Credit udra11 | Shutterstock.com Following a healthy lifestyle - including maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and not smo...
Following a healthy lifestyle - including maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and not smoking - can prevent cancer, according to a new study.
healthy lifestyle could potentially prevent 20 to 40 percent of cancer cases, and about half of all cancer deaths, the study found.
The study, published today (May 19) in the journal JAMA Oncology, comes after another study last year published, found that most cancers are caused by random mutations in the DNA, and therefore it has been suggested that these cases were unavoidable. [10 and Don'ts to reduce the risk of cancer]
However, the new findings "provide strong support for the argument that many of the cancers are due to environmental factors, and can be prevented by changing lifestyle," the authors of the new study, Dr. Mingyang song, a researcher in epidemiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr. Edward Giovannucci, associate professor of medicine at Harvard University professor of medicine, wrote in his article.
In the study, Song and Giovannucci evaluated more than two decades of data from nearly 136,000 men and white women, which was added to one of the studies on the health of nurses or health professionals follow-up study. All participants responded to a periodic review of their lifestyle and the researchers divided the participants into two groups: a group of low risk, that all follow a healthy lifestyle and the high risk group, all of which do not.
Researchers healthy lifestyle never defined or non smoking life and never in moderation (one drink per day or fewer for women and two drinks per day or fewer for men) drink alcohol or drink. The researchers also give a BMI from 18.5 to 27.5 and have exercise regularly (at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week or vigorous exercise at least 75 minutes per week).
The researchers found that women were 25 percent more likely in the high risk group of developing cancer during the study period of women in the lower group to die of cancer and 48 percent more likely to develop risk.
The men of the high risk group were 33 percent more likely to develop cancer and 44 percent more likely, of dying from cancer than men in the low-risk group, the study found. [10 most deadly cancers, and why there is no cure]
The researchers observed that all people in the study were health professionals and therefore potentially more health conscious than the general population. If the results of the study to the general population of white adults of a healthy lifestyle were applied, were 40 to 70 percent of cancers to prevent, the researchers calculated.
The researchers concluded that their study only men and white women, the results may not apply to other ethnic groups. However, it was all healthy lifestyle factors shown in the study to reduce the risk of cancer among the different ethnic groups, they added.
An editorial accompanying the new study published in the journal, two researchers who have not written that the new results show that participated in the study or published in the last year "cancer is preventable."
"As a society we need to avoid carryover induced random thoughts that are needed to make the entire risk of cancer or new doctors animates major gains against the cancer findings," writes Dr. Graham Colditz and Siobhan A at the University of Washington School of Medicine both public health researchers in St. Louis. Sutcliffe. "Instead, we will use the opportunity to reduce the number of cancer collective implementation of effective prevention strategies and changing the way we live," they write.
Follow Sara G. Miller on Twitter @saragmiller. Follow LiveScience @livescience, Facebook and Google+ Originally in Science Live -. Published.
