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Making good personal and collective lifestyle decisions can significantly reduce the cancer risk of Americans, said a new report released on World Cancer Day, Feb. 4, 2011, by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and Work Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).
The report concluded that if Americans simply followed the recommended guidelines of eating a varied and healthy diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight and limiting their alcohol consumption, as many as 340,000 new cancer cases could be prevented each year, including some common cancers.
That boils down to 38 percent fewer breast cancers, 45 percent less colon cancers and the number of stomach cancers would nearly be cut in half by 47 percent.
There is also consistently convincing evidence that not using tobacco, avoiding excessive sun exposure, and protecting against cancer-causing infections such as the human papillomavirus or HPV, would further reduce cancer risk in the United States and around the world.
Cancer was once considered to be a “Western” disease, but not anymore. Just a few decades ago, affluent industrialized countries had a greater cancer burden because tobacco use began early and reached an epidemic, occupational carcinogens were used without safeguards and the Western lifestyle and diet—characterized by eating food high in calories, fat, refined carbohydrates and meat, along with engaging in low physical activity—became the societal norm.
Globally, the Western diet is associated with a multitude of disease conditions, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arterial hypertension and many types of cancer.
Now with increasing wealth and industrialization in developing countries, the disease has emerged as a major public health problem there too, matching its effect in industrialized nations. Back in 2003, WHO warned when it released its landmark World Cancer Report, that if gone unchecked, global cancer rates would sharply increase – from 10 million new cases globally in 2000, to 15 million in 2020.
The spike in the global cancer burden, according to the report, will mainly be due to steadily aging populations in developed and developing countries and current trends in smoking prevalence and the growing adoption of unhealthy Western lifestyles.
In developed countries, the probability of receiving a cancer diagnosis is still more than twice as high as in developing countries. Conversely, in rich countries, overall 50 percent of cancer patients die of the disease, while in developing countries, 80 percent of cancer victims already have late-stage incurable tumors when they are diagnosed, pointing to the need for much better early detection and treatment programs, among other preventative measures.
Along with healthy eating habits, exercise remains one of the single most important activities for preventing disease. Yet in low- and middle-income countries, few national guidelines for physical inactivity currently exist.
Dr. Tim Armstrong, WHO's Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, said physical activity is recommended for people of all ages as a means to reduce risks for certain types of cancers and other non-communicable diseases.
To answer the need, WHO released a new report called >Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health that provides solid exercise guidelines for all people ages 5 through 65.
“Adults can improve their health and prevent several diseases by doing at least 150 minutes moderate physical activity throughout the week. This can be achieved by simply walking 30 minutes five times per week or by cycling to work daily,” Armstrong said.
You can be part of World Cancer Day and support the fight against the global cancer epidemic by signing the World Cancer Declaration to motivate global leaders to set realistic and achievable directives for preventing cancer during the United Nations Summit for Non-Communicable Diseases in September 2011. This is only the second time world leaders have focused on health since 1947.
You can also learn more about World Cancer Day and the global cancer epidemic by taking the LIVESTRONG 5 question World Cancer Day Quiz at http://quiz.livestrong.org
Lynette Summerill is an award-winning writer who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition to writing about cancer-related issues for EmpowHER, she pens Nonsmoking Nation, a blog following global tobacco news and events.
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