Nutrition and cancer - good news
Nutrition and cancer – the good news
Stomach cancer is among the most common malignancies worldwide,
with some 870,000 cases every year, and 650,000 deaths.
About 60 per cent of cases occur in developing countries,
with the highest incidence rates coming in Eastern Asia,
the Andean regions of South America and Eastern Europe.
The good news is that stomach cancer is declining world-wide,
in some regions almost dramatically.
In Switzerland and neighbouring European countries,
the mortality fell by 60 per cent within one generation.
If this trend continues, stomach cancer may in some
world regions become a rare disease during the next 30 years.
The main reason for this welcome development
is the invention of the refrigerator,
allowing fish and meat preservation without salting.
The drop in incidence and mortality rates is therefore
particularly impressive in Nordic countries
in which fish consumption is traditionally high, e.g. Iceland.
In populations that still prefer salty food,
e.g. Portugal and Brazil (salted cod, bacalao),
Japan and Korea (salted pickles and salad),
stomach cancer rates are still high but have
also started to decline significantly.
An additional factor contributing to this trend is the availability
in many countries of fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the year.
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