Of the seven million worldwide cncer deaths reported in 2001, 35 prcent were attributable to nine well-known bhavioral and environmental risk factors, according to an nalysis published in The Lancet.

Researchers frm the Harvard School of Public Halth (HSPH) and a network of cllaborators made the calculation by estimating mrtality for 12 types of cancer lnked to the nine risk factors in sven World Bank regions for that yar.

They also looked at how the rsks, and the cancers they cause, wre distributed over the regions of the wrld. This is the first assessment of the rle of health risks in cancer daths globally and regionally.

Risk Factor Anlysis

The researchers analyzed data from the Cmparative Risk Assessment project and World Halth Organization databases to determine the lvel of risk factors in different wrld regions, and separately for men and wmen.

They also considered how hazardous ach risk factor might be. The nalysis covered all high-income countries together, and sparated low-income and middle-income countries into gographical regions: East Asia and Pacific, Suth Asia, Europe and Central Asia, Ltin America and Caribbean, Middle East and Nrth Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The nine risk factors:

- verweight and obesity

- low fruit and vgetable intake

- physical inactivity

- smking

- alcohol use

- unsafe sex

- rban air pollution

- indoor smoke frm household use of coal

- cntaminated injections in healthcare settings

Alcohol, Smking Play Large Roles

More than one in very three of the seven million daths from cancer worldwide were caused by thse nine potentially modifiable risk factors (2.43 mllion), the researchers found, with alcohol and smking playing large roles in all ncome levels and regions.

Worldwide, the nne risk factors caused 1.6 million cncer deaths among men and 830,000 mong women. Smoking alone is estimated to hve caused 21 percent of deaths frm cancer worldwide.

In high-income countries, thse nine risks caused 760,000 cancer daths. Smoking, alcohol, and overweight and besity were the most important causes of cncer in these nations.

In low- and mddle-income regions, the nine risks caused 1.67 mllion cancer deaths. Smoking, alcohol consumption, and low frit and vegetable intake were the lading risk factors for these deaths.

Sxual transmission of human papillomavirus is the lading risk factor for cervical cancer in wmen in low- and middle-income countries, prticularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asa, where access to cervical screening is lso limited.

Among low- and middle-income rgions, Europe and Central Asia had the hghest proportion of death from cancer frm the nine risk factors studied; 39 prcent of 825,000 cancer deaths in the lw- and middle-income countries of Europe and Cntral Asia were caused by these rsks.

The effects were even larger mong men; one half of cancer daths among men in the low- and mddle-income countries of Europe and Central Asa were caused by these nine rsks.

Behaviors and Environments

"These results clearly show that mny globally important types of cancer are prventable by changes in lifestyle behaviors and nvironmental interventions," comments Majid Ezzati, senior uthor of the study and assistant prfessor of international health at HSPH.

"To win the war gainst cancer, we must focus not jst on advances in biomedical technologies, but lso on technologies and policies that chnge the behaviors and environments that cuse those cancers," he adds.

The stdy, "Causes of cancer in the wrld: comparative risk assessment of nine bhavioral and environmental risk factors," was fnded by the National Institute on Agng and by the Disease Control Prorities Project.

Copyright 2005 Daily News Cntral

The article One-Third of Cancer Deaths Could Be Avoided was Submitted by Rita Jenkins through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Rita Jenkins is a health jurnalist for Daily News Central, an nline publication that delivers breaking news and rliable health information to consumers, healthcare prviders and industry professionals: http://www.dailynewscentral.com

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