Risks Of Many Cancers - Essay Example

Epidemiological Evidence Shows a Strong and Consistent Pattern Showing That Diets High in Vegetables and Fruits Decrease the Risks Of Many Cancers And Perhaps Cancer In General Introduction Twelve million people succumb every year to diseases such as atherosclerosis, heart infraction, and strokes, making them the most common causes of death. A breakthrough in Cellular Medicine gave scientists a solution to these epidemics. On the other hand, there has been an estimation of 80% deaths concentrated to industrialized countries that is attributed to cancer (malignant tumors) and coronary diseases, while infectious diseases and AIDS are the most common causes of deaths in developing countries. The number of deaths due to these illnesses keeps on growing annually all over the world. Why is this so The only answer that scientists could come up with is that because medicine still cannot point out the main causes of cancer and its proliferation in the body, resulting to unavailability of means to combat it. There are many factors causing cancer but unfortunately, we have not been able to clearly identify them. However, the United States Surgeon General published a report in 1988 "that diet could be responsible for up to 70% of all cancers - with a (conservative) 'best estimate' suggesting that diet was responsible for 35% of all cancers." (Coleman, 1995). Agents or substances that promote cancer, called carcinogens, cause cancer through alteration of metabolism in the cells or directly damage the DNA structure in cells. Most of these carcinogens are obtained from food like stored grains, nuts and peanut butter, and numerous potent carcinogens, which are similar to those found in cigarettes, may also be produced in cooking protein-rich food at high temperatures like broiling or barbecuing meat. Body Evidences show that fruit and vegetable rich diet lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke. One study done as part of the Harvard-based Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the longest and largest study about the subject in history in which dietary habits of roughly 110,000 men and women were monitored for 14 years. In this study, it is clear that the higher the average daily intake of fruits and vegetables, the lower the risk of acquiring cardiovascular illnesses, as compared to those with less fruits and vegetables intake, were 30% less likely to have a heart attack or stroke. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, early studies revealed that a fruit and vegetable diet is likely to be a protection against certain cancers. A research on fruits, vegetables and cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization, states that: "There is limited evidence for a cancer-preventive effect of consumption of fruit and of vegetables for cancers of the mouth and pharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon-rectum, larynx, lung, ovary (vegetables only), bladder (fruit only), and kidney. There is inadequate evidence for a cancer-preventive effect of consumption of fruit and of vegetables for all other sites." However, considering all evidence from human epidemiological, animal, and other types of studies, it appears that eating more fruit "probably lowers the risk of cancers of the esophagus, stomach and lung" and "possibly reduces the risk of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, colon-rectum, larynx, kidney, and urinary bladder." Eating more vegetables "probably lowers the risk of cancers of the esophagus and colon-rectum" and "possibly reduces the risk of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, stomach, larynx, lung, ovary and kidney." All fruits and vegetables contribute to minimize the risk of heart diseases, but green leafy and cruciferous vegetables, and citrus fruits and juice are the biggest factors in this field. Two studies in Harvard show that adding fruit and vegetable intake by one serving a day can surely reduce risks of coronary diseases by 4%. For ten years, researchers at Johns Hopkins in the US and Yonsei Univerity in Korea monitored about 1.2 million people. Research showed that glucose intolerance increase the danger of having cancer related illnesses for obese people. Another study, by Dr Ann Choa and colleagues at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, illustrated that red meat, a kilogram per week, can increase the danger of having colon cancer by 50%. An analysis by Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston (2005) states that a regular diet of fruits and vegetables reduces blood pressure and has indications of lessening cardiovascular disorders, and consumption of red meat and processed meat should be moderate to reduce risk. Along with the combination of other healthy diet and lifestyle, the danger of acquiring colon cancer can greatly be decreased for roughly 70%. Global Cancer Statistics show that more than one million cases of women are diagnosed with breast cancer, the highest percentage of cancer related diseases, with more than 400,000 deaths to toll for this disease. There is a cumulative 2.6% risk of acquiring breast cancer as women grow older until their mid 60s, and an average of one percent cumulative mortality risk similarly. Men, with about 600,000 cases and a death count of 450,000, have a 1.2% risk of having stomach cancer and 0.8% mortality by the disorder, compared to a 0.5% chance for women to obtain stomach cancer with 300,000 cases and 250,000 recorded deaths by 0.4% mortality rate. Males have about 1% chance of having colon and rectal cancer with a documented 500,000 cases with a death toll of about 280,000 by a mortality rate of 0.4%, while women may suffer this disease with a risk of 0.7%, around 470,000 recorded cases, and 250,000 have died by this. Liver cancer has a cumulative risk of 1% and 0.3%, for males and females respectively, as they grow old, until age 64. About 440,000 males and 185,000 females have suffered this disease with a cumulative mortality rate of 0.9% and 0.3%, and a toll of 420,000 and 180,000 deaths for men and women respectively. Among the statistics discussed above, with a documented one million cases world wide, breast cancer is obviously the most common type acquired by women all throughout the globe. Stomach cancer has the most recorded deaths among all types of cancer with a documented mortality of about half a million. Lung and stomach cancer are estimated or shown as having the highest risk of incidents in males while for women, the title goes to breast and cervix uteri cancer. With this data, men are obviously the majority in having cancer related problems, mostly lung cancer, compared to women, highly in the US. On the other hand, breast cancer, which develops mostly in women, has the highest recorded cases worldwide, mostly in the US. Worldwide, men are at higher risk in developing cancer in all anatomical part. References Rath, M.(2001). 'Cellular health series: cancer', Santa Clara, CA: MR Publishing. 2006. 'Carcinogen', Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcinogen 2006. 'Fruits and vegetables', Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Source, [Online] Available at: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fruits.html 2005. 'Plant diets can ward off cancer', BBC News, [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4164091.stm D. Max Parkin, MD, Freddie Bray, J. Ferlay and Paola Pisani, PhD. 2005. 'Global cancer statistics, 2002', CA: A Cancer Journal for Clincians, [Online] Available at: http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/content/full/55/2/74 Coleman, V. 2004. 'Power over cancer', Vernan Coleman, [Online] Available at: http://www.vernoncoleman.com/downloads/poc.htm Read More