Wearing Tight Belt Increases Chance Of Throat Cancer - A Study

Beware people! The tight belts can look OK on you but it is just getting you closer to a cancer risk. The recent study in UK shows that the chances of getting infected with throat cancer doubles when you are using a tight belt on your waist. Experts believe wearing a belt can force acid into the oesophagus, damaging the cells and increasing the risk of throat cancer.

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The researchers, from Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities and The Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, tested 24 people with no history of acid reflux.

They asked them to swallow a probe, which took measurements before and after each person had eaten a meal.

Half of the participants were normal waist sizes and the other overweight and readings were taken when they had a belt on and off.

They found that even in healthy people, wearing a tight belt caused a partial hiatus hernia, which makes acid reflux more likely. A hiatus hernia happens when part of the stomach squeezes into the chest through an opening in the diaphragm, which can in turn cause acid to leak into the oesophagus.

This is linked to cancer because the acid pushed up into the gullet by wearing a belt can damage cells in the oesophagus, causing them to change.

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They also found this was more pronounced in those who were overweight. The findings were reported in the British Medical Journal Gut. Researchers said they were concerned as oesophageal cancer is one of the most rapidly increasing forms of the disease in the world.

Cancer of the oesophagus is fairly rare in the UK, with around 8,200 people diagnosed every year. But the number of people with the disease has almost doubled in 30 years, with the rise being linked to obesity and acid reflux.

The study also suggested that taking in antacids was reducing the risk of throat cancers by 41%. Also the fact that the symptoms of esophagus cancer are rarely detected as heartburns are diagnosed at very late stages. The chances of survival just gets reduced by the time.

Inputs n Photo From Telegraph

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- Unknown Updated at: Wednesday, October 02, 2013