Americans Could Prevent Roughly Half of All Cancer Deaths by Taking Four Actions

A recent finding published in the Journal JAMA Oncology reveals how fostering healthy lifestyles could prevent a disease that claims over 600,000 Americans lives annually and another 1.6 million with a new diagnosis. Approximately half of cancer deaths in the United States could be prevented or arrested if Americans did the following:

•    Quit Smoking
•    Reducing drinking alcohol
•    Maintain a healthful weight
•    Exercise at least 150 minutes each week

For men, these healthy lifestyle measures could reduce all cancer deaths by 67% and avert 63% of new cancer diagnoses each year. For women, the same measures could lower cancer deaths by 59% and prevent new cancers by 41%.

This report presents an opposing view from a research study from last year that stated that approximately 80% of all cancers might be attributable to factors beyond the control of the individuals, frequently referred to as the “bad luck” hypothesis. This recent study reveals that “bad behavior” may be more of a factor as a cause of cancer than “bad luck”.

http://oncology.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2522371