Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health working in collaboration with other World Health authorities identified specific risk factors that were linked to 12 common cancers found around the world. They found that of the 7 million world wide cancer deaths in 2001, 35% of those deaths could be attributed to nine well known behavioral and environmental risk factors.

Majid Ezzati, senior author of the study and an assistant professor at Harvard stated, “These results clearly show that many globally important types of cancer are preventable by changes in lifestyle behaviors and environmental interventions.” Her group discovered these nine risk factors explained the death of over 2 million cancer deaths world wide which could have been prevented.

1. Overweight and obesity
2. Low fruit and vegetable intake
3. Smoking (It caused 21% of the cancer deaths worldwide in 2001.)
4. Lack of physical activity
5. Alcohol
6. Unsafe sex
7. Urban air pollution
8. Indoor smoke with coal heating
9. Contaminated injections in a medical setting

High income countries, United States and Western Europe
Of the 760,000 cancer deaths attributable to the nine factors, the most significant risk factors were smoking, alcohol, overweight and obesity.

Low to middle income regions
The nine risk factors caused 1.6 million cancer deaths in low and middle income regions of the world. The most significant factors in these global areas were: smoking, alcohol and low intake of fruits and vegetables. The most frequent cause of cervical cancer was by the sexual transmission of the human papillomavirus in areas like the Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where access to cervical screenings is limited.

Ezzati concluded, “To win the war against cancer, we must focus not just on advances in bio-medical technologies, but also on technologies and policies that change the behaviors and environments that cause those cancers.”

Share |

Comments (Scroll to the end to leave a comment)

jrb5176

01/28/10 08:41

Who writes these articles? There are grammatical errors in nearly every article I've read on this site.

oldrunner

02/17/10 12:28

good

ClydeP

06/25/10 05:44

The most significant risk factor has not been addressed: Living long enough to get cancer. After all, deaths from polio, small pox, diptheria, typhus, cholera, tetanus, tuberculosis, malaria are much reduced from 50 years ago.

Want to leave a comment? Please login first.

userID/KID#:
password:

Vitamin D Improves Blood Sugar in Diabetics may Prevent Disease

Hope For Alzheimers Disease

Muscle Pain From Workout Reduced with Ginger

Monitoring of Low-Risk Prostate Cancer May Be The Best Treatment

New Version of Old Drug Gives Hope For Treating Rosacea

Most Recent Articles

Vitamin D Improves Blood Sugar in Diabetics may Prevent Disease

Hope For Alzheimers Disease

Muscle Pain From Workout Reduced with Ginger

Best Workout For Back Pain Is Weight Training

Monitoring of Low-Risk Prostate Cancer May Be The Best Treatment

More Popular Articles

Do Men or Women Need More Sleep?

6 Reasons Why You Should Drink Water

Vitamin D and Weight Loss Success

Nine Risk Factors Causing Rise in Global Cancer Deaths

Scientists Show Sugar is Addictive

Did You Know That Physical Activity Helps Sleep?

Gloomy Weather Linked to Depression

Shed Sugar to Purge Pounds

How to Keep Your Memory and Avoid Dementia

Are the Risks of Cholesterol Lowering Drugs Worth It

The Missing Link Between Diabetes and Obesity

Is Heartburn Making Your Life Miserable

Eat Your Veggies and Prevent Cancer

Nutritional Bonus Revealed In Whole Fruit

Kidney Stones Affect Heart Disease

Shortcuts

News & Announcements
Success Stories
January 2009 Announcements
February 2009 Announcements
March 2009 Announcements
April 2009 Announcements

Resources
Request FREE Wellness Proposal
Benefits Brokers
Employers
HR Directors
Wellness Coordinators
Download Brochures
Announcements
RSS Feed
Blog

Products & Services
Wellness Score
Incentives
Health Risk Appraisal (HRA)
Biometric Testing
KAM System
Health Station
Health Videos
Health Statistics
Telehealth

Health Advocates
Promotional Materials
Census Manager
emWave® Stress System
Stress Busters Challenge

Wellness Quote

Wellness Articles