High fat diet, tobacco cause cancer

About 10 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year worldwide, with one-third the cases related to tobacco use, one-third to diet, another large percentage to infection and the remaining to pollution, stress and other factors.

According to Lalit Kumar, professor of medical oncology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), three million cases of cancer globally are due to tobacco use alone, with lung cancer claiming half the victims.

A high fat content diet can lead to breast cancer. Women who do yoga or moderate exercise everyday have lower incidence of cancer as compared to women with sedentary lifestyles and high fat intake, Kumar said at a talk at the India International Centre Wednesday evening.

"A high fat diet also acts as a trigger for prostate cancer. Fried food and spicy food is linked to cancer of the esophagus. Preservatives in food and smoked food, which is eaten in some parts of northeast India, also act as triggers for cancer," he said, adding that high fat intake and low fibre intake can cause colon cancer.

Some fungal infections can lead to liver cancer, while the human papillomavirus has been proven to be the cause of cancer of the cervix. "But the good news is, a vaccine is available and in the next 20 years the incidence of cervical cancer will come down," he said.

Source: http://www.aboutthehealth.com/2010/08/high-fat-diet-tobacco-cause-cancer.html

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