CANCER INCREASING
AROUND THE WORLD
From The Cancer Chronicles #14
© Feb. 1993 by Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
[But also see our 1995 article on decreasing breast cancer rates, ed.]
We are so appalled by the increasing number of cancer deaths in the US that we often forget what a worldwide problem this disease is. This is brought home by a useful United Nations publication, Global Estimates for Health Situation Assessment and Projections, 1990. This report, which contains data on many diseases, reveals that ³after the age of Þve, cancer is one of the three main causes of death in both industrialized and developing countries.
"The annual number of deaths from cancer in the world is about 4.8 million, of which 2.5 million occur in the developing countries and the remaining 2.3 million in the developed countries." In fact, cancer accounts for about 1/10th of all deaths worldwide each year. And incidence rates are rising internationally, as they are in the US.
In the developing world, for example, cancers of the mouth, esophagus, liver and cervix are the main problems. Lung cancer is rising the fastest: between 1960 and 1980 lung cancer deaths rose 76 percent in men and 135 percent in women, mainly due to smoking.
Overall, lung cancer is the number one site of cancer deaths in men, whereas breast cancer is number one among women. In 1980, stomach cancer was the leading cause of cancer death for both sexes taken together, but lung cancer has probably overtaken it, because of the worldwide plague of smoking.
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Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. is the author of eight books and three documentaries
on cancer-related topics. He is an advisor on alternative cancer treatments
to the National Institutes of Health, Columbia University, and the University
of Texas. He researches and writes individualized "Healing Choices" reports
for people with cancer. For information on Healing Choices, you can contact
coordinator Anne Beattie @ 144 St. John's Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217; Phone
718-636-4433; Fax 718-636-0186.
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