Published 27 January 2024 at 12.16
Domestic. Dieting does not cause cancer. But a sudden and unintentional weight loss could be a sign of a cancer diagnosis in the coming year. A study shows that.
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The study included over 150,000 people in the USA. The participants who were 40 years of age or older were followed for more than 30 years. The researchers collected detailed information on weight and exercise every two years, and dietary data was reported every four years.
– Intentional weight loss through more exercise or a healthier diet can be good for people's health. But unintentional weight loss that is not due to healthier behaviors can indicate an underlying disease, including cancer, says researcher Qiaoli Wang at the Karolinska Institutet.
The researchers also assessed behaviors that promote weight loss by evaluating changes in the participants' diet and exercise .
Among the study participants there was, for example, a group where the intention to lose weight was rated as high. The people had increased their physical activity and improved their diet.
But there was also a group where no such changes had been made. The intention to lose weight was therefore assessed as low.
In the group that did not consciously try to lose weight, an increased risk of cancer was seen. The incidence of cancer in the coming year was twice as high in people who lost more than ten percent of their body weight in the last two years, compared to those who did not lose weight.
– We could see that the risk was particularly elevated for cancer of the upper gastrointestinal tract, hematological cancer, colorectal cancer and lung cancer, but not for breast cancer, urinary tract cancer, brain cancer or melanoma, says Qiaoli Wang.