Tightening your belt too much promotes heartburn and therefore could increase the risk of developing throat or esophageal cancer, reveals a study published in the scientific journal Gut.
Wearing a belt that is too tight would present health risks. According to a Scottish study, a few notches too much increase the risk of developing throat and esophageal cancer. This association, as surprising as it may seem, has yet been studied in 24 people who had no history of gastric reflux or hiatus hernia. Half had a normal waist measurement and the other half had a high waist measurement. Each of his volunteers then swallowed a device that made it possible to take gastric samples and was examined on an empty stomach and after a meal, with a belt more or less tight.
A greater risk in overweight people
The results show that a tight belt causes the valve to move between the stomach and the esophagus. This pressure pushes the acid back from the stomach to the esophagus, causing gastric reflux. However, if the wall of the stomach is capable of enduring a high level of acidity, this is not the case with the esophagus. These acid refluxes, if they are frequent, can cause lesions which, in turn, risk causing cancer of the esophagus or throat. The effect of the belt being too tight was particularly noticeable in overweight people.
Esophageal cancer, although uncommon, has a poor prognosis. The main risk factors are smoking, alcoholism as well as obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease in the case of adenocarcinoma.
Watch out for the legs too
Of course, the scope of this study is limited since it only covers 24 people, but it has long been recognized that a belt that is too tight promotes gastroesophageal reflux. It is also strongly recommended that people suffering from heartburn – which are in fact burns of the esophagus – not to try to have an artificial hourglass figure by tightening their belt. It is also proven that this unfortunate trend would also have repercussions on the lower body. It could cause numbness in the legs, which would be a sign of venous insufficiency.
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