Cancer Rates On the Rise: Women Are More at Risk Than Men

How healthy are you? This is a question you should take very seriously. You may convince yourself that all those binging of colas, fried snacks, greasy burgers, doughnuts and cupcakes wouldn't hurt you after all, but remember that the effects show only much later, as you grow older. We all live very hectic lives with tight schedules, falling short of time for any physical activity or mindful eating. But shouldn't your health be a priority? Unhealthy lifestyle habits can have various consequences on your health, paving way for deadly diseases like obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc. According to an analysis by Cancer Research UK, cancer cases are predicted to rise nearly six times faster in women than in men over the next 20 years due to unhealthy lifestyles.

Unhealthy lifestyle habit, which is a lead cause of obesity, is to be blamed for the rise in cancer cases in both sexes. While obesity rates are even higher among men than women, many of the cancers most closely linked to weight are primarily or exclusively female diseases, making them more likely to be affected by the obesity-related cancer. The researchers found that cancer cases will increase by around 0.5% for men and 3% for women - which means that an estimated 4.5 million women and 4.8 million men will be diagnosed with cancer by 2035.

Cancer can occur due to various factors in women. Obesity is one of the major reasons that increase the risk of several diseases. Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician said, "After smoking, being overweight is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer, and has been linked to 13 different types. Ovarian, womb and post-menopausal breast cancer all happen more often to people carrying too much weight."

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has predicted that there will be 17.3 lakh new cases of cancer, with breast, cervix and lung cancers being the most prominent ones, by the year 2020.

Professor Johnson urged women to make lifestyle changes to reduce the chance of cancer.

"Taking regular exercise and avoiding too many treats is a good way to reduce your risk. We all know it's not always easy to maintain a healthy weight, but even small steps can help," he said.