Doctor warns that obesity can increase cancer-attracting oestrogen
Published:Wednesday | October 5, 2022 | 12:05 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
AS JAMAICANS begin to observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month, one general practitioner is warning that obesity can put women at risk for increased production of oestrogen, which can be a significant factor in developing breast cancer.
Dr Xaundre Mohansingh, who is attached to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James, sounded the warning while addressing Sunday’s staging of the West Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists’ annual ‘Save Your Breast’ symposium. The event was held to mark the start of Breast Cancer Awareness month, which is observed every October.
Dr Mohansingh said that cancer cells can react to oestrogen, a hormone which promotes the development of female characteristics, to include breast growth.
HIGHER RISK
“There are different hormones that breast cancer responds to, and one of the main ones is oestrogen. Oestrogen can stimulate the breast tissue to grow even more, and because these abnormal cells are responding to the oestrogen, the more oestrogen they get, the more they are dividing. And it puts you at higher risk of one of these divisions going awry and then you end up developing a rogue cell that becomes a cancer,” said Dr Mohansingh.
“It is very interesting that your body makes a lot of oestrogen if you are obese. Fat makes oestrogen, so perhaps we should be more concerned about this ‘obesity pandemic’, as obesity is defined, based on body mass index (BMI), which is calculated based on your height and your weight,” Dr Mohansingh added.
“The reality is that a lot of our people are coming in with BMIs of 35 and 40, morbid obesity, and then they get the breast cancer diagnosis and they say, ‘It is the chicken I eat.’ It is not the chicken necessarily; but rather, it is the unhealthy lifestyle that contributes to this obesity that is probably more closely linked with your higher oestrogen level,” he explained.
Dr Mohansingh also noted that women who had their first period at an early age or had their last period late in life can develop high levels of oestrogen.
“If it is that you have your first period very early, it means you are exposed to those high levels of oestrogen from early. If your last period is very late, it means you continue to be exposed to oestrogen until very late. It really has to do with that prolonged oestrogen exposure,” Dr Mohansingh explained.
“It does not mean that if your last period happened at age 60 you are going to get breast cancer; it just means that, statistically, you are more likely than the average member of the population to get breast cancer. Where we should focus is on detecting it early, because you can definitely live a very comfortable and happy cancer-free life if you can diagnose that cancer early.”
TEMPERANCE IN DIET
Meanwhile, general practitioner Dr Lori-Ann Bellanfante told the symposium that while some Jamaicans often voice concern about the effects of hormones in foods such as chicken, more focus should be placed on moderation in all things, including diet.
“When you ... go anywhere in Jamaica and buy food, chicken is one of the top things on the menu, so we tend to be exposed more to that meat product. We do not know where it was produced or grown, so we really do not know the content of it,” said Dr Bellanfante.
“If they do use hormones in the meat, you are at risk for different things, not necessarily only breast cancer. Not because it is chicken means it is a bad option. My suggestion is temperance, and if you raise the chicken, you are more likely to know what is in it,” Dr Bellanfante added.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness has identified breast cancer as the leading cancer among Jamaican women, with 1,208 new cases discovered in 2020.
On a global scale, the World Health Organisation has reported that approximately 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, with 685,000 deaths resulting from the disease.