Lifestyle Decisions and Their Impact on Health

Lifestyle Cancer Risks Outweigh Trace Chemicals

A new report says there is no epidemic of cancer in the United States, and there is no convincing evidence that synthetic chemical pollutants are important in causing human cancer.

According to cancer experts Bruce Ames and Lois Gold:

  • The major cause of cancer is smoking, accounting for about a third of U.S. cancer cases, and 90 percent of lung cancers.

  • Dietary imbalances, such as a lack of dietary fruits and vegetables -- with the quarter of the population eating the least fruits and vegetables having double the cancer rate for most types of cancer compared to the quarter eating the most.

  • Chronic infections -- mostly in developing countries -- and hormonal factors, which are primarily influenced by lifestyle.

In fact, say Ames and Gold, except for lung cancer due to smoking, cancer mortality rates have declined 16 percent since 1950.

Regulatory policy that focuses on traces of synthetic chemicals is based on misconceptions about animal cancer tests. For instance, rodent carcinogens are not rare, and half of all chemicals tested in standard high-dose animal cancer tests, whether natural or synthetic, are "carcinogens."

Regulations that try to eliminate minuscule levels of synthetic chemicals are enormously expensive. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that environmental regulations cost society $140 billion per year. Others have estimated that the median toxic control program costs 146 times more per life year saved than the median medical intervention.

Source: Bruce N. Ames and Lois Swirsky Gold, "Misconceptions About Environmental Pollution, Pesticides and the Causes of Cancer," NCPA Policy Report No. 214, April 1998, National Center for Policy Analysis, 12770 Coit Rd., Suite 800, Dallas, Texas 75251, (972) 386-6272.

Teen Health Risks Linked To Education, Income & Race

Most teenagers engage in behaviors that put them at risk for chronic disease; but they are less likely to do so in families with higher education and income, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The five behaviors studied are considered contributors to chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease: cigarette smoking, lack of exercise, a diet lacking in fruits and vegetables, a diet high in fatty foods and episodes of heavy drinking.

Researchers at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed a representative nationwide sample of 6,321 teenagers aged 12 to 17.

The survey found overall among the group that 20 percent smoked cigarettes, 36 percent were sedentary, 85 percent consumed insufficient fruits and vegetables, 34 percent ate excessive amounts of high-fat foods and 16 percent engaged in episodic heavy drinking of alcohol. A 63 percent majority reported two or more of the five risk behaviors. The survey also found that:

  • As the educational level of the responsible adult in the household increased, cigarette smoking, sedentary lifestyle and underconsumption of fruits and vegetables were less likely.

  • Among girls, but not boys, consumption of foods high in fat decreased as education of the adult increased.

  • The occurrence of heavy episodic drinking also decreased with income.

  • And as family income increased, adolescents were less likely to smoke cigarettes, be sedentary or engage in episodic heavy drinking.

While the researchers found a relationship between these behaviors and socioeconomic status, they found no significant differences between white, black and Hispanic ethnic groups for the three behaviors relating to diet and physical activity. But they did find that black adolescents were less likely than Hispanics -- and all minorities were less likely than whites -- to smoke cigarettes or drink heavily.

Source: Richard Lowry et al., "The Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Chronic Disease Risk Behaviors Among U.S. Adolescents," Journal of the American Medical Association, September 11, 1996.


Smoking Actually Cuts Health Costs

A study in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine points out that nonsmokers incur greater health costs simply because they live longer.

  • If every smoker quit today, national health-care costs would rise about 7 percent, the study revealed.

  • Based on data from the Netherlands, researchers found that lifetime health costs for a smoking man are $72,700 on average, versus $83,400 for a nonsmoking male.

  • For women, the figures are $94,700 for a smoker, versus $111,000 for a nonsmoker.

  • The life expectancy for smoking men is 69.7 years and 75.6 years for women who smoke; 70.0 years and 81.6 years, respectively, for those who do not smoke.

If everyone were to quit smoking, health-care costs would fall initially since smoking-related diseases would drop. But the benefit would reverse in about 15 years, the researchers estimated, as more people lived long enough to suffer other costly medical conditions.

In a related development, a new study established that laws designed to cut down on teen smoking are meeting with less than stunning success. Some 58 percent of teens in communities which enforce tough tobacco sales laws say they were "hardly ever refused" tobacco sales. In communities with lax enforcement procedures, 63 percent of teens said they could get cigarettes.

Sources: Doug Levy, "Kicking Habit Will Increase Health Costs," and "Teens Find Ways Around Laws Meant To Curb Smoking," both in USA Today, October 9, 1997.

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