Diabetes sufferers are more likely to get cancer: that’s why – time.news

2023-05-10 07:01:24

Of True Martinella

There is a dangerous link between obesity, overweight, insulin resistance, diabetes and cancer. Several causes in common, but prevention can be done successfully

Who suffers from
diabetes
have a higher risk of developing some types of cancer. Much research has shown that there are several links between these two diseases and, even if the causes are not yet completely clear, experts have now put together a lot of data that clearly indicate the dangerous relationship. Being aware of this link is useful both for doctors to be able to better follow their patients, carefully monitoring their conditions and also taking into account the danger of possible neoplasmsboth to diabetics themselves who, if informed, can pay more attention to any alarm bells and prevention strategies underlines Angelo Avogaropresident of the Italian Society of Diabetology (SID), who will dedicate a session of the next conference scheduled in Riccione on 23 May to this theme.

Common causes

Studies conducted in the last decade have documented, in particular, that people with diabetes (especially type 2) are at increased risk of colon, breast, endometrial, liver and pancreatic cancer in particular. Why? For several reasons – he answers Charles La Vecchia, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Milan who will speak at the congress -. In the meantime, it must be kept in mind that they have some factors in common: overweight and obesitybeyond smoking, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, alcohol consumption they are responsible for millions of cases of the deadliest diseases in the world, starting with cancer and diabetes. These diseases share many causes, so it is easy for a person to get both diseases. It is also certain that hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance, typical of diabetes, can favor the onset of some types of cancer.

The antidiabetic therapies

Statistics then indicate that 10-15% of cancer patients also have a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and 38% of hospitalized cancer patients have hyperglycemia. Furthermore, research shows that today cancer is the most frequent cause of death in diabetic patients and that these, if they fall ill with cancer, are more likely to die than the rest of the population. Let me be clear, it is not the anti-diabetic therapies that cause cancer – specifies La Vecchia -. Cancer patients who are diabetic and often obese are more vulnerable because they may experience more complications (both during and after surgery) and more serious side effects from anticancer drugs.

Extra pounds alert

Overweight and obesity are of great concern to experts

: excess kilos are a problem that affects 30% of the population and which causes as many as 4 million deaths every year, 40% of which in people who were only overweight and not obese. known that patients suffering from
metabolic syndrome
(characterized by abdominal obesity, altered blood sugar levels, hypertension and hyperlipidemia) develop damage to many organs and fall ill with diabetes and various forms of cancer, through the activation of chain reactions that share a state of chronic inflammation – he says Annalisa Natalicchio, professor of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases at the University of Bari Aldo Moro who will participate in the SID congress -. According to the most recent estimates, overweight and obesity are responsible in Italy for about three per cent of all cancers in men and seven per cent of those in women: obesity and overweight are in fact among the known risk factors for cancers of endometrium, colorectal, esophagus, kidney, pancreas and breasts, especially among postmenopausal women. The World Health Organization has been sounding the alarm for some time: the waistline of the western population (Italy included) grows, unfortunately often starting from childhood, and this has enormous consequences for health. We don’t want to scare the sick and their families or trigger alarmism – concludes Natalicchio -. However, we think that, even in the light of this information, everyone should do their best not to gain weight. To this end, it is useful to carry out targeted checks in a population that could be more at risk.

May 10, 2023 (change May 10, 2023 | 07:01)

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