A new report from the World Health Organization, out just in time for World Cancer Day (February 4th), sheds new light on the deadly disease. According to the study, four in 10 cancer cases worldwide could be avoided with lifestyle changes and researchers have identified 30 controllable risk factors as preventable causes.
“This is the first global analysis to show how much cancer risk comes from causes we can prevent,” explains Dr. André Ilbawi, the WHO’s team lead for cancer control and the study’s author. “By examining patterns across countries and population groups, we can provide governments and individuals with more specific information to help prevent many cancer cases before they start.”
- For the study, Ilbawi and a team of researchers analyzed data from 185 countries on 36 types of cancer. They found there were 18.7-million new cancer diagnoses worldwide in 2022 and about 7.1-million were linked to risk factors people can actually change.
- Smoking tobacco is the top modifiable risk factor, accounting for 15% of new cases.
- Cancer-causing infections, including HPV, are second, responsible for 10%, and drinking alcohol is third, fueling 3%.
- High BMI is next, followed by physical inactivity, smokeless tobacco, poor breastfeeding habits, air pollution, too much UV exposure and Hepatitis B round out the top 10.
- Lung, stomach and cervical cancers make up nearly half of the preventable cancer cases studied.
- Lung cancer is linked to smoking and air pollution, while stomach cancer is commonly traced back to H. pylori, a bacterial infection, and cervical cancer is “overwhelmingly” caused by HPV.
- The study finds 45% of new cancer cases in men are preventable, while 30% are for women.
- Smoking alone was behind 23% of new cancer cases in men. For women, infections lead the list with 11%.
“The percentage of preventable cancers can change over time,” Ilbawi told the BBC. “Our goal is to get it as close to zero as possible.”
Source: NY Post
Scott's Thoughts:
- This should be enough to get anyone to finally quit smoking!
- My weight has caused the majority of my health problems through the years.
- We should do something every day to try and live healthier.