beating the disease. Ho hum

Belinda,

Only older women, post menopause, were at greater risk if overweight. Therefore they can’t say it was your fault!

Quisie,

You are absolutely right that only the headline and perhaps the opening paragraph are read properly. In isolation, these often give a distorted impression.

***remember, it is always our fault, they just have to work out why!***

Holey

oh Holey - that quote of yours is just perfect ! thank you - and, if i may, i shall quote it too.

im ignoring it too, i am not over weight, infact ive been told im slightly under weight and i ended up with bc.

Me too, madgal!