Cancer incidence with ageing population . 50% will get cancer.

Our Prime Minister has recently gone for his prostate cancer surgery. He is another example of how the elderly is more easily inflicted with cancer.
If he can get cancer twice in his life time what are our chance ??

I have reviewed and heavily edited a very thorough research paper done in UK to be of interest, relevance and wake up call for us SHC members

One in two people will develop cancer at some point in their lives , according to the latest forecast.

There will “never be one single magic bullet” to cure all cancers and age is the biggest risk factor for most forms of the disease.

The new figure, which replaces the previous of one in three, is the most accurate forecast to date from Cancer Research UK .

Prevention must also play a role in the effort required to reduce the impact of the disease in coming decades, the charity said.

But as more people benefit from improved healthcare and longer life expectancy, the number of cancer cases is expected to rise.

This new research estimating lifetime risk replaces the previous figure, calculated using a different method, which predicted that more than one in three people would develop cancer at some point in their lives.

The charity said age is the biggest risk factor for most cancers, and the increase in lifetime risk is primarily because more people are surviving into old age, when cancer is more common.

The lifetime cancer risk for women (47.55%) is lower than that of men (53.5%), while the combined lifetime risk is 50.5%.

According to the previous method of calculation, i n 1980 the combined risk was 27.2%, in 1990 it was 32.7%, in 2000 it was 37.1% and in 2010 it was 41.8%. The charity believes that the old method of calculation underestimated the risk.

Lifetime cancer risk is also expected to increase further in the future.

While the biggest risk factor is age, other lifestyle factors include smoking, obesity, diet, tanning and sunburn, overdiagnosis, lack of exercise and child-bearing patterns.

Just over a quarter of all deaths are caused by cancer, so while one in two people will develop cancer at some point, it is still believed that around one in four people will die from cancer.

We’re living longer and that means we’re more likely to develop a range of age-related health issues.

How near a cure for cancer is ?, The research said: “There will never be one single magic bullet that treats … cures all cancers. I just don’t … I cannot foresee a time when that’s going to be the case. But already we’re able to cure a number of cancers now.”

There are more than 200 different types of cancers and they are all quite different.

The single biggest thing that affects whether a patient is cured is whether their disease is caught early enough..

Too many cancers are diagnosed very late and once they’re more advanced it becomes much harder to cure. We can treat them, we can extend life but it becomes much harder to cure if we’re catching the cancers very late,”

“Cancer is primarily a disease of old age, with more than 60% of all cases diagnosed in people aged over 65. If people live long enough then most will get cancer at some point.”

Breast cancer is the most common form in women, prostate cancer is the most common form in men, and bowel cancer and lung cancer are common in both sexes.

Cases of cancer are likely to rise with an ageing population – so the focus is on earlier diagnosis, improving care and tackling preventable cancer.

Another separate study said 30% of cancer happen to the most fit and healthy person. This sadly is term “biological badluck” due to healthy cell mutation

Still we should be in control of the 70%. Hope you find this article useful.

Leon

One thought on “Cancer incidence with ageing population . 50% will get cancer.”

  1. Feed your wealth, Heed your Health
    What prompt me to write this article is receiving knowledge of people developing medical conditions and cancers inside and outside of the SHC circle. My daughter told me her friend’s dad just passed away yesterday in his sleep at the age of 57. His daughter is still attending Uni studies.
    I think all adults with dependents and loved one owe it to them to be around for them.
    We earn our wealth. We also need to earn our health.
    E.A.R.N
    E : Exercise
    A : Attitude. It is being known that our cell respond better to treatment if we have a positive attitude
    R : Rest . Each hour of sleep before 12 midnight is worth 2 hours of sleep after midnight
    N : Nutrition. My often repeated message ” your body immune system is your best doctor”

    There are 4 signs that we need to heed and take it seriously
    1) Frequent and sudden giddiness especially when you turn around or try to get up from a sitting position
    2) Persistent cough . One cancer patient found she had kidney cancer that spread to the lung and didnt notice it despite having a persistent cough close to a year
    3) Chest pain or tightness in the chest
    4) Cold sweat or frequent fatigue for no good reason
    5) Breathlessness even doing very simple chore

    These are clear discomfort signs our body is telling us that something is not right.
    We like to sleep away our discomfort signs or problem. But the problem is we may really “sleep” away for not heeding it.

    Most people I spoken to rather the treatment than the prevention. Most people when diagnoised with a serious problem would
    incessantly ask the doctor of the cause or even “Why me”. Remember: Doctor are paid to treat and hopefully cure
    but not so interested in finding the cause. The cause can be speculative, uncertain and best part of it is history.
    Is it of much value to an owner to know the reason of the cause of the fire that burn his house down to ashes?

    This post is for those who want to take care of their health but lack the information or knowledge. I tried not to be too technical though I really enjoy knowing the technical knowldge of how our body functioning relate to health with our lifestyle choice.
    Or till health discussion become a banned subject in the forum.
    For the rest you may pass on the reading if you find this clog the cyberspace.
    Do yourself and your loved one by heeding your health.
    Leon

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