More Than Half of Cancer Deaths in US a Result of Lifestyle Choices: Study | The Epoch Times

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More Than Half of Cancer Deaths in US a Result of Lifestyle Choices: Study

A new study shows that more than half of all cancer deaths in the United States result from ’modifiable risk factors,’ also known as lifestyle choices.Friends Read Free809424Save

By Amie Dahnke7/12/2024Updated:7/14/2024PrintX 10:00

A new study by the American Cancer Society reveals that four in 10 cancer cases and about one-half of all cancer deaths in adults age 30 and older in the United States are attributed to lifestyle choices, or modifiable risk factors.These risk factors are considered things a person can typically control and include smoking, excess body weight, alcohol consumption, physical activity, diet, exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and certain carcinogenic infections, according to the study published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Smoking Is the No. 1 Modifiable Risk Factor

Cigarette smoking topped the charts as the leading risk factor, contributing to nearly 20 percent of all cancer cases and close to 30 percent of cancer deaths. Smoking comprised 56 percent of potentially preventable cancers in men and almost 40 percent of those in women.

“Despite considerable declines in smoking prevalence during the past few decades, the number of lung cancer deaths attributable to cigarette smoking in the United States is alarming,“ Dr. Farhad Islami, lead author of the report, said in a news release. ”This finding underscores the importance of implementing comprehensive tobacco control policies in each state to promote smoking cessation, as well as heightened efforts to increase screening for early detection of lung cancer, when treatment could be more effective.”