Cancer is a Preventable Disease that Requires Major Lifestyle Changes
This year, more than 1 million Americans and more than 10 million people worldwide are expected to be diagnosed with cancer, a disease commonly believed to be preventable. Only 5–10% of all cancer cases can be attributed to genetic defects, whereas ...
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Abstract
This year, more than 1 million Americans and more than 10 million people worldwide are expected to be diagnosed with cancer, a disease commonly believed to be preventable.
Only 5–10% of all cancer cases can be attributed to genetic defects, whereas the remaining 90–95% have their roots in the environment and lifestyle. The lifestyle factors include cigarette smoking, diet (fried foods, red meat), alcohol, sun exposure, environmental pollutants, infections, stress, obesity, and physical inactivity.
The evidence indicates that of all cancer-related deaths, almost 25–30% are due to tobacco, as many as 30–35% are linked to diet, about 15–20% are due to infections, and the remaining percentage are due to other factors like radiation, stress, physical activity, environmental pollutants etc.
CONCLUSIONS
On the basis of the studies described above, we propose a unifying hypothesis that all lifestyle factors that cause cancer (carcinogenic agents) and all agents that prevent cancer (chemopreventive agents) are linked through chronic inflammation (Fig. 10). The fact that chronic inflammation is closely linked to the tumorigenic pathway is evident from numerous lines of evidence.