Men at greater risk of dying from cancer
( Monday 15th June 2009), source: www.timesofindia.com)
Men are 60% more likely to develop cancer than women, and 70% more likely to die from the disease, warn health experts.
According to Cancer Research UK, the unwillingness of men to adopt a healthy lifestyle and visit the doctor might be behind the gender gap.
The experts suggest that men needed to be made aware of the risks they faced.
And lifestyle changes have been found to reduce the incidence of cancer by almost 50%.
During the study, the researchers examined data on all cancers from 2006 and 2007, and found that delays in reporting symptoms to a doctor could be fuelling the gender divide in cancer mortality.
They found that overall men are 40% more likely than women to die from cancer, and 16% more likely to develop the disease in the first place.
However, excluding breast cancer and other cancers that are gender specific, as well as lung cancer that is more likely to affect men because more men smoke, the difference between the sexes was far greater.
"For many of the types of cancer we looked at that affect both sexes, there's no known biological reason why men should be at a greater risk than women, so we were surprised to see such consistent differences," Professor David Forman, information lead for the National Cancer Intelligence Network, which helped carry out the research, said.
"Men have a reputation for having a 'stiff upper lip' and not being as health conscious as women."
"What we see from this report could be a reflection of this attitude, meaning men are less likely to make lifestyle changes that could reduce their risk of the disease and less likely to go to their doctor with cancer symptoms," he added.
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