well this insulting - BC a "fat" cancer?

minxie

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110204/ap_on_he_me/us_med_cancer_world

This article decribes breast and colon cancer as caused by obesity and calls them "fat" cancers.

I have never been overweight and I've generally been a pretty healthy eater. Most people I've known with BC (granted, I haven't met many) don't look fat to me. I think a generalization like this just gives more ammunition to the people who like to blame the individual for their illness.

Granted there certainly is domething in the Western lifestyle, be it food, additives, environment, estrogens - that cause us to have higher BC rates. But It's not because BC sufferers are all "fat".

LuvRVing

I have a friend who's had BC three separate times.  She's a size 2-4 and has been since before her first diagnosis.  She eats an extremely healthy diet and exercises six days a week.  She is a perfect example of the "flaw" in calling BC a "fat" cancer.  Generalizations like this make me crazy.  It's the same with Type 2 Diabetes.  We are not all obese and lazy! 

 Some day they'll find real causes for these afflictions.

Michelle

lrr4993

I don't think BC is a "fat" cancer, but I have read several good sources that all say that many (but certainly not all) BC diagnoses are due to diet.  I would not be surprised if mine was a nutritional issue.  I had a horrible diet pre BC - ate too much of foods that had absolutely no nutritional value.

1Athena1

I wouldn't worry about this. If we have a known cause or cure, the industry of people speculating or doing studies would die. Since we do not have a known cause or cure, the chatter continues.

I am sure you could design a study that shows an association between bc and blue eyes, or bc and living in red brick homes. Then you publish it somewhere and, because people don't know the difference between an association and a cause, they will then say that blue eyes and living in red brick homes cause bc, and that bc (a second error of logic) can be cured by selling your house and wearing green or brown contact lenses. And that prevention is the cure (a third error of logic).

There is someone posting here who says that what you eat can prevent cancer. I hope, for her sake, that she doesn't get a recurrence, because the disappointment will be huge.

Obesity and second hand smoke seem to be huge fads in research today and everything is being attributed to them. It is cheaper to conduct studies of obesity than to engage in the very high cost, risky projects that cost many millions but that may find a cure. 

hymil

No and if you believe the popular press here, it's because we are all alcoholics too. Fat and p*ssed. And that's before treatment!

lago

Gee and I read if you are premenopausal and thin you have a slightly higher risk of getting BC but then just the opposite after menopause.

So that means breast cancer is both a thin and fat cancer.

Seriously though we all know that being overweight (or very underweight) isn't healthy for a lot of reasons. Best to try our best to lose the weight if we have access.

Titan

Size 8 pre BC..size 10 or 12 with a jelly belly now after BC...and now I eat better and exercise more..not that I didn't do that pre BC.

Sometimes I think these studies are a joke.  The women I know that have/had BC are not fat..nor ever have been fat...

mdg

I weigh 120 lbs......so I shouldn't have it right?  Please.......

lorieg

Ugh, I agreee, so irritating.  Obesity is a risk factor, but not all of us our fat! 

5'7" and 120 pounds here.  I have always been very thin.

Lori

IHOP

If that's true then lots of my family and friends should be walking cancer cases.  I was slim and trim before cancer.  Not so now after all the steroids and menopause.

IHOP

That's it!  I've had it.  TAPEWORMS for everybody. 

Bren-2007

I wasn't chubby when I got cancer, but I'm chubby now.  If being thin was all it took, we'd all strive to be tiny.

SuebeeBC

Stop the presses and someone please tell my breast that it shouldnt have gotten cancer!  When your 12 year old daughter has larger breasts than you and you come in at 115 pounds - its not possible to get the 'fat cancers'!!!    Gimme a break.  Coffee is bad for you, then its good.  Wine every day is healthy, but then it causes cancer.  Eat this, not that.  UGH...they dont know...they are just trying to work it out.  Call me please when you have a cure and dont involve me in all of this push and pull!!!

IHOP

I think its all the skinny people trying to convince themselves that they are 'safe' from getting cancer.  I've got news for them.

tougherthanithought

Yup, it's all bulls@#%.  Size 4, 120 lbs., fit, exercised 3-4 times per week pre-BC.  Cancer doesn't care...thin or fat, healthy diet or not so healthy diet.  That's why I don't make myself crazy trying to eat 100% organic, and perfect all the time.  And I enjoy my wine.  If I have a recurrance, so be it.  I mostly did all the "right" things before I got it, so I'm not going to stop doing some of the things I enjoy.

And SueBeeBc, I totally agree about how "they" are always changing the rules about what's good for us and what is not.  Moderation, Moderation, Moderation.

mmm5

5'7 125 pounds when diagnosed at 42. I also worked out a lot, ate healthy, and my 3 overweight sisters never have had bc.

Smile_On

I also fall into the thin, very active category pre-BC.

I think too often people like to blame cancer on genetics, weight, nutrition, etc. so they don't have to be so afraid of it themselves.  I do think all of those things can definitely be a big factor and play a role in increasing risk, but not having those risk factors does not give you a "get out of jail free" card.  I think it is important that extremely healthy and fit people know that as a part of their healthy lifestyle they need to include self-breast exams and clinical check-ups & mammograms if they are old enough.  I know it scared several people when I was diagnosed.  An otherwise healthy 27 year old with no family history who ate well and ran up and down dunes and strength trained with a group several times a week.  People don't want to think that it could happen to them, and although we don't want to make people crazy, they do need to be aware to being sensitive about changes in their body.

weety

5 ft 2, 100 lbs.  Nope, no fat here.  I think the "fat" they might be referring to is the well known fact that fat cells produce estrogen and excess estrogen (hence obesity) is a known risk factor in the most common type of ER+_breast cancer.  Just a thought--I think they are just really overgeneralizing that situation.

