From Deseret News archives:
Cancer expected to surge in Asia
Smoking, drinking and eating unhealthy foods all linked to various cancers will combine with larger populations and fewer deaths from infectious diseases to drive Asian cancer rates up 60 percent by 2020, some experts predict.
But unlike in wealthy countries where the world's top medical care is found, there will likely be no prevention or treatment for many living in poor countries.
"What happened in the Western world in the '60s or '70s will happen here in the next 10 to 20 years as life expectancy gets longer and we get better control on more common causes of deaths," said Dr. Jatin P. Shah, a professor of surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who attended a cancer conference last month in Singapore.
"The habit of alcohol consumption, smoking and dietary changes will increase the risk of Western world cancers to the Eastern world," Shah said.
An estimated 40 percent of cancers worldwide can be prevented by exercise, eating healthy foods and not using tobacco, according to the World Health Organization.
The effect is already startling, with the Asia-Pacific making up about half of the world's cancer deaths and logging 4.9 million new cases, or 45 percent, of the global toll in 2002.
That number is projected to leap to 7.8 million by 2020 if nothing changes, according to Dr. Donald Max Parkin, a research fellow at the University of Oxford who is a leading authority on global cancer patterns and trends.
China alone, with its booming economy and 1.3 billion people, is home to about one-fifth of the world's new cases, compared to about 13 percent in the U.S. and 26 percent in Europe, Parkin said. Heart disease remains the top killer in China, but cancer is a close second.
Cancer deaths are slowly dropping in the United States, with slight declines recorded in 2003 and 2004. A decrease in smoking, coupled with early detection and better treatment of tumors is credited with the positive results the first U.S. decline in cancer deaths since 1930.
Comments
- Coaches decline to call BYU-Utah 8:37 p.m.
- Holiday could bring more H1N1 8:36 p.m.
- Man stabbed in road-rage incident 8:34 p.m.
- Utah firm offers writable disc 8:29 p.m.
- Family fun center is completed 8:26 p.m.
- Chambers make wager on Y.-U. game 8:25 p.m.
- Saab brand may go extinct 8:24 p.m.
- Facebook creates stock structure 8:24 p.m.
- Turkey-tip talkers set for onslaught 8:23 p.m.
- 3 airlines fined for roles in incident 8:23 p.m.
- Utah, BYU are top choices for bowls
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
- Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
- Best prep football games of 2009
- KSL: Prostitution in Utah County
- Man trapped in own body for 23 yrs
- Kirilenko climbing blocks list
- Woman describes stabbing, killing
- Boys basketball rankings
- 'Dancing' will fill out finale
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
226 - Glenn Beck to enter politics?
223 - RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
202 - Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
180 - Palin plans tour stop in Utah
179 - Bronco, Kyle rubber match
137 - Palin's book shows she's unqualified
136 - BYU records with win
133 - Letters: Rushing to judge Palin
117 - Officer cleared in Cardall Taser case
104
I think V is great. The finale was a real cliffhanger. I am holding out hope....
In soccer 3pts/win system there is a simple measure over the regular season....
To: Hammy Sammy [We can see in the last ten months, how Obama runs...
Garland fire department, not garfield
Hmmm, thought this was supposed to be a Christian news publication. You'd...
A lot of stupid comments here.
I love that fact that in your 4:16 post you talk about the Constitution being...
The ethics initiative has very little to do with ethics and a whole lot to do...
To Mike Richards: This is the fourteenth amendment to the constitution. It...
you would do if you see a loved one getting beat up? I doubt it you would...



You can be the first to comment on this story.