CANCER PREVENTION 
by: Marvin Diaz-Lacayo, M.D., M.B.A., M.S.Q.M.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) projected that for 2006, 1,399,790 new cases of cancer, and they also projected 564,830 deaths from those newly diagnosed cancer. This translates on 2.6 individuals diagnosed with cancer every minute, and one cancer death every minute. These are very scary statistics for our country. Furthermore, as the “baby boomers” generation (about 78,000,000 people) start entering in the cancer age (sixty years and older), this statistics can only get worse. The ACS says: “Evidence suggests that one third of all these cancer deaths can be attributed to diet and physical activity bad habits, while another third of these deaths are caused by exposure to tobacco products.” Genetic factors play some role, but numerically speaking they are less important.

ACS Guidelines for Nutrition and Physical Activity

1.0 Recommendation for Community Action (Local, State and Federal)

Social, economic, and cultural factors strongly influence individual choices about diet and physical activity. Although many Americans would like to adopt a healthy lifestyle, many encounter substantial barriers that make it difficult to follow diet and activity guidelines. In fact, current trends toward increasing portion sizes, as well as the consumption of high calories convenience foods, beverages, and restaurant meals, and declining level of physical activities are contributing to an obesity epidemic among Americans of all ages and across all population segments. Furthermore, longer workdays and more households with multiple wage earners reduce the amount of time available for home meal preparation which result in further shifting eating in fast food places rich in calories. Thus, becoming a vicious cycle fostering more obesity, and leaving less time available for exercise activities.

It is now clear for the ACS that obesity and sedentary lifestyle are risk factors for developing cancer as well as cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, all these factors are aggravated many times over if the individual consumes tobacco in any form and drink alcoholic beverages in excess.

In the control of these factors (obesity, inactivity, and smoking habits) the Local, State, and Federal Authorities play a very important role. At the local level one example would be the building of parks and recreation facilities that would encourage people/residents to go out and become more physically active. The promotion/marketing of these facilities, including pools, should be gear toward HEALTHY LIFESTYLE. Creation of clubs, such as the Optimist Club, should be promoted to encourage all parents to enroll their children to participate as an introduction to a healthier lifestyle.

The State Authorities should be playing a proactive role to serve healthier school lunches and forbidding soft drink machines rich in calories. Likewise, similar action must be taken to educate the population at large to consume alcoholic beverage responsibly. The combination of abusing alcohol consumption with smoking is the number one cause of head and neck cancer. Health professionals and community leaders, in particular, have a new opportunity to provide leadership and promote policy changes in their communities to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

2.0 Recommendation for Individual Choices
More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. The percentage of children, adolescents, and adults that fall on those categories continue to increase at an alarming rate. In fact, the incidence of obesity has more than double in the past 25 years, overtaxing the economic resources of the country as a whole. This is so scary that at the present time America spends about two trillion dollars in health care, more than any other country in the world.

The ACS makes the following recommendation to reduce the incidence of cancer at the individual level:

2.0.1 Maintain a healthy weight throughout life.

2.0.2 Adopt a physical active lifestyle. Adults should engage in at least 30 minute of moderate to vigorous activities at least 5 days a week. Children and adolescents should do the same for 60 minutes, 5 days a week.

2.0.3 Consume healthy diet with emphasis on plant sources such as vegetable and whole grains. Furthermore, limit the consumption of red meat.

2.0.4 Limit the consumption of alcoholic beverage, preferable to no more that two drinks a day. The ACS defines a drink as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, and 1.5 ounces of 80 proof distilled spirits.

2.0.5 Teach your children to not ever start smoking or consuming any type of tobacco. And those individuals that do smoke should quit as soon as possible. It makes a lot of sense from the health point of view as well as from the economic point of view.

In summary, the ACS Guidelines recommendations on Nutrition and Physical Activity For Cancer Prevention are not very much different from those of the American Heart Association's Guidelines. Everything boils down to: Take Care of your Body and Love Yourself.

The USA's expenditure in health care, which is bankrupting the country, will come down fairly rapidly to a manageable level. The current rate of growth of the health care expenses at the national level is unsustainable!

Let us become more responsible with our bodies and at the same time we will be helping our country's finances. Allow me to finish this article by paraphrasing our former president John F. Kennedy: “It is not what your Country can do for you, but what you (we) can do for your (our) Country.”