Overweight, obesity and cancer
Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk of 13 types of cancer. These cancers account for about 40 percent of all cancers diagnosed in the United States in 2014, according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall, the rate of new cancer cases has decreased since the 1990s, but increases in overweight- and obesity-related cancers are likely slowing this progress. About 630,000 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with a cancer associated with overweight and obesity in 2014, according to CDC. About two in three occurred in adults ages 50 to 74. The rates of obesity-related cancers, not including colorectal cancer, increased by 7 percent between 2005 and 2014. The rates of non-obesity related cancers declined during that time. Other findings:
- 55 percent of all cancers diagnosed in women and 24 percent of those diagnosed in men are associated with overweight and obesity.
- Non-Hispanic blacks and non-Hispanic whites had higher incidence rates compared with other racial and ethnic groups. Black males and American Indian/Alaska Native males had higher incidence rates than white males.
- Between 2005 and 2014, colorectal cancer decreased 23 percent, due in large part to screening. Cancers not associated with overweight and obesity decreased 13 percent.
- Cancers associated with overweight and obesity, excluding colorectal cancer, increased among adults younger than age 75.
Slow down with the yoga
The number of yoga practitioners in the United States has more than doubled to 36.7 million over the last decade, with health benefits the main reason people practice, according to the Yoga in America study conducted last year on behalf of Yoga Journal and the Yoga Alliance, as reported by the Washington Post. While yoga enthusiasts are often pictured as young and bendy, the reality, according to the Yoga in America study, is that 17 percent are in their 50s, and 21 percent are age 60 and older. Along with this upsurge of interest has been an upsurge in injuries, particularly among older practitioners. “Participants aged 65 years and older have a greater rate of injury from practicing yoga when compared with other age groups,” researchers wrote last year in a study of nearly 30,000 yoga-related injuries seen in U.S. hospital emergency departments from 2001 to 2014. Suggestions: Start where you are, not where you think you should be; recognize that some yoga classes are vigorous and athletic, and others are intended to be relaxing and restorative; find a well-trained, experienced teacher.
The Alzheimer’s collision course
There is no proven intervention for preventing late-life dementia, report researchers from the Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC). The researchers reviewed published studies to determine if physical activity, prescription medications, over-the-counter vitamins and supplements, or cognitive training interventions could help to prevent dementia in patients who did not have it at the time of the studies. The vast majority of research showed that none of the interventions worked. According to the researchers, the reasons these interventions fail is not entirely clear. It is possible that they simply do not work to improve cognition, or it could be that the studies started the interventions too late in life, didn’t use them long enough, or because of shortcomings in many of the studies. Researchers note that while there was no evidence about whether an intervention to practice a healthy lifestyle earlier in life protects against cognitive decline or dementia in later life, it is unlikely to worsen cognition and may have other, noncognitive benefits.
Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health reports that approximately 6 million American adults have Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment, which can sometimes be a precursor to the disease. NIH also forecasts that these numbers will more than double to 15 million by 2060, as the population ages. For the first time, scientists have attempted to account for numbers of people with biomarkers or other evidence of possible preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, but who do not have impairment or Alzheimer’s dementia. People with such signs of preclinical disease are at increased risk to develop Alzheimer’s dementia.