Fewer Obese Women Screened For Certain Cancers
By MedHeadlines • Mar 25th, 2008 • Category: Breast Cancer, Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Lifestyle, Medical Research, Obesity, Women's HealthObese white women are less likely to be screened for breast and cervical cancer than women who maintain a healthy weight according to a review of cancer screening studies conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Public Health.
Researchers reviewed 32 published studies on breast, cervical and colorectal cancers that were considered to have associations between obesity and screening tests. The review revealed that, as body mass increased, fewer women were getting the recommended Pap tests for cervical cancer and mammograms for breast cancer screening. The study showed this trend to be stronger among white women than black women.
This finding is particularly disturbing since the number of obese women is on the rise and these women are at greater risk for certain cancers, said Sarah S. Cohen, lead author of the article published by the American Cancer Society.
“Our review doesn’t tell us why larger women are not getting screened as frequently for these cancers,” Cohen said. “It only reveals the trend. We think this pattern should be studied more thoroughly. And in the meantime, some additional effort should be made to reach women at increased risk of cancer because of their body size and encourage them to get screenings that could save their lives.”
Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Cancers are a very serious plague of modern society. ALL women should be taking steps to make sure they are not developing and cancerous growths.
There are common things that every person can do to lower their overall risk of cancer such as getting sun exposure (never get burned) to increase Vitamin D. Eating fresh foods and taking a multivitamin along with Omega-3’s are very, very important parts of overall health also.
Please everyone, take care of yourselves everyday and not just when you fear you may have a problem.
Regards,
Daniel Lee
http://www.longerlifebetterhealth.com
I think the reason is because they are too embarrassed by their weight to schedule themselves for these tests. Both the mammogram and the pap test require the patient to disrobe to a degree. It’s a shame some may die because of it.