Cancer cases will rocket without lifestyle changes

  Cancer rates worldwide could increase by 50 per cent by 2020, reaching 15 million new cases a year.
The World Health Organisation's World Cancer Report says that if no preventive measures are taken increases of this order are inevitable because they stem from habits - such as smoking - that are already established. However, much can be done to slow the increase, Bernard Stewart, an Australian cancer specialist and co-author, said.

  "Tobacco is the major preventable cause of cancer," he said. "But in developed countries diet, alcohol, a lack of exercise and the fact that we still don't eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day are contributory factors.

  Professor Stewart cited the cases of Finland and California. In Finland a programme of tobacco control, public education and dietary advice had seen lung cancer rates tumbling.

  In California, the most anti-smoking state in America, lung cancer rates in women were falling. Everywhere else in the US they were rising.

  到2020年，全世界癌癥的發病率有可能增加50個百分點，每年可能將出現1500萬新病例。

  世界健康組織全球癌癥報告指出，如果不采取積極的預防措施，這樣的趨勢將無法避免。因為這是從已經形成的生活習慣--例如抽煙--滋生出來的。盡管如此，該報告作者之一，澳大利亞癌癥專家伯納德·斯圖爾德表示，還是有許多手段可以遏制這一增長趨勢。

  他說："煙草是引起癌癥的主要罪源，因此預防也應該以煙草為主。但在發達國家，人們飲酒過多，缺乏運動，每天攝入的水果蔬菜低于攝入食物總量的5%。這些也都容易引發癌癥。"

  斯圖爾德教授舉了芬蘭和加利福尼亞的例子來說明煙草的危害。芬蘭實施了一項控制煙草的計劃，包括進行公眾教育和飲食建議，成效顯著，肺癌患病率持續下降。

  而加利福尼亞則是美國反煙草呼聲最高的一個州。當其他州的女性肺癌得病率都在上升的時候，該州的這一數據卻呈下降趨勢。