Epidemiology is a section of medical science that deals with the study of diseases among people. It explains the relationship between people, environment and disease-causing agents, and deaths associated with the diseases under study (Brownson, & Pettit, 1998).
Epidemiology studies compare expected and the actual deaths. In addition, it explains the reasons for decrease or increase of expected number of deaths. In medical science, epidemiologists study about disease prevalence in a population. They also collect statistical data to help health professional develop intervention strategies (Brownson, & Pettit, 1998).
Summary of Report Rise in Obesity-Related Cancers in the US
Doctors in the US report that they attend to many patients suffering from kidney and pancreatic cancers, which are related to obesity. This report contradicts the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) annual report, which states that the numbers of Americans dying of cancer are small (Pearson, 2012). High rates of obesity have been discovered to increase the risk of breast cancer.
According to annual report published by American Cancer society, deaths arising from cancer have continued to decrease. For instance, between 2004 and 2008, the percentage of men and women who died from cancer declined by 2 and 1.5 percent respectively (Pearson, 2012).
The analysis of death rates related to cancer between1990 and 2008 show that cancer claimed about 23 and over 15 percent lives of men and women respectively. This reveals distributing statistical data over a wide range, helps epidemiologists to estimate future disease prevalence trends.
According to US doctors’ reports, cases of kidney, esophagus, liver, and pancreatic cancers are on the rise. Breast cancer and type 2 diabetes are also on the rise (Pearson, 2012). The doctors argue that obesity is the risk factor for these diseases. It is believed that if the Americans succeed in preventing obesity, they will also succeed in reducing cancers related to obesity.
To prevent obesity, people should change their eating habits or keep watch on diet. As a result, cases of cancers associated with obesity will decrease. For instance, America has managed to decrease the number of smokers from 55 to 25 percent in the past 40 years (Pearson, 2012).
The US government has plans to decrease the number of smokers further. Therefore, it has set-up polices that discourage smoking. They include imposing high taxes on tobacco products, organizing anti-smoking education campaigns, and imposing high penalties on people who sell tobacco products to children. The adoption of these policies has decreased deaths resulting from lung cancer by 40% (Pearson, 2012).
Anti-smoking campaigns form one of the intervention strategies that can be used to have people who are at risk to obesity improve on their diet. This will decrease deaths resulting from obesity related cancers. The epidemiology concepts employed in this article include standardized mortality ratio. This ratio compares the actual deaths with expected deaths in the same period of time.
Obesity Intervention strategies and the US policies concerning tobacco usage are expected to help decrease the number of smokers. This will consequently reduce the number of death rates resulting from cancer (Pearson, 2012).
References
Brownson, C., & Petitti, D. (1998). Applied Epidemiology: Theory to Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pearson, C. (2012). Doctors Report Rise in Obesity-Related Cancers in US. The Voice of America English News. Web.