Does Location Influence Your Cancer Rates?

Scientists are wondering whether your location can influence your cancer rates, taking into consideration some specific factors of the area. In particular parts of the US, cancer death rates are slowly increasing. A new analysis has revealed that in disadvantaged or unprivileged parts of the country, there were registered higher rates of obesity, cancer deaths, and smoking.

These have increased by approximately 50%. In the meantime, wealthier areas of the country recorded a decrease in the number of death rates by almost a half. The use of technology to identify and treat certain diseases has represented a significant advantage for those living in wealthy areas. They benefited from better treatment and screening, helping them keep their illnesses under control.

Ali Mokdad, the lead author of the study and also a professor at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, stated that the medical system is going in the wrong direction. Every American citizen should benefit from the use of such treatments. Many previous studies have shown that there were extreme differences between the cancer rates in unprivileged areas compared to rich ones.

The new research has provided detailed data, estimating that the deaths from about 30 types of cancer have increased in all 3,100 US counties in the last 35 years. Between 1980 and 2014, the US death rate per 100,000 people for all types of cancer decreased from 240 to 192, meaning a 20% decline. The study has revealed that more than 19 million Americans died from cancer during that timespan.

In Colorado, the cancer death rates per 100,000 individuals have decreased by a half, from 130 registered in 1980 to 70 recorded in 2014. Unfortunately, in eastern Kentucky counties, the cancer rates increased by 45%. Mokdad stated that this situation is terrible, especially for America which is one of the countries that spends more on health than any other state.

The Affordable Care Act managed to dig into the data revealed by the study during its last years, emphasizing the importance of prevention services including free screenings for cervical, colorectal and breast cancer. Specialists hope that a similar coverage will be available in the replacement system to which Congressional Republicans and Trump administration aim for.

What is even more striking, it is that a new study developed by Dr. Ethan Basch and Stephanie Wheeler has shown that the highest cancer rates were registered in areas where citizens supported Donald Trump. These unprivileged communities hope that the new administration will help them.

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