ANP Productions | Source: ANP
Today at 11:32 PM
Utrecht
It is known that people with a low income stay healthy for a shorter time than people with more money. But some forms of cancer are diagnosed more often in people with a higher socio-economic status, writes the Integrated Cancer Center of the Netherlands (IKNL).
People with a low income live on average seven years shorter and their health deteriorates 22 years earlier. IKNL is therefore calling for policies that can reduce these differences in a new publication. However, wealthier people are more likely to be diagnosed with skin, breast, prostate and testicular cancer. Brain tumors are also seen more often in more affluent men. Those who are less well off are generally more likely to develop lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, head and neck cancer and the so-called primary tumor unknown (PTO).
Skin tumors are twice as common in people with high incomes. Liver cancer is three times more common in those who are less fortunate financially, even though people with a higher income drink alcohol more often, which is bad for this organ in particular. Alcohol may also play a role in breast cancer. However, it is rarely possible to say exactly what causes someone to develop cancer. You increase your risk of skin cancer if you spend a lot of time in the sun.
Socio-economic status does not make much difference to the stage of diagnoses, IKNL saw. However, richer people are often caught earlier when it comes to cancer types that are also detected through population screening (colon cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer). They participate in the programs more often. They are also easier to stimulate for prevention via the HPV vaccine (the injection against cervical cancer, cancer of the mouth and throat, the vagina, labia, the anus and the penis). The higher prostate cancer rates may also be related to more frequent tests.
Poorer people smoke more often and are more likely to be overweight, risk factors for cancer. “As a general practitioner, you notice poorer health every day in people with lower incomes, and this also applies to cancer. Of all the problems that these patients experience, healthy living is not always a priority. This may be the result of a lack of knowledge, but access to healthy food or sports clubs also face financial barriers. Recognizing alarm symptoms of cancer or understanding an invitation for a population screening is not self-evident,” says Utrecht GP Kristel van Asselt.
2024-02-19 22:32:51
#cancers #diagnosed #wealthier #people
