Europa Donna Ireland "9 Things You Should Know About Breast Cancer"

Prof Martin Wiseman, medical and scientific adviser for the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), has issued a stark warning that millions of people around the world face an early death from cancer.

While the increase in many cancers is linked to the fact that people are living longer, around 80,000 cases could be prevented every year if people ate better, kept to a healthy weight and exercised. Around one in three of the most common cancers in high-income countries and about one in four in medium and low-income countries could be stopped if people led healthier lives, estimates suggest.

According to the United Nations, the number of deaths from cancer worldwide is to double by 2030. And global cases of cancer have risen dramatically in the last 30 years, from 6.3 million in 1980 to 8.1 million in 1990 and 11.3 million in 2007.

But Prof Wiseman said this doubling was not inevitable, and more should be done to prevent lifestyle cancers. “We have seen over the past century that, as countries have become more industrialised, people in those countries have become more overweight, less active and eaten more processed foods.”

“But this does not have to happen. By giving people the information they need to make their own choices, we can avoid the typical path of developing the unhealthy behaviours that have promoted chronic diseases in the 20th and 21st centuries…But unless we can stop the rising number of lifestyle- related cancers, millions of people will die unnecessarily young.”

It is estimated that a quarter of all cancer deaths are caused by unhealthy living and obesity. Cancers that are particularly influenced by lifestyle include those that affect the bowel, stomach, mouth, foodpipe and breast.

Source: Irish Independent 11-09-10

For Breast Health Day this year, Europa Donna Ireland is focusing on lifestyle choices that can influence your future breast health and help prevent breast cancer. To mark the day they will be holding the Anna Livia Mile walk and as a build-up to the day  are giving 3 free classes in resistance training in September in Dublin.

Check out the EDI website for more details

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