India has one of the highest cancer rates in the world
Every single person I know has a loved one (either spouse, mother, father, mother-in-law, father- in-law, sister, brother, or brother-in-law, nephew, niece) who has cancer. Its frightening. How did I discover this strange phenomena? When my mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer last week. I have had an uncle who passed away from liver cancer, and my husband’s aunt and sister-in-law have also passed away because of cancer. Still, I didn’t think cancer was that common. But when my mother-in-law was diagnosed, I told a few people about it, and each and every one of them told me their stories…I talked to more people. All had a sad tale to relate.
I always knew that heart disease, diabetes and AIDS were common (and spreading) in India. India has one of the highest rates of coronary heart disease in the world, and diabetes rate is increasing dramatically amongst the affluent section of our population. As for AIDS, we are soon to get the dubious distinction of harbouring the highest number of those suffering from HIV/AIDS, if we don’t already.
Where cancer was concerned, I knew that a large proportion of our rural and semi-urban population eat tobacco and therefore our rates of oral cancer are one of the highest in the world. What I did not think was that India had an overall high cancer rate…until now. I was seeing and hearing it all around me and so I thought I would do a little research. I found that old data said that cancer was not that common in India. According to these statistics (WHO):
Cancer rates in India are considerably lower than those in more developed countries such as the United States…data from population based cancer registries in India show that the most frequently reported cancer sites in males are lung, oesophagus, stomach, and larynx. In females, cancers of the cervix, breast, ovary, and oesophagus are the most commonly encountered…
Where breast cancer was concerned I found this information:
In India, the incidence of breast cancer is increasing, with an estimated 80,000 new cases diagnosed annually. The incidence of breast cancer increased by approximately 50% between 1965 and 1985. Much of this increase may be associated with greater urbanization and improved life expectancy…
But then, 2005 data shows that India has one of the highest cancer rates in the world!! This article which quotes research funded by WHO says:
The survey included more than 200 000 patients with histopathologically confirmed cancers…it indicates that the age adjusted incidence of gall bladder cancer in women in New Delhi is 10.6 per 100 000 of the population – the world’s highest rate for women for this cancer…Districts in central, south, and northeast India had the world’s highest incidence of cancers associated with tobacco, which is chewed as well as smoked in India…Aizawl district in the northeastern state of Mizoram has the world’s highest incidence of cancers in men of the lower pharynx (11.5 per 100000 people) and tongue (7.6 per 100 000 people). The district also has the country’s highest rate of stomach cancer among men. Wardha has the highest incidence of mouth cancer in the world. The incidence of mouth cancer among men in Pondicherry was 8.9 per 100 000, one of the highest rates in the world for men. Rates of stomach cancer were high among men in Bangalore and Chennai…the survey also detected a “belt of thyroid cancer” in women in coastal districts of Kerala, Karnataka, and Goa… the survey also confirmed earlier observations that breast cancer has replaced cervical cancer as the leading site of cancer among women in Indian cities and that lung cancer is the most common cancer in men in Calcutta, Mumbai,and New Delhi.
This was scary. Whats wrong with India? Whats wrong with our lifestyle and with our diet that we are suffering like this? True, we don’t exercise much, and we eat a lot of fatty food. At one time because of more poverty, people were forced to walk long distances, and consume a simple diet. And people were wiry, and thin. Perhaps that is why people still feel that being plump is a sign of good health and prosperity. Eating fried foods and not exercising has always been considered desirable. Desi ghee (clarified butter), dried fruits, pakodas (stuffed and fried lentil dish) …have it all for that was needed for health! But aspiring for it is one thing, actually eating like that on a regular basis is a recipe for disaster. A paunch is not a a sign of prosperity, but a sign of ill health. But unfortunately, this feeling is still not that common. My mother-in-law still urges me to eat desi ghee and drink full cream milk because she firmly believes its good for health. She has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and has had surgery, but she continues to eat this, sure that this is “good” food.
As if these high rates of disease in our country aren’t enough, India has a poor public health care system, medical insurance is unaffordable for even the middle classes (for serious diseases), and most employers pay limited medical bills. A small miniscule of our population can afford good medical care.
I’ve realised one thing. No one is going to take care of us…by that I mean the average Indian. We have to pull up our socks. Exercise and eat right. Or be prepared for the worst.
Related Reading: Indians don’t eat healthy
Indian snacks are not healthy
Trans fat in Indian foods
Unhygenic conditions in Indian hospitals is causing AIDS to spread
Why oils can be bad for health
How to live with Diabetes
Chemicals you eat everyday
Toxins in food packaging
Health Insurance in India
Tobacco causes cancer
Insurance for heart disease
Are we eating too much?
