Cancer is a global health issue that, unfortunately, is not going away anytime soon. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, by 2035, there will be 24 million new cases of cancer and 14.5 million cancer-related deaths per annum worldwide.
Still, there’s good news behind all this: According to recently published research from Australia, at least 40 percent of cancer deaths can be prevented by adjusting eight things in your lifestyle.
Three of the eight things noted – smoking, diet, and alcohol – account for over 8.2 million deaths per year, which makes up around 30 percent of the total number of deaths worldwide. The remaining factors – which include excessive UV (ultraviolet) radiation, obesity, and lack of exercise – make up 1.2 million deaths or 14.4 percent of the total rate.
The factors, which researchers called “modifiable risk factors,” come from data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. From the information, researchers identified that lung, bowel, melanoma, liver, and stomach cancers produced the highest number of potentially preventable deaths.