Bariatric Surgery: How does it Helps to Fight With Cancer?

By Medical Expert Team

Apr 24 , 2023 | 2 min read

Did you know that being overweight and obese is a certain way to invite the growth of cancer in you? This has already been observed extensively, yet most of us are unaware of this link between obesity and cancer.

According to various cohort scientific studies conducted globally, an obese person is known to be at a higher risk of developing several types of different cancers.

Nanavati Max Super Specialty Hospital ensures that you can prevent the risk of cancer, and other medical disorders, from developing by taking care of that extra weight.

Link between Obesity and Cancer

These observational studies have shown that people with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of over 30 are likely to develop cancer. The possible reasons given for this connection between being excessively overweight and developing cancer are:

Increased levels of insulin in the body, along with increased insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) are proponents of cancer development.
Low-level but chronic inflammation, seen commonly in obese people, is known to help in the development of cancer in such persons.
Higher levels of estrogen in obese women increase the risk of developing certain types of cancers, including endometrial and breast cancer.
Fat cells are also known to affect the cell-growth process which is otherwise regulated normally in healthy and slim persons.

Apart from this, there are other reasons, relating to being overweight, that also increase the risk of cancer in such patients, such as:

Heavyweight at birth
Weight gain in adulthood
Frequent weight fluctuation (weight gain and weight loss)

These are the cancers that are normally seen developing in obese persons:

Breast cancer
Kidney (Renal) cancer
Uterine cancer
Head and neck cancer
Prostate cancer
Thyroid cancer
Gallbladder cancer, and many others.

How to Treat Obesity and Prevent Cancer?

Various research reports suggest that maintaining a healthy weight is known to decrease the risk of developing cancer. These also suggest that people with a stable and healthy weight are less prone to recurrence of cancer, which was previously thought to have been treated successfully.

So taking care of your excess weight is an excellent way to prevent the risk of cancer development significantly.

Today, there are numerous types of bariatric (weight loss) surgeries that are remarkably helpful for obese people to lose that extra weight easily. Weight loss surgeries are mainly categorized into two categories:

Mal-absorptive bariatric surgery– In this technique of weight loss surgery, a part of your small intestine is bypassed, because of which lower amount of calories are absorbed from the food you eat. As a smaller amount of food is now absorbed, the body will begin to use the already stored fat as an alternate energy source and burn off calories faster.

Restrictive bariatric surgery – This technique for weight loss surgery requires the bariatric surgeon to limit the actual size of the overall stomach. This technique requires the surgeon to isolate a majority (80-90%) of the total stomach volume from coming into contact with the food which is eaten. The remaining part of the stomach gets full faster, and the desire for excess food intake reduces. When the amount of food you normally eat at meals gets restricted, it automatically helps to burn off the excess fat when the body requires additional energy to function.

Although these techniques may differ, the aim of both these bariatric weight loss surgical techniques remains the same – helping you to shed that extra and heavyweight which is seen in the form of fat deposits all over your body.

It is highly advisable to undergo best bariatric surgery for weight loss hospital. Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital in Mumbai is a renowned and reliable multispecialty hospital in India. It is manned by expert bariatric surgeons who use the latest in surgical technology to perform excellent and highly successful bariatric surgeries for each patient.