2024-07-15 03:16:59
Wealth does not guarantee health.
A study found that people with higher education and socially respected jobs have a greater genetic risk of cancer, including breast and prostate cancer, a finding that contradicts the social belief that poor people have a higher incidence of cancer.
Researchers at the University of Helsinki in Finland collected genetic, health, and socioeconomic status (based on education level and occupation, not income) data from 280,000 adults aged 35 to 80 enrolled in the Finnish Genome Project and assessed their risk for 19 diseases.
People with lower levels of education have a greater genetic risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, lung cancer, depression, alcoholism and type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Genetics in Berlin, Germany, last month. People with higher social status, on the other hand, have a higher risk of developing breast and prostate cancer.
What’s unique about this study is that it focused on genes rather than simply lifestyle or environmental factors.
The study highlights the link between socioeconomic status, genetics and cancer development, but does not formally investigate it, said study lead author Dr Fiona Hagenbeek of the Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine (FIMM).
She hypothesized that wealthier people with more resources would be more health literate, less likely to engage in risky behaviors such as smoking or drinking, and have better access to routine health care and screening.
“The reason cancer rates are higher among people of higher socioeconomic status may be because they live long enough to develop cancer rather than dying young from other causes,” Dr. Hagenbeek recently told the New York Post.
Dr. Jiyoung Ahn, professor and associate director of population sciences at the Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, said “screening” was key to the study.
“It is well known that the higher the socioeconomic status, the more likely you are to receive (necessary) cancer screening,” she told the same outlet.
Dr. Elisa Fort, chief of breast surgery at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, also said, “Breast cancer and prostate cancer are two cancers that have a higher chance of being detected the more frequently they are screened.”
Experts emphasize that screening helps detect cancer early and makes it easier to treat. The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that men between the ages of 55 and 69 get a prostate cancer screening with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. It also recommends that women between the ages of 40 and 74 get a mammogram every two years. However, some experts advise annual screening to increase the chances of early detection.
Reporter Park Hae-sik, Donga.com [email protected]
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m so sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog
-
- I recommend it
- dog
Hot news right now
2024-07-15 03:16:59