Does Obesity Put You at Risk for Multiple Myeloma?

Obesity is a growing problem in the United States and in fact more than one-third of Americans are obese. This puts them at risk for diseases like diabetes, heart disease and several cancers, including multiple myeloma.

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With multiple myeloma, the plasma cells in bone marrow produce high levels of abnormal antibodies and crowd out white and red blood cells. Essentially the cancerous cells take over a person’s bone marrow, causing them bone pain, excessive thirst and kidney failure. Risk factors that are linked to this blood cancer include:

• Age: The risk for multiple myeloma goes up as you age.
• Gender: Men are more likely to get myeloma than women.
• Race: African-Americans are at high risk for myeloma.
• Family history: People who have a close relative with myeloma has a higher risk of getting it.
• Having MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance)
• Being overweight or obese