NO TREATMENT NEEDED: The U.S. population could cut cancer deaths in HALF just by adopting healthier lifestyles

Tuesday, June 07, 2016 by: Amy Goodrich
Tags: cancer prevention, healthier lifestyle, death rates

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(NaturalNews) Every year, cancer claims the lives of more than half a million Americans, making it the second leading cause of death in the United States. In 2015, a highly controversial paper was published that suggested that many cases of cancer are the result of random errors that cells make when they divide, or as they called it "bad luck."

However, many studies have produced strong evidence that we need to stop thinking that cancer is down to bad luck or a result of factors beyond our control. A new study published in the journal JAMA Oncology found that new cases of cancer could drop by 20 to 40 percent, and cancer-related deaths could drop by half if we start adopting a healthier lifestyle.

Cancer deaths could be prevented

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed extensive ongoing studies where they assessed the healthy lifestyle patterns and cancer incidence of 136,000 white American healthcare professionals.

The participants were divided into two groups: a low-risk group, who lived a healthy lifestyle, and a high-risk group, who did not.

The healthy lifestyle factors included moderate or no drinking, a BMI between 18.5 and 27.5, weekly physical activity and not smoking. The authors of the study claim that people who never smoked or stopped smoking, stayed fit, managed their weight, and had no more than a drink or two a day, dramatically slashed the risk of dying from cancer by half.

While it was no surprise that lung cancer deaths could be reduced by up to 80 percent through living a healthy, smoke-free life, they also reported that more than a fifth of the cases of colon cancer, pancreatic cancer and kidney cancer could be prevented if we change the way we live.

After extrapolation of the data to the U.S. population at large, the researchers found that for women, an estimated 41 percent of cancer cases and 59 percent of cancer deaths were preventable. For men, 63 percent of cancer cases were preventable, and a 67 percent reduced risk of death was recorded.

Prevention saves lives

There were a few limitations to the study. All the participants included in the study were white; the high-risk group in the study was healthier than the general U.S. population; and dietary habits were not taken into account.

Nonetheless, these findings reinforce the strong link between lifestyle factors and cancer. Therefore, prevention, not the development of new treatments, should become the primary focus to control this dreadful disease that claims so many lives.

An accompanying editorial, co-authored by Harvard Chan School adjunct professor of epidemiology Graham A. Colditz, noted that most cancer is preventable.

"As a society, we need to avoid procrastination induced by thoughts that chance drives all cancer risk or that new medical discoveries are needed to make major gains against cancer, and instead we must embrace the opportunity to reduce our collective cancer toll by implementing effective prevention strategies and changing the way we live."

Herewith, the authors refute the idea that the development of most cancers is a matter of random cell mutations and bad luck. Our actions matter. The authors call on people and policymakers to be more active in engaging in and encouraging healthy habits.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

WashingtonPost.com

CDC.gov

Science.ScienceMag.org

Oncology.JAMANetwork.com

HSPH.Harvard.edu

Science.NaturalNews.com