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 Over
570,000 people are expected to die from cancer in 2005, and according
to a report, more than 60 percent of those deaths could have been
prevented if Americans adopted healthier lifestyles. The American
Cancer Society said that Americans could realistically cut their
cancer death rate in half by:
- Quitting smoking
- Exercising more
- Eating healthier food
- Getting recommended cancer screenings
In 2005, over 1.3 million Americans will learn they have cancer,
and of the expected 570, 280 cancer deaths it's estimated that
more than 168,000 of those will be caused by tobacco use and one-third
will be related to poor nutrition, physical inactivity, being overweight
or obese or other lifestyle factors. That makes up 62 percent of
all cancer deaths.
To show how an American could, in reality, reduce their death risk
from cancer, one expert pointed out that quitting smoking would
eliminate about 50 percent of cancer deaths, while maintaining a
healthy body weight and exercising would eliminate another 10 percent.
Another fraction would be reduced by regular cancer screenings,
as some cancers, such as breast, colon and prostate cancers, are
easily treated if caught early on before they spread. According
to researchers, if all women between the ages of 50 and 79 got mammograms
every year, breast cancer deaths would go down by nearly 40 percent.
The easiest way to prevent cancer, according to the report, is
to stop all use of tobacco. Education, excise taxes on cigarettes
and clean air laws have all helped to get the nation's smoking
rate down to below 25 percent, however, another major cancer risk,
obesity, appears to be harder to slow down.
Experts say making healthy food more easily accessible and increasing
physical activity is a step in the right direction to tackling obesity,
along with getting schools to remove sodas and other junk foods
from their vending machines.
| Adult
Cancer Risks |
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As adults, there's still much we can do to cut our cancer
risk. Here's how we're doing:
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More than one in four men and more than one in five women
still smoke cigarettes.
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Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight. That
includes the 30 percent of us who are obese.
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Not quite half of U.S. adults get enough exercise.
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Only about one in four U.S. adults eats five or more
servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
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American
Cancer Society March 31, 2005 (60-page FREE PDF)
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