Cancer is a terrifying disease that affects millions of people around the world. Some are lucky enough to survive the ordeal, and others not so much. In the integrative medicine community, naturopathic oncology is believed to be very beneficial in treating and preventing all types of cancer. This is important to know because of the diet and lifestyles we live in the United States, which have been shown to have a direct impact on the development of various types of cancer. So much so that diet is rising to the top as one of the main causes of disease. Alternative cancer treatments are available if you or someone you know has this debilitating disease.
Lifestyle Choices and Cancer Development
In the past, smoking was the leading cause of cancer, but recent studies reveal that obesity will soon be the number one cause. And what causes obesity? Diet and sedentary lifestyles. This is a major concern because more than 2.1 billion people are considered overweight or obese, representing 30 percent of the world’s population. Obesity is also to blame for about five percent of the annual deaths seen worldwide.
This is all due to the different conditions that stem from obesity, including high blood pressure, diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, heart disease, cancer, and dementia (just to name a few). In the United States alone, just eight obesity-related diseases account for 75 percent of the nation’s health care costs. Obesity leads to two main problems: insulin / leptin resistance and extreme inflammation. Integrative medicine physicians attack these problems by improving the diet and lifestyle of the cancer patients they serve.
Obesity # 1 cause of cancer
This is not yet true, but the path that Americans are taking will surely get us there, and quickly. Obesity is known to cause 10 different types of cancer. We are expected to see an increase in this variety of cancers over the next 10 years.
The evidence is pretty obvious and suggests that excess weight contributes to a significantly increased risk of cancer. Obese women have a 600 percent higher risk of developing uterine cancer, for example.
There are also elevations in colon, breast, prostate, and other gynecologic cancers when you are overweight. Obesity appears to accelerate tumor growth. There is also a correlation between cancer relapse and being overweight. For example, obese prostate cancer survivors were three percent more likely to have a relapse. Their chances of spreading the disease were also seven percent higher.
If you are battling obesity, it is a good idea to see an integrative medicine doctor. In case you are fighting cancer or need to be screened, visit one of the reputable alternative cancer treatment centers in your area to be examined by a naturopathic oncologist.