'1 in 2 people will develop cancer in their lifetime'

In the US, 1 in 2 women and 1 in 3 men will develop cancer in their lifetime. Now, a similar rate has been reported in the UK, with a new study published in the British Journal of Cancer claiming 1 in 2 men and women will be diagnosed with the disease at some point in their lives.

Conducted by investigators from Cancer Research UK, the figure from the new study surpasses the previous estimate, which claimed 1 in 3 people in the UK will develop cancer in their lifetime.

The research team, including Prof. Peter Sasieni of Queen Mary University of London in the UK, says the new study involved the use of a more accurate calculation technique, which compared cancer rates of people born in the 1930s with those born in the 1960s.

"From this, we can now forecast that a child born today has a 1 in 2 chance of developing cancer at some point in their lives," say the authors.

But why is this rate so high? Prof. Sasieni and colleagues say one reason is the increase in cancer survival rates, which have more than doubled in the UK over the past 40 years. There has also been a rise in cancer survival rates in the US; 48.7% survived the disease in 1975, compared with 68.5% in 2006.

These increases have been put down to improved health care and longer life expectancies, which ultimately means more people will be diagnosed with the disease.

"Cancer is primarily a disease of old age, with more than 60% of all cases diagnosed in people aged over 65," notes Prof. Sasieni. "If people live long enough then most will get cancer at some point."

As such, the authors say health care services need greater investment to ensure they are "fit to cope" with the rise in cancer diagnoses.

Dr. Emma King, head and neck surgeon at Cancer Research UK, adds:

"We're seeing more patients than ever before and the numbers are increasing year on year. But the resources for treating these people have stayed the same. If we're going to give them the best possible chance of beating the disease then we'll need greater investment and support now and in the future."

Lung cancer overtakes breast cancer as leading cause of cancer death in women

This finding comes as a study from the American Cancer Society (ACS) reveals lung cancer has overtaken breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in developed countries.

Only last week, Medical News Today reported on a study published in the Annals of Oncology, which suggested lung cancer death rates will overtake breast cancer death rates among European women in 2015.

Lung cancer is already the leading cause of cancer death among men in developed countries. In the US, men have a 1 in 15 chance of dying from the condition at some point in their lives.

The researchers of this latest study, which is published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, say the fact that lung cancer has now surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death among women in developed countries reflects the later onset of the tobacco epidemic in this population.

In addition, the researchers note there is a rise in the number of cancer cases related to infection in developing countries, such as liver, stomach and cervical cancers. Increasingly, developing countries are adopting more Western lifestyles, which is also causing a rise in cancers that were once rare in these areas, such as colorectal cancer.

MNT asked Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the ACS, what can be done to lower cancer risk in developing countries. He replied:

"We can reduce this risk with smoking prevention and cessation, attention to diet, obesity and exercise issues, and attention to infectious disease prevention - such as HPV and hepatitis B and C.

Screening for a select number of diseases has a place - colon and cervix screening especially, and some focus on breast screening."

The study authors add that further research into the causes of many major cancers - such as prostate cancer, which affects around 1 in 7 American men in their lifetime - is warranted.

Today is World Cancer Day. This year's campaign - under the tagline of "Not Beyond Us" - focuses on the importance of early detection, achieving treatment for all affected individuals, enhancing the quality of life for people with cancer, as well as encouraging healthy lifestyles to reduce cancer risk.

Teens' sleep 'adversely affected' by media devices

In a large survey of teenagers, if they took more than an hour to get to sleep, there was an almost 50% greater likelihood that they were spending more than 4 hours a day outside of school on electronic devices, from computers and TVs to smartphones and MP3 players. The study in Norway took account of screen time during the day as well as during the hour before bed.

Published in the BMJ Open, the study of almost 10,000 adolescents found an effect from lesser amounts of screen time, too - a total of more than 2 hours on the devices outside of school hours was associated with both a longer time to get to sleep and a shorter amount of sleep then gained through the night.

Citing evidence that "almost all American adolescents (97%)" are reported to "have at least one electronic media device in their bedroom," the study authors refer to a "parallel shift" towards "poorer sleep over the past decades among adolescents."

Very little survey research into screen time before bed had assessed the use of modern electronic devices, the authors claim, so they designed a questionnaire that would look across "a wide range of new electronic devices" - PC, cell phone, MP3 player, tablet, game console and TV.

The total screen time investigated by the questionnaire took account of all extracurricular hours, not just the hour before bed, asking the adolescents: "Outside of school hours, how much time do you usually spend on the following on weekdays?"

• TV games (PlayStation, Xbox, Wii, etc.)
• PC games
• Internet chatting
• Writing and reading emails
• Using the PC for other purposes.

The 17-19-year-olds (who are high school students under the Norwegian system) could choose to answer either no time, less than a half-hour, between a half-hour and 1 hour, 2-3 hours, 4 hours or more than 4 hours.

The study compared answers from those adolescents who took an hour or more to get to sleep, with answers from those who took under an hour, to draw the correlations with use of electronic devices. On average, the teenagers reported needing between 8 and 9 hours of sleep before feeling rested, but:

• They were three times more likely to have under 5 hours of sleep if they spent over 2 hours emailing or chatting online
• This reduced sleep was over 3.5 times more likely if they spent over 4 hours in front of any type of screen.

