Belly Fat Linked to Pancreatic Cancer

In addition to being strongly linked to higher rates of heart disease in both women and men, having excess belly fat, or the body type where most of the weight is distributed in the mid section, or the “pear” shape as it has been termed, is now being linked to another deadly disease.  Actually, a very deadly one that has hit the news full force since Patrick Swayze’s battle went public, it’s pancreatic cancer, or cancer of the pancreas. 

New studies in women are showing that women who carry most of their excess weight around the midsection have as much as a 70% higher chance of getting pancreatic cancer than women who do not hold most of their weight concentrated in the belly.  That is not only significant from a statistical perspective, but mind bogglingly huge!  It not only shows that belly fat can be deadly, but it shows a direct, huge reduction in the risk simply by keeping that waistline trim.

And, with pancreatic cancer having a high mortality rate and being among the top five cancer related deaths in the US, this is definitely something that men and women allover are going to want to pay attention to.  They are even saying that the excess body fat around the midsection may predict the increased likelihood of pancreatic cancer better than the BMI body measurement. 

It’s just one more reason that keeping that waist in check is important.  It’s becoming clearer and clearer that weight management is not just a vanity issue any more, but with these new studies being published all the time about it’s relationship to deadly disease and debilitating illnesses, it has really gotten across that we as a human race were not meant for obesity, it’s just how we’ve evolved and our society that has cultivated this environment of fatty foods as well as a sedentary lifestyle.