Study Shows 10% Weight Loss in 2 Years Raises Red Flags: Why You Should See the Doctor Immediately!

| Unintentional weight loss of 10% or more in the last two years is a “red flag”

A recent study has shown that unintentional weight loss of 10% or more in the last two years can increase the risk of cancer.

The research team recommends medical consultation for such occurrences, indicating them as signals of potential cancer risk.

According to a report by Yonhap News, a research team led by Dr. Brian Wolpin at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the United States revealed the results of a long-term follow-up of over 157,000 medical professionals for up to 38 years in the Journal of the American Medical Association on the 24th.

The research team found that the risk of cancer diagnosis within a year was significantly higher in cases where weight loss of 10% or more occurred unintentionally.

Dr. Wolpin, who conducted the study, said, “Unexpected weight loss can occur due to cancer or various other diseases.”

He further advised, “While weight loss due to exercise or a healthy diet can be beneficial to health if weight loss is unintentional, you had better consult with a doctor to determine whether testing is needed for cancer or other causes.”

The research team stated that they conducted the follow-up for 157,474 participants until 2016 in two large-scale longitudinal studies, including the Nurses’ Health Study targeting nurses aged 30 to 55 from 1976 and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study targeting male medical professionals aged 40 to 75 from 1986.

Based on diet and physical activity information, the research team classified the participants’ weight loss behaviors into ‘high’, ‘medium’, and ‘low’ groups.

During the total observation of 1.64 million person-years (1 person-year is the value of observing one person for one year), it was found that a total of 15,809 cases of cancer occurred, which is 964 cases per 100,000 person-years.

It was found that people who lost 10% or more of their weight in the last two years had 1,362 cases of cancer diagnosis within 12 months per 100,000 person-years. This is 493 cases more per 100,000 person-years than those who did not lose weight (869 cases per 100,000 person-years).

The number of cancer cases among participants who lost 10% or more of their weight without intending to lose weight was 2,687 per 100,000 person-years. This is more than twice as many participants who did not lose weight (1,220 cases per 100,000 person-years).

Among cancers, the research team explained that there were particularly many cases of upper gastrointestinal cancers such as the esophagus, stomach, liver, bile duct, and pancreas. The number of upper gastrointestinal cancer cases among participants who lost 10% or more of their weight was 173 per 100,000 person-years. This is nearly five times as many participants who did not lose weight (35 cases per 100,000 person-years).