BMac

So why doesn't my overweight SIL have breast cancer?  Generalizations are just plain stupid.  If you look at all the factors the only one I had was BRCA1....okay a pretty big risk factor but I did everything else right.  Sometimes it just happens.

alispuy

Really insulting. The ONLY risk factors I had, was two aunts on my FATHER'S side and the fact that I did not have children - as if I had control over those.

Annabella58

Same here, tiny when diagnosed (5'2", 118 lbs.) healthy (ex ballerina)...post bc, chubby, cranky, old lady due to steroid weight gain and chemo stubborn pounds.

Not much budges this, tho I am now trying weight lifting.

 These studies only serve to upset us, I don't read them.

BMac

Interesting alispuy but Dr. Oz had a show the other day on cancer myths and one is that you can only get BC from your mother's side.  The risk is exactly the same whether father's or mother's side.  But I hear you, like mine, out of your control.

Yes anniealso, you really have to take these studies with a huge grain of salt.

kira1234

What really bothers me is the weight gain since I started the AL's. I have often wondered is it doing more harm than good. I've gained about 10 pounds in the last 3 months, and no my food intake hasn't increased.

poodleluvbug

I am thin and healthy...until the breast cancer! I exercize everyday and eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables...usually organic(I live on a farm). My BC wasn't from being overweight! I have had "friends" tell me that they will never get it because they eat blueberries or a lot of veges...anyone can get it!

susand

I am 5'5 and 120 pounds and have always exercised.  I was 42 at DX with no family history.  The thing that gets me about BC is that is certainly does not discriminate.  Look at Linda Mccartney.  She had her own line of health foods, was a strick vegan,exercised and very thin.  I do eat very healthy and exercise almost daily but I dont try and kid myself when it comes to cancer.  I will do everything in my power to try to prevent a recurrence but I deffinately dont feel 'safe' due to my wieght or lifestyle.

poodleluvbug

I even had one elderly lady tell me that she has never had a mammogram but that she will never get breast cancer because it "isn't in her family". People get it everyday with no family history. I have had so many ladies say..."well I will never get it because of..." I think ladies are scared that since I got it (my mom, sisters, aunts, female cousins...no cancer)...and that I am thin and healthy that they could get it...and they could! I was really annoyed when one lady said that If I would have had a healthier diet and I wouldn't have gotten it. I don't eat fast food...I don't drink soda of any kind...my diet is filled with fresh produce. I didn't "do" anything to cause this BC! Just venting...lol!

dlb823

I'd like to read the original report or comments.  I think this quote is accurate:

"Sadly, changing ways of life, such as reduced physical activity, are making people unhealthier and in turn prone to such diseases as cancer," Dr. Eduardo Cazap, president of the Union for International Cancer Control, said in a statement released by the World Health Organization.

However, either the researcher or the medical writer (not sure which, since I haven't read the original report)  have short-circuited this observation to jump to a "fat" conclusion, rather than looking at all the other changes that co-exist along with reduced physical activity in more developed countries, especially the introduction of more environmental chemicals.

I'm also an athletic size 4-6... always ate healthy and took tons of supplements... slim Dad who succumbed to metastatic colon cancer...  slim family members also had bc, including 2 dx'd pre-40.  Clearly a yet-undiscovered genetic pre-dispostion, in my case spurred on with HRT.

IMO, it's a stupid and annoying article because it may lead women to believe that if they're not overweight, they're "safe" from developing bc, and, conversely, may put totally unnecessary guilt on those who carry a few extra pounds that had absolutely nothing to do with their developing bc.    Deanna

msmpatty

A group of Canadian researchers recently set out to show that you can "prove" all kinds of crazy connections as to why people have various medical problems.  They looked at medical problems based on the astrological sign of the patient.  One finding was that Sagittarians are more likely to break their arms.  Is being born under the sign of Sagittarius a "cause" of broken arms...the researchers scoffed at the idea!

The New Yorker recently published an article about how many big findings in medical research are not found to be true in subsequent studies.  Unfortunately, the "wrong" findings get widely published in the consumer press...the studies showing it is not true rarely do.  So we blithely go along believing things that just aren't true. 

Bottom line...the #1 characteristic common to the vast majority of people who get breast cancer is being  female!   We can't do much about that, can we ladies?  

Patty

Alpal

At diagnosis - 5'9'' and 136 lbs. 2 and a half years later - 5'8'' and I'll never tell my weight again. I used to say we had no hx of BC in my family. After my daughter and then I were diagnosed I remembered that my childhood dog had BC. They don't have a clue!

poodleluvbug

Alpal...so funny! I think I inherited my poor vision from my "vision challenged" poodle...lol!

NatureGrrl

Minxie, I agree, for many/most of us it's not because we were fat. The article I read (didn't look up the yahoo article as I don't consider them a reliable source anyway) didn't say bc (and other cancers) were caused by being fat.  Simply that people who are overweight are more prone to these cancers.  Obviously a lot of women here were fit and healthy when dx.  There's no one known cause; in fact, the information I've read indicates that a good 70% of women with bc have no know risk factors.  There are still a lot of holes in our knowledge about this disease.