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To what extent is cancer a lifestyle disease?
Scientists from the Canadian University of Calgary decided to determine that precisely in a recent study based on data from the cancer registry of the province of Alberta.
They found that cancer risk is not only closely related to a person’s lifestyle, but that it can also be quickly changed in your favor – when you have the right data.
That means it’s possible to significantly reduce the chance of developing cancer by making just a few simple lifestyle changes.
And if you want to know how much a person’s lifestyle affects their level of cancer risk, it’s a little over 40%.
More precisely, the scientists estimated that 40.8% of sporadic cancer cases “could be attributed” to 24 factors they specified in their study. But let’s quote the scientists themselves:
“Overall we estimate that 40.8% of sporadic cancer cases could be attributed to the 24 factors included in the analysis.
The largest cancer burden was attributable to tobacco, accounting for about 15.7% of all sporadic cancer cases (2,485 cases), followed by physical inactivity and excess body weight, accounting for about 7.2% and 4.3% of sporadic cancer cases, respectively.”
Risky lifestyle choices
The scientists were completely confident in their assumptions. According to the study’s notes, the 24 assigned risk factors were:
- smoking (passive and active)
- overweight or obesity
- insufficient physical activity
- insufficient consumption of fruit and vegetables
- insufficient fiber intake
- excessive consumption of red and processed meat
- insufficient intake of calcium and vitamin D
- alcohol consumption
- oral contraceptives and hormone therapy
- Epstein-Barr virus
- hepatitis B and C viruses
- human papillomavirus
- Helicobacter pylori
- air pollution
- natural and artificial UV radiation
- radon and by-products of water disinfection
Based on the data, the scientists were able to conclude that a number of personal decisions available to individuals actually open them up to higher risks of developing some form of cancer.
Specifically, it was clarified that diet is strongly associated with the risks of particular types of cancer. At the same time, exercise and avoiding other common environmental factors help prevent cancer.
The researchers mentioned attributable items, such as “modifiable lifestyle and environmental risk factors,” which means that these things can be changed and their effects on the risk levels of cancer types can be reversed.
In addition, the study found that women have a slightly higher overall estimated population risk, representing 42.4%, compared with men, for whom it is only 38.7%.
Conclusions of the study
Although the data collected by the researchers may prove extremely useful, they are still not complete.
In fact, the researchers themselves admit that the data on the population’s level of exposure “was insufficient,” at least in one area they wanted to investigate – radiation for therapeutic purposes.
Expert estimates were used here.
Based on all the collected data and the estimated results, the study concludes that it is easy to understand that 40.8% of cancers are attributed to modifiable lifestyle and environmental risk factors.
Tobacco smoking, physical inactivity and excess body weight contributed the most to the cancer burden.
This means that if a person could eliminate these three things from their lifestyle, they could effectively reduce their cancer risk.
It’s always useful to remember that you still have some power in your own hands even in the case of sometimes deadly and infinitely terrifying cancer.
Read more useful tips on cancer prevention on our site in the Cancer category.
