As everyone knows, there are significant health hazards associated with excessive weight, frequent alcohol consumption, and smoking.
According to recent research, eliminating high-risk behaviours, and leading a healthy lifestyle can prevent 40% of cancer diagnoses. Three of the most common preventable causes of adult cancer are smoking, alcohol consumption, and being overweight, according to a study released by the American Cancer Society.
Public health experts are also urged by the study to inform the public about the possible dangers of these bad practices.
According to the study, “potentially modifiable risk” accounted for 40% of the approximately 1.8 million cancer cases in persons 30 years of age and older.The study examined thirty cancer kinds and eighteen risk factors, such as body weight and smoking, that might be changed by lifestyle decisions.
In depth
Cigarette smoking was the primary risk factor for cancer among the US-based participants, accounting for roughly 20% of cancer cases and 30% of cancer-related deaths. According to the study, which examined data from 2019, lifestyle factors were associated with over 7,00,000 new instances of cancer and over 2,62,000 deaths among persons 30 years of age and older.
The new study’s list of the top 10 cancer risk factors includes: smoking, BMI, drinking, unhealthy eating habits, absence of exercise, skipping cancer screenings and sun exposure.
Lung cancer accounted for the greatest proportion of instances associated with avoidable risk factors.
Take away
As per the study, it was possible to prevent 104,410 lung cancer cases in males and 97,250 cases in women. Skin melanoma (50,570 instances) and colon cancer (44,310 cases) were the second most prevalent avoidable cancers.
The number of lung cancer deaths caused by smoking in the United States is still very high, even though smoking rates have dropped significantly in the past few decades, stated Farad Islami, the study’s primary author and senior scientific director of cancer disparities research at the American Cancer Society.
Additionally, according to Islami, the study emphasises the necessity of strict tobacco control laws in each state to assist individuals in quitting smoking and to promote early lung cancer identification.
