Lung Cancer to Be Leading Cause of Death Worldwide by 2010

I held my breath last month as headlines celebrated a modest drop in cancer deaths in the U.S. Not breathing for a moment, I watched a wave hit the shoreline leaving it unscathed. Exhaling, I had a disturbing intuitive sense that a tsunami was brewing. That tsunami is now on the radar screen. Cancer is expected to pass up heart disease at the corner of this decade, to become the number 1 killer worldwide. And lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women.

Why?

The reports estimate that 12% of cancers in low-income countries are due to tobacco use. Yes, we need to address tobacco use. Smoking causes cancer. But what about the other 88%? What about the rising rates of cancer globally that aren’t attributed to smoking? For example, breast cancer is increasing by 5% yearly in these countries.

We have shared more than our unhealthy smoking habit with the developing world. Obesity, fast food, and adopting a sedentary lifestyle are as equally contagious. Diet and exercise play an enormous role in cancer, and lung cancer is no exception. An example is the Japanese Smoking Lung Cancer Paradox. Despite a higher rate of smoking, Japan experiences less lung cancer. Eliminating smoking alone is not going to calm the seas.

This is heavy news, but each of us can do something today to make a difference – if only in our own lives. See if there is a preventative measure you can begin today based on what we know about lung cancer prevention:

• Diet and Lung Cancer Prevention
• Exercise and Lung Cancer
• Radon and Lung Cancer – What Everyone Should Know
• Alcohol and Lung Cancer
• Lung Cancer and Your Environment
• Occupational Causes of Lung Cancer
• Smoking Cessation
• Secondhand Smoke