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Alcohol, smoking and a high body mass index (BMI) are preventable risk factors responsible for nearly half of cancer deaths worldwide, according to new research funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Research published in lancet On Thursday, a study of cancer cases in 2019 found that 44% of cancer deaths were caused by preventable risk factors. The three main risk factors are smoking, heavy drinking, and high BMI. Both male and female patients experienced the same risk factors.
The study showed that 42% of disability-adjusted life years, or healthy years an individual loses due to cancer, are attributed to these risk factors worldwide.
However, risk factors differed when adjusted for specific regional income groups. In low-income countries, unsafe sex was one of the major risk factors, while in high-income regions, the original three global risk factors occurred.
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This study analyzed global mortality and disability from cancer using data collected by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease project.
“To the best of our knowledge, this study is the largest effort to date to determine the global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, and the burden attributable to the risk of specific cancers within a country. , internationally, and globally,” researchers at the University of Washington Institute for Health Measurement and Evaluation said in the study.
“Although some cancer cases cannot be prevented, governments can work at the population level and support an environment that minimizes exposure to known cancer risk factors,” said the researchers. “Primary prevention, or preventing cancer from occurring, is a particularly cost-effective strategy, but secondary prevention initiatives, such as screening programs and ensuring effective diagnostic capacity, are needed to address the burden of cancer. It needs to be combined with a more comprehensive effort to help and treat cancer patients.”
The researchers also noted that government policies, such as high taxation and regulation of tobacco products, have made “substantial progress.”
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“Behavioral risk factors are strongly influenced by the environment in which people live, and cancer patients should not be blamed for their disease,” the researchers clarified.
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