The cancer death rate in certain parts of America is rising. However, the cancer death rate nationwide continues to fall, a new extensive analysis has found. In the parts of the country that are relatively poor, and have higher rates of smoking and obesity, cancer death rate increase 50 percent.While affluent parts of the country decrease cancer death rate nearly by half.
The study’s lead author and a professor at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Ali Mokdad said that people seem to go the wrong direction, instead of moving forward, it seems that people are moving backward.
Stark distinguishing in regional cancer death rates has been found in previous research, but this stands out for providing a particular estimate for deaths from nearly 30 types of cancer in all 3,100 counties in the US over 35 years. From 1980 to 2014, the US cancer death rate per 100,000 people dropped from 240 to 192. The study found that 19 million Americans died from cancer during that time.
Colorado ski country, the cancer death rate per 100,000 residents dropped from 130 in 1980 to just 70 in 2014. And the most austere cases were in some eastern Kentucky counties, where cancer death rate increases up to 45 percent. Mokdad said, that we all know this is unacceptable for a country that spends more than anybody else on health.
According to the CBS, the Affordable Care Act took effect in the study’s final years and give priority to prevention services including no-cost screenings for breast, colorectal and cervical cancers. However, the previous results could not be linked to the Affordable Health Act since cancer takes years to develop. According to the WebMD, Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, vice president for surveillance and health services research at the American Cancer Society, said their studies have found that people in areas where cancer deaths are higher than average suffer from a variety of problems that make these deaths more likely.
Jemal added that many of these cancers can be prevented or cured if patients quit smoking, maintain a healthy weight, exercise and get screened. President of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, Ben Chandler cited that poor access to health care and high smoking rates and said the disparities highlight a need for statewide smoke-free laws. The cancer death rate may have been affected by the location of the patients, in some areas lack the capability to access healthcare provided by the government.
