A recent research has identified cancer as an environmental disease that is caused mainly by avoidable lifestyle factors.
The new evidence from the recent World Cancer Congress suggests that cancer is more often caused by the environment a person lives in than innate biology, News.com.au reported.
Cancer Council Queensland spokeswoman Katie Clift said that the key to reducing cancer incidence lies in prevention. For example, about 47,000 breast cancer deaths worldwide could be avoided every year if physical inactivity was eliminated as a risk factor, she added.
Clift said that it was also important that all eligible women had breast screens and took part in vaccination programs to reduce cancer rates, since an early detection is also vital. She suggested people to visit GP regularly to discuss any symptoms or body changes and look for lifestyle changes they can make to reduce the cancer risk.
She urged smokers to give up the habit, adding tobacco use was the cause of most preventable cancers.
By 2030, tobacco is projected to kill eight million people annually, unless people continue to introduce initiatives that help existing smokers quit and prevent others from taking up the lethal habit, she said. Other risk factors included diet, occupational carcinogens and infectious agents, she added.
Clift said that the rates of overweight and obesity are increasing at all income levels. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of some cancers, she concluded.
Source : Iran Daily
