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From: TT
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Photo: Dan Hansson / SvD / TT
Three out of ten cancers are caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. This corresponds to approximately 15,000 cancer cases each year in Sweden. Stock Photography.
Three out of ten cancers are caused by preventable factors, such as obesity or alcohol. A new survey shows that a large proportion of all cancer cases can be prevented.
Every year 15,000 Swedes suffer from cancer, completely unnecessarily. Many Swedes suffer from cancer every year as a result of unhealthy lifestyles, such as obesity or alcohol.
This is stated by the Institute for Health Care Economics (IHE) in a new report.
– There are around 30 different cancers where the risk of being affected is affected by our lifestyle and for the first time we now have figures on how many cases there are in Sweden, says Adam Fridhammar, project manager at IHE.
The starting point has been a large American compilation of risk increases in various cancers, which IHE researchers have combined with how many people in Sweden are affected by cancer each year.
Major culprit of the drama
The IHE survey, which was conducted on behalf of the Cancer Foundation, shows that three out of ten, or 28 percent, of all cancer cases are caused by susceptible risk factors.
The largest preventable risk factor, accounting for around 11 percent of all cancers in Sweden, is smoking. Then come the unhealthy sunbathing, which causes nine out of ten of all dangerous skin cancer cases (malignant melanoma).
Then there are unhealthy eating habits, obesity, and alcohol, which also cause preventable cancer. For example, researchers estimate that a third of all colon cancer cases are related to the way we eat, drink, and move. While 1,300 people each year suffer from cancer due to alcohol.
The meaning of bad luck
– Every case of cancer is too much. It is not reasonable to believe that it will go down to zero, but in the long run it would make a big difference if, for example, we were able to reduce the proportion of people who are overweight and obese, and at the same time increase the proportion of those who engage in some form of physical activity. But in that case, it should be easier to make healthy choices. It can’t just be up to the individual to accept this, says Ulrika Årehed Kågström, Secretary General of the Cancer Foundation.
Today, he says, advances in this area are going in the wrong direction. More and more Swedes are overweight and obese. No less children and young people.
– Around 4,500 cases of cancer a year are related to what we eat and drink and there is an opportunity for change. Such a measure would be a national action plan on physical activity and diet, something that does not exist today, so that we can take a collective approach to these problems, says Ulrika Årehed Kågström.
The IHE report goes hand in hand with other investigations. For example, a study from Johns Hopkins University in the USA a few years ago showed that 29 percent of cancer cases can be prevented with a healthy lifestyle, and that only a small part, about five percent, it depends on the appearance of the genes. However, the vast majority of all cancer cases, 66 percent, are due to chance. Just bad luck.
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