British Women - Unhealthy Lifestyles Have Led to Higher Rates of Cancer!

Data from the World Health Organisation, found that Britain has higher rates of potential fatal disease than the USA, Australia, Germany and Spain.  The statistics reveal that British women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer because of their unhealthy lifestyles.  Cause for concern for?   

A project called GLOBOCAN, set up by the WHO, collects figures on the incidence of and deaths from the most common types of cancer for countries across the world.  The data which was used and analysed for a recent study by the World Cancer Research Fund, found that Britain is the 12th worst of the 50 countries in terms of rates of all cancers among women, and is rated 11th worst for breast cancer.  The figures show that although Belgium is the worse with 109.2 cases per 100,000 women in 2008 with breast cancer, Britain is not far behind with 89.1 cases per 100,000.  There are around 46,000 breast cancer cases per year in the UK, of which a quarter die.

Although high levels of breast cancer rates may be attributed to better detection methods such as new technological advancements and increased awareness, experts claim that lifestyle choices also plays a significant factor.
Meg McArthur, Senior Policy and Information Officer for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, says that “Breast cancer is thought to be due to a combination of lifestyle, genetic and environmental factors and although some risk factors cannot be changed, women can reduce their risk by drinking less, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly.”

Currently international studies demonstrates that Britons now eat and drink more than their counterparts in many other countries.  Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics shows that 56 percent of women over the age of 16 drinks more than double the recommended daily allowance of alcohol every week, while 24 per cent of women in England are classified obese.

Therefore, experts claim that the high number of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK could be avoided if women adopted healthier lifestyles, including drinking less alcohol, eating better and doing more exercise.
Sarah Woolnough, director of policy for Cancer Research UK said "We do know that up to half of all cancers could be prevented by changes to lifestyle such as giving up smoking, keeping a healthy weight and cutting down on alcohol"

The National Cancer Director, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said "We want to vastly improve cancer outcomes - that’s why we will shortly be launching the first ever Government awareness campaign for cancer, to promote earlier diagnosis and to save more lives.”

Raise awareness for women's health! 
In aid of International Women’s Day this year, the Royal Society for Public Health will be running a programme on the 8^th March on "Women’s Health and Well-being".  The event will raise awareness of interrelationship between lifestyle and health, while educating participants about the steps they can take to empower women to improve their physical and mental health.  For further information or to attend the programme please contact Nicolette Smith or by phone 020 3177 1625. 

Are We Eating Enough Variety of Fruit and Veg?

We are often being reminded of the many health benefits derived from eating our five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, especially in helping to prevent cancer.  However, The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study has revealed that in relation to lung cancer, the important thing is not just the quantity but also the variety of fruit.  By consuming a wider variety fruits and vegetables, we can reduce the risk of lung cancer by 23%.    

The EPIC study involves 23 centres from 10 European countries (Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Greece, Holland, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom and Sweden, working with a sample of 500,000 European subjects (41,000 of whom live in the Spanish regions of Asturias, Granada, Guipúzcoa, Murcia and Navarre).  The results of the study, which have been published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, demonstrates that eating "more than eight sub-groups" of vegetables cuts this risk by 23% compared with eating "less than four sub-groups". In addition, this risk falls by a further 4% for each unit added to the diet from another sub-group.  This link was found only in smokers. 

Lung cancer is considered to be the most common type of cancer in the developed countries.  Statistics from Cancer Research UK indicate that lung cancer is also the most common cause of death from cancer for both men and women.  Thus, despite the encouraging evidence produced by the study,  Sánchez Pérez, director of the Granada Cancer Registry at the Andalusian School of Public Health, concludes that "the most effective way of preventing it (lung cancer) continues to be reducing the prevalence of tobacco consumption among the populace".