Calls for updated screen time advice

"The recommendations for healthy media use given to parents and adolescents need updating," say the researchers, "and age-specific guidelines regarding the quantity and timing of electronic media use should be developed."

The authors add:

"The current recommendation is not to have a TV in the bedroom. It seems, however, that there may be other electronic devices exerting the same negative influence on sleep, such as PCs and mobile phones. The results confirm recommendations for restricting media use in general."

The paper concludes with a suggestion that teenagers with problems sleeping could be reached through the very devices the authors believe are causing the reduced sleep:

"While technology use may be a source of sleep deficiency, it may also serve as a medium of intervention, as internet-based interventions have proven to be effective, and cost-efficient, modes of treating sleep problems."

Other researchers have been calling for the sort of work presented in this study. Current guidelines to limit kids' screen-based media use "may not be tenable" - that was the view of researchers publishing in BMC Public Health last month. Their paper adds:

"The increasing use of screen-based media use [SBMU] in regular [elementary] school and high school classrooms during the regular school day, and for homework purposes, and for social networking, need also to be taken into account if a more accurate estimate of SBMU and its consequences (positive and negative) are to be ascertained."

"Media and children" guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics confines itself to recommendations over screen time for entertainment purposes, failing to take into account the wider use of devices that is now happening throughout the day. It recommends parents limit this play use to 1 or 2 hours a day.

Lead author of the Norwegian analysis - Mari Hysing of the regional centre for child and youth mental health and child welfare, in Bergen, Norway - has previously used the same large population study to investigate the relationship between sleep and school attendance, finding that most types of ill-effect on sleep (from bedtime to sleep duration and more) result in poorer attendance.

A combination of early-life risk factors 'could quadruple the risk of childhood obesity'

In the US, the rate of childhood obesity has more than doubled over the past 3 decades. But in a new study, researchers from the University of Southampton in the UK say they have identified a number of risk factors that, if modified early, could prevent childhood obesity.

The research team, led by Prof. Siân M. Robinson of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton, publishes their findings in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Childhood obesity has become a major public health concern in the US. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of obesity among children aged 6-11 years increased from 8% in 1980 to 18% in 2012, while the percentage of obese adolescents aged 12-19 increased from 5% to almost 21% in the same period.

And with an increase in childhood obesity comes a rise in related medical conditions among children, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol - major risk factors for heart disease and stroke. A 2007 survey of 5-17-year-olds found that around 70% who were obese had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

But what can be done to reduce prevalence of childhood obesity? Past studies have indicated that certain factors in a child's early life may influence their likelihood of becoming obese later in life. In October 2013, for example, Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting excessive weight gain during pregnancy may raise the risk of obesity in offspring.

In this latest study, however, Prof. Robinson and her team wanted to assess how a combination of previously documented early-life risk factors affect a child's risk of later-life obesity.

Study shows 'obesity prevention strategies need to start earlier'

Among 991 mother and child pairs who were a part of the Southampton Women's Survey, the team assessed the effects of five early-life risk factors that have been associated with childhood obesity: obesity, excess weight gain, smoking and low vitamin D levels during a mother's pregnancy, and short breastfeeding duration (less than 1 month) after birth.

The researchers found that only 148 (15%) of the children had no early-life risk factors for childhood obesity, while 330 (33%) had one risk factor, 296 (30%) had two, 160 (16%) had three and 57 (6%) had four or five.

When the children were 4 years of age, the researchers found that those with four or five early-life risk factors had a 19% higher fat mass and were were 3.99 times more likely to be overweight or obese than those who had no risk factors.

When the children were 6 years old, the team found that those who had four or five early-life risk factors had a 47% higher fat mass and were 4.65 times more likely to be overweight or obese than those with no risk factors.

Prof. Robinson says these findings indicate that "interventions to prevent obesity need to start earlier, even before conception, and that having a healthy body weight and not smoking at this time could be key."

Study co-author Cyrus Cooper, director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, adds:

"The large differences in the risk of being overweight in childhood that were shown in this study highlight the importance of early-life risk factors.

These findings could have important implications for obesity prevention policy and will help us to design future interventions aimed at optimizing body composition, with benefits for lifelong health.

Could strenuous jogging do more harm than good?

"No pain, no gain" is often the phrase used when it comes to exercise. But in relation to jogging, this may not be the case. In a new study, researchers found people who engage in strenuous jogging have the same mortality risk as sedentary non-joggers, while light joggers are likely to live the longest.

Dr. Peter Schnohr, of the Frederiksberg Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues publish their findings in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Numerous studies have associated physical activity with reduced mortality, with some suggesting that just small amounts of exercise can do the job. A recent study reported by Medical News Today, for example, claims that a daily 20-minute brisk walk could reduce the risk of early death by 16-30%.

The link between lower levels of exercise and reduced mortality is supported with this latest study, which suggests light jogging is most beneficial for lowering the risk of premature death.

