How far does old-fashioned healthy living really go towards combating cancer?
Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world, and its affecting more people each year. Yet health experts from the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) estimate one third of common cancers in the United States, China and Britain could be prevented by a few simple and practical lifestyle changes.
The experts estimate eating a healthy diet, cutting back on alcohol, avoiding smoking and maintaining a regular exercise regime could prevent some 40 per cent of breast cancers diagnosed in Britain and the United States, as well as thousands of colon, stomach and prostate cancers.
“It is distressing that even in 2011, people are dying unnecessarily from cancers that could be prevented through maintaining a healthy weight, diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors,” Martin Wiseman, a WCRF medical and scientific adviser, said in statement.
The WCRF says 27 per cent of cancer cases in China are preventable, as are 35 per cent in the United States and 37 per cent in Britain. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), cancer is expected to kill more than 13.2 million people a year by 2030, almost double the amount it killed in 2008. The vast majority of deaths will occur in poorer countries.
In Australia, Professor Graham Colditz a world-renowned leader in cancer prevention supports these healthy-living claims, admitting obesity is one of the country’s biggest threats to beating cancer. Professor Colditz says more than 14 per cent of cancer in men and 20 per cent in women were caused by obesity. “These cancer deaths could be avoided if we did not gain weight through our adult years,” Professor Colditz said.
He says this healthy-living approach is crucial for cancer prevention but also to treat current cancer patents, suggesting oncologists should raise this holistic approach when treating patients. “An oncologist is focused on the patient’s cancer but perhaps they need to look past the cancer to the whole person and discuss diet and exercise,” he said.
The experts estimate eating a healthy diet, cutting back on alcohol, avoiding smoking and maintaining a regular exercise regime could prevent some 40 per cent of breast cancers diagnosed in Britain and the United States, as well as thousands of colon, stomach and prostate cancers.
“It is distressing that even in 2011, people are dying unnecessarily from cancers that could be prevented through maintaining a healthy weight, diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors,” Martin Wiseman, a WCRF medical and scientific adviser, said in statement.
The WCRF says 27 per cent of cancer cases in China are preventable, as are 35 per cent in the United States and 37 per cent in Britain. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), cancer is expected to kill more than 13.2 million people a year by 2030, almost double the amount it killed in 2008. The vast majority of deaths will occur in poorer countries.
In Australia, Professor Graham Colditz a world-renowned leader in cancer prevention supports these healthy-living claims, admitting obesity is one of the country’s biggest threats to beating cancer. Professor Colditz says more than 14 per cent of cancer in men and 20 per cent in women were caused by obesity. “These cancer deaths could be avoided if we did not gain weight through our adult years,” Professor Colditz said.
He says this healthy-living approach is crucial for cancer prevention but also to treat current cancer patents, suggesting oncologists should raise this holistic approach when treating patients. “An oncologist is focused on the patient’s cancer but perhaps they need to look past the cancer to the whole person and discuss diet and exercise,” he said.
Source: http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/
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