Could water pollution and harmful pesticides be a reason?
yes ofcourse! One of the reasons. – Nita.
@ Nita : Your mother in law may have it partially right. Carbohydrates are the number one cause of Cancer in my opinion. If you read the papers of Professor Otto Warburg a Nobel prize laureate you will discover how we are killing ourselves with carbs. Indian food is very carb intense. Imagine Rajma-Chawal, Aloo-Puri things like that. Our body has no natural requirement for these kind of foods because it is designed to convert fat in to carbohydrates. So eating a diet rich in fat and protein can save you from cancer and even reverse it in some cases. As professor warburg says :
“Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes. But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause. Summarized in a few words, the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar.” — Dr. Otto H. Warburg in Lecture “
In fact heart disease may also be linked with excessive intake of carbohydrate rich diet but that is another story. Let me just say this 70% of people who have suffered heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels. So now you tell me in a country that has the largest population of diabetics should we keep focusing on a vegetarian diet full of grain? I think not!
Somw wrong info here. India has much lower rate compared to western countries. Secondly, the studies have shown lower rates of cancer by choosing diets low in meat. I just don’t get what’s Odzer’s problem. There is coarse grain on one side and refined wheat and rice on another they are not same. And we are talking about cancer not diabetes. The coarse grain helps and refined does not. Yes we should continue to focus on grain. The study of all the foods of world has shown that bets food is as following- grains, low on fat and fish.
Now Odzer when you talk about grains and diabetes, which grain do you refer to- makai, bajra or dhan/chawal?
Dhan/chawal these days are not healthy because the germ part is ripped off and remaining part is bleached. It tastes and looks better but is aweful remnant of original. And you know why this happens, because we are having food habits transplation across regions and folks in other region cannot distuingish between healthy and unhealthy. Ask any south Indian about maida vs pure wheat or north indian about brown rice vs white rice. We the taste lovers are creating market for unhealthy food and suppliers are obliging.
I just thought i’d chip in to say odzer is absolutely correct. The best book on this subject in my opinion is Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, which is extremely detailed on the subject. Science has proven that it is carbohydrates that are the main cause of most ‘western’ diseases like cancer, diabetes, hypertension, etc. “conventional wisdom” is wrong and is widely believed due to bad science and politics.
Do the research yourself. in America the huge rise in chronic disease has coincided with a decrease in saturated fat, an increase in refined vegetable oils (full of trans fats and other horrible nasties) and an increase in refined carbs and sugar.
Sure, wholegrains are healthier than refined grains, but NO grains are the healthiest.
I’m indian and i see so much diabetes, cancer and heart problems in my extended family…what do they eat? vegetable oil, white rice, carbs, sugar.
World cancer rates will only continue to rise as long as people believe that low fat high carb diets are healthy
Would you please comment on this latest news?
Wed Oct 28, 12:15 pm ET
LONDON (Reuters) – A molecule found in a curry ingredient can kill esophageal cancer cells in the laboratory, suggesting it might be developed as an anti-cancer treatment, scientists said on Wednesday.
Researchers at the Cork Cancer Research Center in Ireland treated esophageal cancer cells with curcumin — a chemical found in the spice turmeric, which gives curries a distinctive yellow color — and found it started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours.
The cells also began to digest themselves, they said in a study published in the British Journal of Cancer.
Previous scientific studies have suggested curcumin can suppress tumors and that people who eat lots of curry may be less prone to the disease, although curcumin loses its anti-cancer attributes quickly when ingested.
But Sharon McKenna, lead author of the Irish study, said her study suggested a potential for scientists to develop curcumin as an anti-cancer drug to treat esophageal cancer.
Cancers of the esophagus kill more than 500,000 people across the world each year. The tumors are especially deadly, with five-year survival rates of just 12 to 31 percent.
McKenna said the study showed curcumin caused the cancer cells to die “using an unexpected system of cell messages.”
Normally, faulty cells die by committing programed suicide, or apoptosis, which occurs when proteins called caspases are ’switched on’ in cells, the researchers said.
But these cells showed no evidence of suicide, and the addition of a molecule that inhibits caspases and stops this “switch being flicked’ made no difference to the number of cells that died, suggesting curcumin attacked the cancer cells using an alternative cell signaling system.
U.S. researchers said in 2007 they had found curcumin may help stimulate immune system cells in the Alzheimer’s disease.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Thank You,
Larry Martin – USA