Obesity and Liver Cancer - Is There a Link?

Liver cancer can be of different types. They are hemangiomas, hepatic adenomas and focal nodular hyperplasia. Hepatic adenoma is also known as primary liver cancer. They generally occur in the right hepatic lobe of the liver and are not very common in occurrence. This type of cancer is generally seen in populations of Asia and Africa. It is not common in western countries.

When it happens in developed countries, it generally occurs in middle age and elderly people. It is also found to be twice occurring in men than in women. Most of the patients with this type of cancer are the ones who have liver cirrhosis. This disease happens because of chronic alcoholism which results in nodal regeneration of hepatocytes.

Alternative Cancer

There may be other forms of cancer which happen because of any complication arising from hepatitis. Although it has been seen that in many cases in Africa and Asia, the cancer results in people who have no history of alcohol abuse.

There is a belief that there is possibly a link between obesity and liver cancer. Researchers from John Hopkins Medical School, the University of California, Los Angeles, believe that obesity is an even bigger causal factor for liver cancer than for cirrhosis. When the patients were observed, more than half of them had a higher BMI or Body Mass Index than what was normal. This happens more in elderly people, as with age the weight increases and the liver becomes more susceptible to being weak and losing its compensation ability.

Obesity and Liver Cancer - Is There a Link?

Alternative Cancer