Scientists Have Revealed Which Countries Have The Highest And Lowest Levels Of Cancer

[Mito]

Scientists reveal countries with the best and worst cancer rates | Daily Mail Online

 

[TreasureVibe]

Syria seems to stand out.

 

[Nighteyes]

Syria seems to stand out.

I dont really understand how you can compare Them? Some places would have less screening and less People going to the doctor to get diagnosed? Or did they account for This?

 

[Aaron]

Flawed and misleading data.

 

[tara]

I didn't follow through to see if these stats made any accommodation for age. Many cancers occur in elders, so if the population is younger, or if people die of something else first, the cancer rates may be lower.

Seems likely that broader screening programmes will detect more cancers earlier, so new cancer case rates will be in part a measure of the health system, not just of health.

Noting that Australia and NZ have low soil levels of selenium. Unless eating generous seafood or supplementing, probably easy to get deficient. Also close enough to the ozone hole to be vulnerable to harm from UV.

 

[lampofred]

I definitely have no formal qualifications to make such a strong assertion, but I think there's a very large personality component to cancer, and stress resilience has a lot to do with culture. Developed countries are faster-paced and more goal-oriented whereas developing countries are more relaxed and content which makes living in the latter less stressful, so maybe there's more to the higher incidence of cancer in developed countries than just better detection.

The stress theory doesn't fit with Syria having the least cancer incidence though...

 

[tca300]

Keep in mind longevity. Places where people dont tend to live very long are " relatively cancer free ".

 

[burtlancast]

Australia, New Zealand, USA, Ireland, UK = something in the water, maybe...

 

[x-ray peat]

Here are the age standardized rates:

Data for cancer frequency by country | World Cancer Research Fund International
Age-standardised rate for all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) ordered by the countries with the 50 highest rates

Rank Country Age-standardised rate per 100,000 (world)
1 Denmark 338.1
2 France (metropolitan) 324.6
3 Australia 323.0
4 Belgium 321.1
5 Norway 318.3
6 US 318.0
7 Ireland 307.9
8 South Korea 307.8
9 The Netherlands 304.8
10 New Caledonia 297.9
11 Slovenia 296.3
12 Canada 295.7
13 New Zealand 295.0
14 Czech Republic 293.8
15 Switzerland 287.0
16 Hungary 285.4
17 Iceland 284.3
18 Germany 283.8
19 Israel 283.2
20 Luxembourg 280.3
21 Italy 278.6
22 Slovakia 276.9
23 UK 272.9
24 Sweden 270.0
25 Serbia 269.7
26 Croatia 266.9
27 Barbados 263.1
28 Armenia 257.0
29 Finland 256.8
30 French Polynesia 255.0
31 Austria 254.1
32 Lithuania 251.9
33 Uruguay 251.0
34 Spain 249.0
35 Latvia 246.8
36 Portugal 246.2
37 France, Martinique 245.0
38 Malta 242.9
39 Estonia 242.8
40 Macedonia 239.3
41 Montenegro 238.3
42 Kazakhstan 236.5
43 Bulgaria 234.8
44 Poland 229.6
45 Romania 224.2
46 Belarus 218.7
47 Cuba 218.0
48 Japan 217.1
49 Argentina 216.7
50 Puerto Rico 211.1

 

[tara]

Australia, New Zealand, USA, Ireland, UK = something in the water, maybe...

One can come up with all sorts of hypotheses from statistics can't one. :)

Given some shared cultural roots, it might not be coincidence, but there could be all sorts of causes.
Maybe being monolingual is a health hazard?
Or more likely some inherited cultural culinary habits?
Or maybe even more relevant, since this is the 'new cases' list, rather than the 'deaths' list, it could be a cultural connection related to how they are looking for and diagnosing new cases?

 

[burtlancast]

I also believe the minerals magnesium, iodine and selenium play a big role.
Belgium has always ranked high in cancer statistics, and it's a country known for it's extremely low soil magnesium levels.

On the contrary, Egypt's soil is incredibly rich in magnesium sulfate, and their cancer statistics used to be exceptionally low.

 

[EndAllDisease]

The problem with statistics like this is that it likely doesn't account for the millions of people who are diagnosed with cancer who don't actually have cancer. Undergoing cancer screening programs are like jumping into a pit of lava.

 

[tara]

The problem with statistics like this is that it likely doesn't account for the millions of people who are diagnosed with cancer who don't actually have cancer.

There might be some people diagnosed with cancer who don't have it, but what I think more likely is that there are many more people, both in countries where there is more and less screening and diagnosis, who have cancers that will not grow fast enough to cause them major illness or death. The tricky thing is figuring out which cancers are worth treating, and which give better odds if left alone. The better one is at avoiding death from other causes, the more chance those cancers get to encounter conditions for growth some time in the future.

I also believe the minerals magnesium, iodine and selenium play a big role.

Yes, I expect they do. AIUI, the iodine was added to table salt because there really were goiters arising from iodine-deficient soils in some of these places.

 

[chrismturner89]

Australia, New Zealand, USA, Ireland, UK = something in the water, maybe...

I'm almost sure flour fortification with iron and high meat consumption is the cause of this in these countries. In fact I live in the UK and know we have issues with our wheat and iron fortification. I've also lived in Australia and New Zealand and witnessed the obesity and high red meat consumption of these countries. USA I can only speculate about.

 

[tankasnowgod]

I'm almost sure flour fortification with iron and high meat consumption is the cause of this in these countries. In fact I live in the UK and know we have issues with our wheat and iron fortification. I've also lived in Australia and New Zealand and witnessed the obesity and high red meat consumption of these countries. USA I can only speculate about.

Iron is a known and potent carcinogen. The US, UK (and Ireland) all have iron "fortification" of grains, mandated by government. I know Austrailia and New Zealand also have popular iron fortified products.

 

[Herbie]

Australians work a lot and value alcohol drinking, sport and eating at restaurants.

They don’t value r&r it’s all do do do.

Australians trust the medical system with their lives.

The indigenous culture is often forgotten but they live 10 years less than other Australians.

The culture is bad here, the baby boomers oppresse the younger people.

 

[ImprovingDaily]

Australians work a lot and value alcohol drinking, sport and eating at restaurants.

They don’t value r&r it’s all do do do.

Australians trust the medical system with their lives.

The indigenous culture is often forgotten but they live 10 years less than other Australians.

The culture is bad here, the baby boomers oppresse the younger people.

Sounds like America lol

 

[Herbie]

Sounds like America lol

Not many know we are the 51st state of the USA. People go on about trump here like he’s our president.

 

[Hugh Johnson]

Are you guys still having this fruitless discussion? Cancer rates depend largely on screening and the age people survive to. These stats are pointless.

 

[andrewkfletcher]

High mortality rate = less likely to develop and die of cancer in later years