WHO: Cancer Set To Be World's Top Killer

[OhioChick]

Source: AP

Rising Tobacco Use A Factor, Group Says

POSTED: 1:24 pm EST December 9, 2008
UPDATED: 1:41 pm EST December 9, 2008

ATLANTA -- Cancer will overtake heart disease as the world's top killer by 2010, part of a trend that should more than double global cancer cases and deaths by 2030, international health experts reported Tuesday.

Rising tobacco use in developing countries is believed to be a huge reason for the shift, particularly in China and India, where 40 percent of the world's smokers now live.

So is better diagnosing of cancer, along with the downward trend in infectious diseases that used to be the world's leading killers.

Cancer diagnoses around the world have steadily been rising and are expected to hit 12 million this year. Global cancer deaths are expected to reach 7 million, according to the new report by the World Health Organization.

An annual rise of 1 percent in cases and deaths is expected -- with even larger increases in China, Russia and India. That means new cancer cases will likely mushroom to 27 million annually by 2030, with deaths hitting 17 million.

Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/health/18237215/detail.html

[mvd]

1. Truly an awful disease

Let's hope there's less war and more focus on the science that could lead to a cure.

[OhioChick]

2. Agreed. n/t

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. dunno, imperialism and religion

might have something to say about this

[MannyGoldstein]

4. That's A Squishy Bit Of Info

The problem is that people (as of today) have to die from *something* eventually. Currently, in the US, people die from each of cancer, heart disease, and all other-things-combined in roughly equal numbers. If we were to eliminate death from heart disease, then those people spared of heart disease will eventually die from something else. So the total cancer rate will go up a lot, even though people would generally live longer.

In general, life expectancies have been increasing very, very rapidly in much of the world - hopefully, the trend keeps up. Age-adjusted cancer rates have been dropping in the US for many years, and total incidence of cancer dropped over the last five years as well. Certainly providing basic water, sanitation and health care in impoverished nations would be a great thing, and now that we have a Democrat in charge, it might actually happen.