Cancer has been around as long as mankind, but only in the second half of the 20th century did the number of cancer cases explode. In just the past ten years or so, we have seen estimates go from one in four to about one in every two people in this country will get cancer.
Specifically, current statistics show that about 41 percent, or nearly half, of all Americans will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime, and about 21 percent, one fifth, of the nation’s population will die from it according to the National Cancer Institute’s SEER Cancer Statistics Review. In 2009 alone, over 1.5 million new cases were diagnosed and while the cancer mortality rate has recently declined due to early detection and more sophisticated cancer treatments, by all estimations, the overall incidence of cancer will steadily increase. Cancer is now our nation’s second largest killer, next to heart disease, and some indicators are pointing toward cancer as soon being America’s number one chronic disease.
Over the past two decades, the rates of some cancers rose significantly, including:
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Tags: Cancer, Chemicals