Is obesity a cause of thyroid cancer?!
Being overweight is often one of the causes of various diseases or even the aggravation of their symptoms. For this reason, by researching the effects of excess weight on the development of various diseases, researchers try to encourage people to manage their weight and follow a healthy diet. Recently, an article was published in the American Thyroid Association (ATA) under the title of examining obesity and thyroid cancer, which we will discuss below. Considering the existence of this connection, we recommend that you take your weight management more seriously.
What is thyroid cancer?
Endocrine malignancy is known as the most common thyroid cancer worldwide. This disease affects mostly women and is the second most common disease in young women.
In recent years, the prevalence of DTC (differentiated malignant thyroid growth) and especially PTC (papillary malignant growth) has increased dramatically worldwide. Although the exact reason for this increase is not yet clear, an analysis of Cancer Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry data from 1980 to 2005 showed an increase in the prevalence of larger tumors that could be detected without the involvement of advanced diagnostic techniques. . Therefore, environmental factors, lifestyle and synergies have been suggested as possible causes for this phenomenon.
What are the causes of thyroid cancer?
Many external factors have been linked to an increased incidence of thyroid cancer. The most important ones are iodine deficiency and exposure to radiation, but other factors such as diet, endocrine-disruptors, environmental factors or other related influences from volcanic areas may contribute to the disease. These conditions interfere with epigenetic status and can affect health status by changing gene expression.
The most important risk factor for thyroid malignancy is exposure to radiation, which increases the risk of malignant thyroid disease from 5% to 50%. Other risk factors have also been studied, including estrogens, smoking, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance, which are closely related to weight gain, and the role of obesity and overweight in development and progression can be studied by studying them. predicted thyroid cancer.
How is obesity defined?
In recent decades, the prevalence of obesity and overweight has increased dramatically worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), body mass index or BMI, which is calculated as weight in relation to height (kg/m2), is used as a measure for body fat.
For optimal health, a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m2 is recommended. People with BMI in the range (25.0-29.9 kg/m2) are overweight at higher risk of obesity, but obesity occurs in people with BMI greater than 30 kg/m2.
Several parameters can be used to assess the clinical significance of obesity, including visceral or subcutaneous adipose tissue, waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, and BMI. The latter is commonly used, but may be inaccurate because it cannot distinguish adipose tissue from lean mass (fat-free body part) in some patients.
Therefore, none of these parameters alone are suitable for determining the exact status of obesity in an individual, even when the ethnic and racial differences of the studied subjects are taken into account.
What are the diseases related to obesity?
Based on extensive evidence, high BMI is a serious risk factor for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and musculoskeletal disorders. Obesity is also associated with the development and progression of many cancers and is still considered the second most common, preventable and modifiable cause of cancer development after smoking. In fact, the incidence of cancer is significantly higher in obese people.
However, the possible mechanisms behind this association are still unclear, and several obesity-related diseases have been proposed, including hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, abnormalities in hormone synthesis and hormone pathways, circadian rhythm disturbances, and changes in the gut microbiome. In addition, obesity is associated with a chronic and systemic inflammatory state that may contribute to tumor development and progression.
The relationship between obesity and thyroid cancer
In recent years, many studies have investigated the relationship between obesity and thyroid cancer. It has been estimated that an increase in BMI (height-to-weight ratio) and an increase in waist-to-hip ratio increase the risk of thyroid cancer by 30% and 14%, respectively.
There are many studies that show that obese people are more prone to thyroid cancer and obesity causes the spread and development of thyroid cancer.
Obesity is a low chronic inflammatory state that is associated with non-specific activation of the immune system, increased inflammatory factors and the production of various cytokines and adipokines. These elements may directly or indirectly determine cell proliferation and promote tumorigenesis in various tissues, including the thyroid gland. Therefore, a healthy diet with adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables and daily physical activity may be effective in reducing the risk of TC. These hypotheses about lifestyle factors should attract more attention in future thyroid cancer research.
There have been two articles on the relationship between obesity and thyroid cancer, which are summarized here:
First article:
“Understanding the relationship between obesity, physical activity and thyroid cancer risk”
Recent research shows how obesity and physical activity affect the risk of thyroid cancer. Overweight and obesity can increase the risk of various problems, including some types of cancer. The study looks specifically at thyroid cancer and suggests that being overweight may increase the risk, especially in men. Of course, different groups of people are affected differently, but interestingly, physical activity may reduce this risk. However, the study also cautions that factors involved in some environments may influence these findings, and that more research is needed to better understand this.
The article also points to the complexity of the relationship between obesity, physical activities and the risk of thyroid cancer and emphasizes that although obesity is a risk factor, the amount of this risk can vary according to gender, race and geographic location. Overall, the paper suggests that although there is evidence of a relationship between obesity, physical activity, and thyroid cancer risk, this relationship is complex and influenced by multiple factors, and more research is needed to better understand this issue. .
Second article:
“Pre-pregnancy body mass index and thyroid cancer risk “
This article examines the relationship between pre-pregnancy body mass index and thyroid cancer risk in more than 440,000 Danish women, particularly in the context of papillary thyroid cancer. This study shows that excess weight is associated with a higher risk of developing this type of thyroid cancer. This relationship has been observed even after taking into account other factors such as education level, smoking, active thyroid gland, type 2 diabetes, childlessness, and use of birth control pills.
This research emphasizes the importance of maintaining a healthy weight to reduce the risk of developing thyroid cancer. This article also emphasizes the importance of considering a holistic approach to health and disease management.
This research suggests that understanding the various factors that affect health, such as body weight, could lead to better strategies for the prevention and management of diseases such as thyroid cancer. This point of view is also shown regarding the importance of lifestyle choices and health awareness in disease prevention. Additionally, the findings of this research highlight the need for smart strategies to promote healthy weight management as a way to reduce the risk of some types of cancer.
