Cancer Facts:

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  •        About 30% of cancer deaths is due to the five leading behavioural and dietary risks: high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, physical inactivity, tobacco use, alcohol use and is therefore preventable.

  •          Tobacco use is the most important risk factor for cancer causing over 20% of global cancer deaths and about 70% of global lung cancer deaths.

  •         Cigarette smoke contains over 7,000 chemical compounds and 70 of these are known carcinogens. Contained in a single cigarette are thousands of toxic chemicals like lead, tar, and arsenic. Some more familiar chemicals are acetone (nail polish remover), formaldehyde (embalming fluid), and even methanol (rocket fuel). Smoking causes an estimated 90% of lung cancer. Tobacco has killed 50 million people in the last decade.


  • ·          Prediabetes increases the chance of developing cancer by 15%. People diagnosed with prediabetes (with higher blood glucose levels not yet developed into diabetes) are at higher risk for developing cancer.


  •          An estimated 5 to 10% of cancers are entirely hereditary. Most cancers develop through a combination of hereditary and environmental factors.


  •          Nitrites are chemical additives used to preserve and add flavouring to most lunch meats, such as hot dogs. Once in the body, they react with body chemicals and turn into cancer-causing carcinogens. 


  •          Those who sleep less than six hours a night are more likely to develop colon cancer than those who sleep more.


  • ·        Cancer has two main characteristics: abnormal cell growth and the ability to spread to other parts of the body.


  •         Occupational risk factors can cause cancer including carcinogens such as many chemicals, radioactive materials and asbestos.

  •           Bacteria and viruses can cause cancer: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori, which causes gastritis), HBV, HCV (hepatitis viruses that cause hepatitis), HPV (human papilloma virus, papilloma virus, which causes changes e.g. Cervical cells),EBV (Epstein-Barr virus, the herpes virus that causes inflammation of the throat lymphoid)


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