Cancer symptoms: Top 14 early signs to look out for
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Cancer statistics engender a sense of hopelessness: anyone can get struck down by the deadly disease. However, look a little closer, and you’ll see there are myriad ways to modify your risk. The most obvious being smoking tobacco.
“Smoking cigarettes is the single biggest risk factor for lung cancer,” warns the NHS.
“It’s responsible for more than 70 percent of cases.”
However, there are other modifiable risk factors within your grasp. One of which affects millions of people in the UK.
According to Cancer Research UK, “robust scientific evidence shows that being overweight or obese increases the risk of 13 different types of cancer”.
In fact, the charity says “obesity is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking”.
It causes the following types of cancer:
- Breast and bowel (two of the most common cancer types)
- Pancreatic, oesophageal and gallbladder (three of the hardest to treat cancers)
- Womb and ovarian
- Kidney, liver and upper stomach
- Myeloma (a type of blood cancer)
- Meningioma (a type of brain tumour)
- Thyroid.
How does obesity cause cancer?
Cancer Research UK explains: “Extra fat in the body doesn’t just sit there, it’s active, sending out signals to the rest of your body.
“These signals can tell cells in our body to divide more often, which can lead to cancer.”
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The signals released by fat cells can affect:
- Growth hormones- too much body fat can cause levels of growth hormones to rise, which tells cells to divide more often. This raises the chance that cancer cells will develop
- Inflammation- when there are more fat cells in the body, immune cells go to the area, possibly to remove dead fat cells. This can lead to inflammation, which causes cells to divide more quickly. Over time, this can increase the risk of cancer
- Sex hormones- after the menopause, fat cells produce the hormone oestrogen. This can make cells in the breast and womb divide more often which increases the risk of cancer developing.
These are the main ways scientists have identified so far, but research continues to find out more about the ways extra body fat can cause cancer.
What counts as obesity?
The term obese describes a person who’s very overweight, with a lot of body fat.
The most widely used method to check if you’re a healthy weight is body mass index (BMI).
BMI is a measure of whether you’re a healthy weight for your height. For most adults, a BMI of 30 to 39.9 means you’re obese, explains the NHS.
How to aid weight loss
Eating a healthy, balanced diet promotes weight loss and it also helps reduce your risk of some cancers, says Macmillan Cancer support.
The charity explains: “Eating plenty of high-fibre foods helps reduce the risk of bowel cancer. Red and processed meat are linked to a higher risk of bowel and prostate cancer.”
It says to try and limit how much you eat.
Red meats include beef, pork, lamb and veal. Processed meats include sausages, bacon, salami, tinned meats, and packet meats like sandwich ham.
Cancer symptoms to spot
It’s important to be aware of any new or worrying symptoms.
“Although it’s unlikely to be cancer, it’s important to speak to a GP so they can investigate. Finding cancer early means it’s easier to treat,” explains the NHS.
Signs to spot include:
- Changes in bowel habits
- Bloating
- Bleeding
- Coughing, chest pain and breathlessness
- Lump in your breast.
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