Last updated on April 15th, 2022
47 Interesting facts about cancer
1. The word cancer comes from the Latin for ‘crab’.
2. Even lack of physical exercise can be a cause of cancer. Other well known causes of this deadly disease are: use of tobacco, obesity, and exposure to radiation and pollutants.
3. Cancers can be hereditary. And in fact, 5-10% of the cancers are hereditary. Unfavorable environment can also cause you cancer.
4. Do not be amazed to learn that only tobacco has killed at least 50 million people in the last ten years. So, if you are consuming tobacco in any form, this fact might be a valid reason, why you should quit it at the earliest.
5. Cancer is not a disease in particular. It is a condition where growth of abnormal cells in the body goes out of control. It is an uncontrolled division of the cells that are harmful to the body.
6. There are more than 200 types and sub-types of cancers that can affect an individual.
7. Deaths caused by cancers are quite prevalent. One in every eight deaths is caused by cancers.
8. Hot dogs are also known as a cause of cancer, and more than 20 billion hot dogs are eaten only in the United States every year. Nitrates–considered as carcinogens–are used to preserve these food items.
9. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in the U.S.; and it is the second leading cause of deaths in women, after lung cancer.
10. Did you know that breast cancer is more common in the left breast than the right.
11. In the U.S. alone; 40,290 deaths from breast cancer were reported in 2015.
12. Not just women, men can also get breast cancer.
13. Cancers are also preventable. Researchers believe that almost half of these cancers and deaths related to them can be prevented.
14. The American Cancer Society estimates that 1500 people die of cancers everyday.
15. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer. It can be prevented by exposure to ultraviolet light, either artificially (from tanning beds) or naturally from the sun. (Read some interesting facts about the Sun)
16. Physical activity in women who are affected with breast cancer can relieve the chances of death.
17. More than 28 million people worldwide have survived from cancers. This fact signifies the extent of research and medical advancement in the field of cancer.
18. Breast feeding can lower chances of cancer in women. And there are numerous other advantages of breast feeding.
19. The largest group of cancers in history from a single source happened at the time of Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
20. If you are married, you are at a lower risk of getting affected with cancer whether you are a man or a woman.
21. Cancer patients tend to do suicide once it is revealed that they are affected with cancer. Men are prone to killing themselves after it is established that they are affected.
22. Every day we tend to produce 200-1000 cancerous cells. Healthy individuals’ immune system neutralizes them all. And until these cells grow to a number in millions or billions, cancer cannot be detected by testing.
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