To reach their findings, Dr. Schnohr and colleagues analyzed 5,048 healthy individuals who were a part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study. Of these, 1,098 were joggers and 3,950 were sedentary non-joggers.

Over 12 years of follow-up, the researchers tracked participants' frequency of jogging, the number of hours they spent jogging and their jogging pace.

Jogging more than a few times a week at a strenuous pace 'may be harmful'

During the study, there were 28 deaths among joggers and 128 among non-joggers. The team notes that overall, the joggers were younger, had a lower prevalence of diabetes and smoking, and had lower blood pressure and body mass index (BMI).

The researchers found that participants who jogged for 1-2.4 hours a week over no more than 3 days had the lowest mortality, and lower mortality rates were identified among those who jogged at a slow or moderate pace. The highest mortality rates were found in both the fast-paced joggers and sedentary non-joggers.

Commenting on the findings, Dr. Schnohr says:

"The U-shaped association between jogging and mortality suggests there may be an upper limit for exercise dosing that is optimal for health benefits. If your goal is to decrease risk of death and improve life expectancy, jogging a few times a week at a moderate pace is a good strategy. Anything more is not just unnecessary, it may be harmful."

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans state that adults should engage in either 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 1.25 hours of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity every week.

Dr. Schnohr notes that light jogging in this study represents vigorous exercise, while strenuous jogging represents very vigorous exercise. "When performed for decades, this activity level could pose health risks, especially to the cardiovascular system," he adds.

Study links a healthy diet to lower risk of COPD

Smoking is the primary cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the US, accounting for 80-90% of all cases. For the remaining 10-20%, it is believed exposure to air pollution, secondhand smoke and genetic factors are involved. But in a new study published in The BMJ, researchers suggest an unhealthy diet could be a contributing factor.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of conditions - such as chronic bronchitis andemphysema - that cause airway obstruction and breathing problems.

Symptoms include shortness of breath during day-to-day activities, chronic cough, wheezing, frequent respiratory infections, excessive mucus production,fatigue and blueness in the lips or fingernails.

COPD is estimated to affect around 12.7 million adults aged 18 and over in the US. It was responsible for 134,676 deaths in the US in 2010, making it the third leading cause of death in the country.

While smoking is known to be the main cause of COPD, the study authors - from France and the US - say little research has looked at what other modifiable risk factors play a role. "Diet is one such factor," they note. "Prospective data on the association between diet and the risk of COPD remain scarce, compared with the extensive literature on cardiovascular diseases or cancer."

With this in mind, the team assessed the effects of diet on the risk of COPD among 73,228 women who took part in the Nurses' Health Study from 1984 to 2000, and 47,026 men who took part in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study from 1986 to 1998.

COPD risk reduced by a third with a healthy diet

At the beginning of each study, all participants were required to complete a food frequency questionnaire and a health questionnaire, which disclosed information on weight, physical activity, smoking, medical history and other risk factors.

Fast facts about COPD

• While around 12.7 million adults in the US have been diagnosed with COPD, almost 24 million have evidence of impaired lung function, suggesting COPD is underdiagnosed
• Female smokers are almost 13 times more likely to die from COPD than women who have never smoked, while smoking men are 12 times more likely to die from the condition than those who have never smoked
• In 2010, COPD cost the US around $49.9 billion.

Learn more about COPD

Follow-up questionnaires - which also gathered information on any newly diagnosed medical conditions - were completed every 2 years thereafter.

The researchers used the Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010) to measure the participants' diet quality. A higher AHEI-2010 score represents a healthy diet with a high intake of vegetables, whole grains, polyunsaturated fats, nuts and omega-3fatty acids, a low intake of red and processed meats, refined grains and sugary drinks, and moderate alcohol consumption.

During the follow-up of both studies, there were 167 new cases of COPD diagnosed in men and 723 new cases diagnosed in women.

The researchers found that participants with the highest AHEI-2010 scores were a third less likely to develop COPD, compared with participants with the lowest scores, suggesting a healthy diet may reduce the risk of developing COPD.

These results remained even after the team accounted for participants' body mass index (BMI), smoking status, ethnicity, age and other potentially influential factors.

Commenting on their findings, the authors say:

"A high AHEI-2010 dietary score was associated with a lower risk of newly diagnosed COPD, a novel finding that supports the importance of diet in the pathogenesis of COPD.

Although efforts to prevent COPD should continue to focus on smoking cessation, these prospective findings support the importance of a healthy diet in multi-interventional programs to prevent COPD."

They add that clinicians should consider the role an individual's diet may play in lung health. They hypothesize that antioxidants in a healthy diet may be behind the protective effect against COPD.

"As the lungs exist in a high oxygen environment, it is reasonable to posit that certain exposures (and local inflammation) can further increase the burden of oxidants," they note. "The balance between these potentially toxic substances and the protective actions of antioxidant defenses, including those derived from diet, may play a role in the loss of lung function over time and the eventual development of COPD."

The team notes that the study is subject to some limitations. For example, they note that participants in the study were all health professionals. As such, they say the findings may not be applicable to the general population due to potential differences faced in health awareness, socioeconomic status and smoking behavior.