Cancer can strike anyone at any time. While studies have shown that cancer can be hereditary, there are some cases where patients were diagnosed with no history at all. While this may seem a little scary, knowing some facts about cancer can bring you peace of mind and give you some insight into a disease that affects the lives of many.
While October is dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness, knowing the facts about cancer in general, and not just breast cancer can open your eyes to new ways to take better care of your body or steer clear of some things (like hot dogs) that can aid in damaging your body.
For those of you who want to access more facts on cancer, the original excerpt can be found here.
Here are 15 facts about cancer:
Several factors increase the risk of cancer (officially known as malignant neoplasm), including pollutants, tobacco use, certain infections, radiation, obesity, and lack of physical exercise.
Smoking causes an estimated 90% of lung cancer. Tobacco has killed 50 million people in the last decade. If trends continue, a billion people will die from tobacco use and exposure this century, which equates to one person every six seconds.
Those who sleep less than six hours a night are more likely to develop colon cancer than those who sleep more.
One in eight deaths in the world are due to cancer. Cancer causes more deaths than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.
Nitrites are chemical additives used to preserve and add flavoring to most lunch meats, including cold cuts and hot dogs. Once in the body, they react with body chemicals and turn into cancer-causing carcinogens. Americans eat more than 20 billion hot dogs per year.
Researchers believe that more than half of all cancers and cancer deaths are potentially preventable.
The earliest description of cancer was found in the Edwin Smith Papyrus dating back to 1600 B.C. It describes what appears to be breast cancer. Though breast cancer was treated by cauterization with a tool called a “fire drill,” the author ultimately wrote, “There is no treatment.”
As of January 2008, there were approximately 12 million people alive in the U.S. who had a medical history of cancer.
Approximately 77% of all cancers are diagnosed in people who are 55 years old or older.
The National institute of Health (NIH) posits that the cost of cancer in 2007 in the U.S. was $226.8 billion overall. Globally, the economic impact of cancer is substantially higher than any other cause of death.
The majority of research shows being overweight adversely affects survival for postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Conversely, postmenopausal women who are more physically active are less likely to die from breast cancer.
There are 28 million cancer survivors worldwide.
Cancer is not just one disease; rather it is a set of diseases. Different agents cause each type of cancer.
Scientists claim that the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl produced the largest group of cancers in history from a single incident.
Men who have never married are up to 35% more likely to die from cancer than those who are married. In terms of surviving cancer, women also benefited from being married, but to a lesser extent.