Meta-Study Says the Best Medicine for Cancer Is Prevention

Being overweight can significantly increase your risk of cancer, according to a joint study recently released by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research. The 517-page report, Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective, is the largest study ever to explore the connection between lifestyle and cancer, and represents the work of nine independent research teams that evaluated over 7000 existing studies over five years.

The release of the report coincided with the publication of research from the American Cancer Institute and other large health organizations that death rates from cancer have been dropping by about 2.1% a year recently in the United States. The positive progression is thought not to be the result of miraculous medical breakthroughs but improvements in prevention, early detection and treatment of some of the leading causes of cancer death. Prevention, early detection and lifestyle improvements continue to be the best weapons we have against many of the most deadly cancers.

In addition to the cancer risk associated with excess body fat, the WCRF-AICR study offered 10 lifestyle recommendations to help ward off cancer, including limiting red meat consumption and excessive drinking, exercising daily, avoiding processed meats such as bacon and ham, and eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The research synthesizes many individual reports that have found similar lifestyle-cancer connections for specific cancers.

Over 10 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year worldwide, and the study claims that the lifestyle changes it advocates could prevent about 3 million of those cases. Experts think the other two-thirds of the cancer cases are caused by factors including genetic predisposition, ultraviolet light, chemical pollutants, and smoking.

The WCRF-AICR report summarizes its public health recommendations:

Most cancer is preventable. The risk of cancers is often influenced by inherited factors. Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that the two main ways to reduce the risk of cancer are achievable by most well informed people, if they have the necessary resources. These are not to smoke tobacco and to avoid exposure to tobacco smoke; and to consume healthy diets and be physically active, and to maintain a healthy weight. Other factors, in particular infectious agents, and also radiation, industrial chemicals, and medication, affect the risk of some cancers.

Tags: medicine

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