It's not Styrofoam or cellphones or tobacco that are killing us.
It's poverty.
A report released Friday by the American Cancer Society echoes a 1989 statement by Dr. Samuel A. Broder, then director of the National Cancer Institute, who said that poverty is a carcinogen.
The society's report said that the lower a person's socioeconomic status, the greater the risk of cancer. That's especially true for lung cancer, the report said, "for which death rates are 4 to 5 times higher in the least educated than in the most educated individuals."
As for why, the report said that people who are lower on the economic ladder are more likely to engage in risky behavior —- partly because marketing for products such as tobacco is aimed specifically at them, and partly because of barriers —- societal and otherwise —- to opportunities for exercise and healthy food.
And then impoverished people don't tend to engage in preventive medical care, which they can't afford, so that by the time they seek treatment, it's too often too late.
The costs to society are huge. The National Institutes of Health estimated that last year, medical costs associated with cancer were $124.6 billion. Estimates are that by 2020, those costs could reach $158 billion.
You can read more about the report at http://bit.ly/irOiPg.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We tell you what's happening, when it happens, for FREE:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2011, The Hartford Courant
No comments:
Post a Comment