Adopting a healthier lifestyle is a recommended approach for preventing a range of chronic illnesses and mitigating complications from conditions like obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. A new study suggests that such lifestyle changes could also avert approximately 40% of new cancer cases in adults aged 30 and above, and nearly half of all cancer-related deaths.
The study by the American Cancer Society examined data from 2019 to understand the proportion and number of cancer cases and deaths linked to potentially modifiable risk factors, such as smoking and excess body weight. After analyzing 30 types of cancer and 18 risk factors, researchers observed that lifestyle factors were responsible for over half of the new cases of 19 types of cancer.
