生活於防癌中

Cancer overtakes heart disease as biggest killer in Australia: World Health Organisation


WHO chief Margaret Chan: cancer is coming from "two vastly different worlds". Photo: AFP

It's a word we all fear, and every day more of us are forced to face it. And now the World Health Organisation has revealed that cancer has overtaken heart disease as the biggest killer in Australia and globally.

Despite having access to some of the best healthcare in the world, experts say, Australia still faces many thousands of deaths each year from the disease.

There's no doubt alcohol contributes to a chronic disease like cancer.

While cancers linked to poverty are prevalent in some countries, in Australia it is affluence that is killing us.

The co-author of the WHO World Cancer Report, Bernard Stewart, said the main message was that cancer is a “largely preventable disease”.

The University of NSW professor, who is head of cancer control at the South Eastern Sydney Public Health Unit, said the increasing burden of cancer - with 14.1 million cases in 2012 - meant something had to be done to stop cancers before they occurred.

“We can't, as a world, treat our way out of the burden of cancer," he said. “We now know for certain that the vast majority of cancers are attributable to what have been called 'lifestyle choices', or decisions people make about their own situation.”

The way in which Australia and other countries were able to tackle the issue of personal responsibility versus regulation and legislation would be the key issue influencing cancer statistics in the future, he said.

Cancer Council Australia's Terry Slevin said the report indicated that, in 2012, between 2.4 million and 3.7 million deaths worldwide were preventable.

He pointed to a comment from the director-general of the WHO, Margaret Chan, who said cancers were coming from two “vastly different worlds”.

“Those associated with the world of poverty, including infection-related cancers, are still common, while those associated with the world of plenty are increasingly prevalent, owing to the adoption of industrialised lifestyles, with increasing use of tobacco, consumption of alcohol and highly processed foods, and lack of physical activity,” she wrote in the World Cancer Report.

Mr Slevin said in particular Australians needed to look more honestly at the role alcohol consumption played in our cancer rates.

“There's no doubt alcohol contributes to a chronic disease like cancer … [including] cancer of the mouth, the pharynx, the oropharynx, cancer of the colon and rectum, liver cancer, laryngeal cancer and cancer of the female breast,” he said.

“Some of those larger, more common cancers – like colorectal cancer and breast cancer – are important, because while it's a small proportion of those cancers that are attributable to alcohol, they are quite common cancers.”

The director of cardiovascular health at the Heart Foundation, Rob Grenfell, said cardiovascular disease, which includes stroke and heart failure, still kills more Australians.

“Both cancers and cardiovascular diseases have a common risk factors including smoking, poor nutrition, overweight/obesity and physical inactivity,” he said.

“It's not about which disease is the biggest killer – we have two very large disease groups that together cause six in 10 deaths.
(4/2/2014 Sydney Morning Herald)

世衛：2030年癌病新症增五成
【明報專訊】世界衛生組織警告，全球癌症新增個案正急速增加，預計到2030年，每年會新增2160萬宗癌症病例，較2012年新增1400萬人患癌，增幅逾五成。在全球癌症病例中，肺癌病例增幅最快，估計與香煙銷售增加相關。本港防癌專家認同相關數字，指本港2011年的癌症新增數字為2.6萬宗，預計至2020年會增至4萬宗，相信與吸煙、飲食習慣如多肉少菜等有關，空氣污染亦會影響健康。

昨日是世界癌症日，世界衛生組織屬下的國際癌症研究機構（IARC）發表最新報告，顯示以全球計算，2012年，肺癌是癌症之中的最大殺手，佔癌症死亡率19.4%；其次是肝癌，佔9.1%；胃癌則佔8.8%；至於全球最多人罹患的三大癌症，分別為肺癌、乳癌及大腸癌。報告提到，全球患者比例最高、同時也是男性患者比例最高的癌症是肺癌，每年新增180萬人，乳癌每年新增170萬人，是排行第二、女性患者比例最高的癌症。

2012年新個案 亞洲佔一半

世衛提到，全球癌症發病形勢嚴峻，發病率與死亡率呈持續上升趨勢，尤其是在發展中國家。在2012年，亞洲佔全球癌症新增病例的一半，大部分在中國大陸出現；報告又預測，至2030年，全球癌症患者將較2012年增加50%，至每年新增2160多萬宗。

負責研究的IARC主任Chris Wild表示，隨全球人口增加及人口老化，癌症病例會有顯著增長，至2025年，每年會新增1930萬宗癌症病例，而因癌症死亡的人數亦會增至每年1140萬人。

肺癌增幅最快 籲減煙酒過胖

世衛指出，單靠醫藥治療不足以解決問題，各國政府要努力減少吸煙、酗酒和過胖人數，避免癌症案例增加，並要做好預防工作，推動癌症篩查，協助市民盡早根治，否則未來癌症導致的死亡人口及耗費的醫療支出，將成為各國難以承受的負擔。

港醫生料2020年4萬新症 或關污染

香港防癌會「癌症探測及預防委員會」主席應志浩醫生對世衛的最新估算不表驚訝，他說，香港在2011年有約2.6萬宗癌症新增個案，估計到2020年會增至4萬宗，與吸煙、飲食習慣如多肉少菜等有關，亦因為發達國家和城市經常有空氣污染，影響健康。他說，政府增加煙草稅及加強協助市民驗大腸等政策，都應繼續檢討，期望減低新增個案數字。

IARC自2003年開始出版《世界癌症報告》，最新第三版由40國、超過250名學者共同參與編纂，整合各國臨診斷及癌症死亡率統計數據，並提出改善方針。

(5/2/2014)

昨日忙於寫熱門話題，今日忙於回應，連這健康話題也沒時間寫。世衛癌病預測都算嚇人，窮又死富又死都幾公平。澳洲香港都報導這新聞，可是沒有患病的人又怎會警覺性高呢？

無煙無酒飲食健康，運動充足的人，一樣會患上癌症。偶然會聽到人講，我自己不吸煙，家中也無人吸煙，生活上很少吸到二手煙，為甚麽我患上肺癌？其中一個原因可能是父母吸煙，基因變化，幾十年後才病發在下一代身上，當然也可以是現代社會的居住環境因素造成，汽車廢氣，衣履家具的化學物料影響。也有吸煙幾十年的人覺得寧死不戒，這様撇脫，我佩服，可惜半生不死的時候，連累家人焦慮奔波，兩腳一伸，就留下枕邊人獨憔悴。這種視死如歸的人確實自私，戒煙不易，但事在人為。可以選擇而不為自己和家人去改變，不是自私還是甚麽？這樣講也適用於飲酒的人，淺嚐可能無傷大雅，不嚐卻確保不傷身體。我從不相信少量飲酒的好處，我只相信少量飲酒不會有太多害處。

飲食習慣不好也是致癌的原因，窮人買不起新鮮蔬果，新鮮精瘦肉類，時常吃「抵食夾大件」，高糖、高鹽及高脂的junk food，以致過份肥胖，不為癌死都會死於多種其他疾病。窮人選擇權較少，起碼買不起健康食物，接受醫療的機會也較差。

人總是不死到臨頭就甚麽都不怕，甚麽都不管。如果生活習慣上可以避免致癌，就應該積極去做。戒煙戒酒，注意飲食，多做運動真的那麽艱難？