A new study suggests that 1.3 million people die every year from cancers caused by tobacco smoking in seven countries.
The researchers found that the seven countries - the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - together account for more than half the global burden of cancer deaths each year.
The researchers concluded that smoking, along with three other preventable risk factors - alcohol, being overweight or obese, and HPV infection - caused nearly two million deaths combined.
The study, conducted by researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and King's College London, analyzed years of life lost to cancer.
This approach allowed researchers to examine whether certain risk factors cause premature deaths, enabling them to better measure the impact of cancer deaths on society. For example, dying from cancer at age 60 results in more years of life lost than dying at age 80.
The researchers concluded that the four preventable risk factors resulted in more than 30 million years of life lost each year.
The study said that tobacco smoking had the greatest impact of all, as it led to the loss of 20.8 million years of life.
Worldwide, cancer is increasingly affecting low- and middle-income countries. Analysis of Cancer Research UK shows that new cancer cases are expected to rise by about 400%, from 0.6 million to 3.1 million per year in low-income countries over the next 50 years. Very high-income countries are expected to see an increase of about 50% over the same time period.
The number of years of life lost to preventable cancers each year was calculated using the age at which cancer patients died of their disease and the average life expectancy of the general population at that age to estimate the number of years lost to cancer.
The researchers arrived at the findings, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, by summing the population attributable fractions (the proportion of incidents in the population that are attributable to a risk factor) for the four risk factors from previous global studies, and applying them to estimates of cancer deaths during 2020.
Some other key findings from the study include:
- Preventable risk factors have been associated with different types of cancer in different settings. For example, in India, there were more premature deaths from head and neck cancer among men, and gynecological cancer among women, but in every other country, tobacco smoking caused the most years of life lost to lung cancer.
Researchers believe this is due to differences in each country, as cervical screening is less comprehensive in India and South Africa than in other countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, which explains why there are more premature deaths from gynecological cancers due to infection with the papillomavirus. Human population in India and South Africa.
The higher number of years of life lost due to head and neck cancer in men in India may be explained by different smoking habits from those in the United Kingdom, where the general population smokes various tobacco products.
There are differences between genders in the number of cancer deaths and years of life lost due to various risk factors.
Men have higher rates of years of life lost due to smoking and drinking alcohol, because rates of smoking and drinking alcohol tend to be higher in men. In China, India and Russia, rates of years of life lost due to tobacco smoking and alcohol were nine times higher for men than for women.
Being overweight or obese and infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) led to more cancer deaths and years of life lost among women than men.
In South Africa and India, HPV has led to particularly high rates of years of life lost, with a significant gender imbalance. Rates among women were 60 times higher than men in South Africa, and 11 times higher in India, highlighting the urgent need to improve access to cervical screening and HPV vaccination in these countries.
- The differences in cancers associated with HPV infection are stark - death rates are six times higher in South Africa than in the UK and US.
Facts about the healing properties of rosemary
The rosemary plant is famous for its therapeutic properties. Eating a small amount of it a day helps improve digestion, relieves nervous tension, and helps recover after a stroke.
Researchers confirm that rosemary promotes increased secretion of gastric juice, which positively affects the digestion process. One of its most important properties is reducing the formation of carcinogenic substances in food. Because when rosemary is added to food, the content of harmful heterocyclic compounds and protein glycation is reduced, while maintaining the beneficial properties of food after heat treatment. According to Dr. Sergey Agapkin.
In addition, rosemary is beneficial for the heart, as it enhances heart contractions and raises blood pressure for a short period.
Agapkin points out that the volatile oils of rosemary help purify the air inside the home from microbes, including staphylococci, streptococci, and Escherichia coli by 80 percent. It has been proven that inhaling these oils improves short- and long-term memory. It is also recommended to use rosemary to treat sore throat, bronchitis, runny nose, and acute viral respiratory infections. In addition, it reduces the level of stress and adrenaline in the blood, as well as reduces the skin's response to external irritants.