Obesity Can Both Enlarge Your Breasts and Kill Your Spine

Obesity

Huntsville, AL – Obesity can affect your body in a variety of ways. Whether the condition makes it harder for you to exercise, increases your risk of cancer or messes with your ability to process insulin, there is hardly any place that obesity cannot touch. It is obvious to doctors who treat it on a regular basis and the majority of Americans that have the condition. However, just because the condition and its treatment, weight loss surgery, is common, it doesn’t mean that people are comfortable talking about it. In fact, it is a taboo to talk about another person’s weight in public.

Another topic that most people don’t talk about in most parts of the United States is female sexual health. Whether it involves the prevention of communicable disease or the likelihood of cancer in places like ovaries or breasts, most people are even uncomfortable to talk about these things in a medical context.

So, when you combine the two topics, it can be a twice as difficult conversation. However, it is still a necessary one. Because a lot of times, people don’t realize what activities or habits do to their health until it is far too late. And we are still learning more about the effects of obesity every day. So, that is why we are going to go over the main ways that obesity affects breast health. 

Obesity Can Both Enlarge Your Breasts and Kill Your Spine

Some people think larger breasts are a good thing. For some women they are part of her body image, and there are plenty of messages in the media that seem to confirm it. However what most people won’t tell you is that there is a price to pay for having large breasts, and the part of the body that pays for it is the thoracic spine. Most people realize this but breasts are mostly made of fat and tissue. So, when a woman gains weight that means more fat gets stored in the breast tissue. With enough extra weight more pressure is added to your spine, causing a lot of long term musculoskeletal pain

So, if a woman is obese and her breast size is considered large, there is a good chance that she constantly fights back pain. 

Luckily, there are no correlations between obesity and breast reduction surgery comorbidities. Another important thing to note is that doctors tend to recommend reduction surgery after the weight loss surgery. According to an article citing the work of researcher Dr Gusenoff, “While breast reduction has benefits – including reduced pain and increased ability to exercise – the final appearance of the breasts seems better if breast reduction surgery is performed after massive weight loss. “

Obesity can Increase the Risk of Breast Cancer and Weight Loss Surgery Decreases It

There are multiple types of cancer that is associated with obesity. Kidney Cancer, Liver Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, and Gallbladder cancer are all things that are more likely to happen if you let your obesity go unchecked. But a lot of people don’t realize that it is also associated with cancers that affect reproductive organs, such as the ovaries, the lining of the uterus, and breasts. But, what makes all of those things related to obesity? Are doctors just trying to blame obesity on every condition or is there a bit of truth in there somewhere?

It turns out that they are absolutely related thanks to a key factor: hormones. 

Body fat often gives off its own hormone signal, and when those hormones become part of the already complex network of several other hormones, a lot of negative reactions can happen. According toCancer.gov, several researchers found that , “

• In postmenopausal women, a higher BMI is associated with a modest increase in risk of breast cancer. For example, a 5-unit increase in BMI is associated with a 12% increase in risk.
• Among postmenopausal women, those who are obese have a 20% to 40% increase in risk of developing breast cancer compared with normal-weight women.
• The higher risks are seen mainly in women who have never used menopausal hormone therapy and for tumors that express hormone receptors. 
• In premenopausal women, by contrast, overweight and obesity have been found to be associated with a 20% decreased risk of breast tumors that express hormone receptors “

But what is really interesting is how weight loss surgery can actually decrease the risk of these types of cancers. 

“Obese people who had weight loss surgery appear to have lower risks of obesity-related cancers than obese people who do not have bariatric surgery.”

Conclusion

There is still a lot that specialists and scientists are still trying to figure out when it comes to how our body works. It is a complex system of networks that are all interdependent on one another. All we have to go on as people is observation and conversation if we want to find ways for us and our loved ones to live long and healthy lives. So we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about things like weight loss surgery and breast health. Saving lives are worth the uncomfortable conversations. 

If you want to learn more about weight loss surgery in Huntsville, AL, visit us at www.alabariatrics.com