Daily Mail, Thursday, August 1, 2019 Page 35
Just one year
of being obese
slashes cancer
survival rates
BEING overweight for just a
year dramatically reduces
women’s lifelong chances of
surviving cancer, a major
study has revealed.
For every 12 months spent
obese or overweight as an adult,
the risk of dying after a breast or
bowel cancer diagnosis in later
life rises by up to four per cent.
The link between excess weight
and cancer developing in the first
place is well established, but the
new study is the first to show how
having a BMI higher than 25 can
also slash survival rates. The Worldassociation between being over-
weight and developing cancer, very
little is known about how it impacts
your chances of surviving cancer.
‘Our research shows that effective
prevention of overweight and obes-
ity must start at an early age.’
Overweight people are more likely
to have insulin resistance, chronic
inflammation and DNA damage – all
linked with the onset of cancer.
Excess body fat sends out signals
telling cells to divide more often
and causes damage to build up.
Two-thirds of adults in the UK are
obese or overweight, and obesity
has overtaken smoking as the lead-
ing cause of four major cancers.
Julia Frater, of Cancer Research
UK, said: ‘This study reinforces the
idea that keeping and maintaining
a healthy weight throughout one’s
life can lower the risk of death from
cancer and other diseases.
‘It’s worth highlighting that the
length of time someone was over-
weight for made a big difference
towards surviving their cancer.’
O Researchers in the US have made
a breakthrough in the fight against
ovarian and breast cancer by iden-
tifying a protein called CD24 which
tumour cells use as a ‘don’t eat me’
signal to stop the body’s immune
system attacking them. If the signal
can be blocked then immune cells
might be able to attack tumours.By Eleanor Hayward
Health Reporter‘Must start at
an early age’MP left concussed after
‘swinging on off ice chair’
Sitting MP: Andrea Jenkyns’ fall left her in hospital wearing a braceA TORY MP suffered whiplash
and concussion after falling off
her chair during a meeting.
Andrea Jenkyns joked it would
be ‘the last time I swing on a
chair’ after ending up in hospital
with her head in a brace.
The MP was leaning back dur-
ing the meeting with staff in her
constituency when the chair
slipped, causing her to hit her
head on a radiator.
Miss Jenkyns, who beat former
Labour education secretary Ed
Balls to win the Morley and Out-
wood seat in West Yorkshire in
2015, revealed details of the acci-
dent on social media.
Posting a picture of her brace
on Twitter, she said: ‘That’s the
last time I swing on my chair dur-ing a meeting! Whiplash and con-
cussion. Thanks so much to all
the wonderful staff at LGI
(Leeds General Infirmary).
#AccidentProneTuesday.’
Hundreds replied to the post on
Tuesday, with many wishing her
well – although others poked fun.
One user, Matthew Stewart,
referred to her Brexiteer cam-
paigning, saying: ‘I always think
it is better to make an orderly
and well planned exit from a chair
rather than crash out.’
Miss Jenkyns, 45, later paid trib-
ute to ‘brilliant’ NHS staff and the
quick-thinking staff who got her
to a local minor injuries unit.
She told the Yorkshire Post: ‘I
was in a meeting with my teamand leaning back on my chair,
which slipped causing me to hit
the back of my head on the cor-
ner of a radiator as I fell.
‘A member of my team then took
me to a local emergency drop-in
centre and after an assessment, I
was taken to Leeds General Infir-
mary (no blue lights) for a scan.
‘Fortunately the scan was clear
and I’ve just got whiplash and
concussion. Thankfully nothing
more serious and a warning not
to swing on chairs!’
Former music teacher Miss
Jenkyns, a mother-of-one who is
married to fellow Tory MP Jack
Lopresti, served in the Ministry
of Housing, Communities and
Local Government before stand-
ing down last year to focus on
fighting for Brexit.By Richard MarsdenCancer Research Fund tracked the
weight of 47,000 women between
the age of 20 and 50. Of these 1,500
went on to develop breast or bowel
cancer after the menopause.
The Swedish researchers found
that each year of being overweight
cut a woman’s chances of surviving
bowel cancer by four per cent and
breast cancer by three per cent.
They said time spent being over-
weight is ‘the obesity-equivalent of
years of cigarette smoking’.
Study author Dr Isabelle Soerjom-
ataram, of the International Agency
for Research on Cancer, said: ‘While
previous studies have shown an