This article is from WeChat public account: Pineapple factor (ID: checkpoint_1) , of: pineapple, from FIG title: IC photo

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As we all know, the life expectancy of Japanese ranks first in the world, up to 84.7 years, and women reach an amazing 87.7 years!

Everyone has always respected the Japanese way of life. But what many people don’t know is that Japan is actually one of the countries with the highest incidence of cancer in the world!

As can be seen from the graph below, Japan’s rankings of life expectancy and cancer incidence are both high. The proportion of Japanese cancer patients is more than double that of China!

This is not surprising, because life expectancy is one of the most important factors in the development of cancer. Once a person is over 60 years of age, the risk of cancer rises rapidly, and Japan is no exception.

The life expectancy of Japanese people has continued to increase over the past few decades. With it, more and more cancer patients have come. Because of the particularly long life span, 50% of Japanese people will become cancer patients one day in their lifetime.

Cancer is a byproduct of longevity.

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Although there are so many patients, Japan is indeed worth learning!

Why do you say that?

Because longevity is a good thing, it is not worth worrying if you live to be 100 years old and get cancer. So the numbers of comparing the absolute incidence of cancer are not significant, and even misleading.

What we should really focus on are two other issues:

  • What is the incidence of cancer after excluding the age factor?


  • What is the relative mortality of cancer?

    In both cases, Japan is doing very well.

    In order to rule out the huge impact of life on the incidence of cancer, we need to look at another number, called “ Age-standardized incidence “: the incidence rate after eliminating the age difference by statistical . This will allow a better comparison of cancer risk between different countries.

    After we remove the age factor, Japan ’s ranking of cancer incidence has dropped dramatically! From 9th place, it suddenly dropped to 43rd place!

    Japan has one of the lowest “age-standardized incidence rates” in countries with a life expectancy of more than 80 years.

    This proves that the Japanese do have a good job doing it.

    Comparatively, many European and American countries are not bad. Because even if the age factor is removed, their cancer incidence still ranks high.

    Regardless of age, Australia ranks first, and the United States is even worse. The ranking has risen from 14th to 5th, contrary to the trend in Japan.

    Obviously, in addition to life span, there are other factors that lead to the high incidence of cancer in Europe and the United States, including genetic genes, as well as the environment and lifestyle.

    U.S. cancer is particularly high. One of the clearest causes is obesity!

    Obesity is a clear carcinogenic factor and is related to more than a dozen cancers. More than 42% of people in the United States are obese, and they are rising! The lower the education level in the United States, the poorer the population, the more they like to eat junk food, and the less they pay attention to exercise, so the higher the obesity rate, the worse the health level.

    Only 3.5% of people in Japan are obese, much less than in the United States. And among the Japanese fat people, there are some practitioners in special industries who cannot help themselves.

    The picture comes from the web

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    PhaseMore critical to cancer incidence is mortality. If cancer is not fatal, we are certainly not afraid of it.

    Japan’s data at this point is even more amazing!

    As can be seen from the figure below, China is one of the countries with the highest cancer mortality in the world. The color of Japan is not only lighter than China, but also lighter than many European and American countries.

    Japan’s age-standardized cancer mortality ranks 112th in the world!

    From the 9th place (rough incidence) to the 43rd place (Age-standardized incidence) , and then 112 (Age-standardized mortality) , different data reflect different Angle. Once the longevity factor is ruled out, Japan not only has a low incidence of cancer, but also ranks lower in mortality, so it is worth learning.

    Japan has a good awareness of early screening, strong research and development of new drugs, and high medical standards. These combined factors have made many cancers into chronic diseases.

    In Japan, very long-lived people may not escape cancer, but they can escape terminal illness.

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    Cancer is just one dimension, and Japan’s overall health level is relatively high. Not only do Japanese people have a long life expectancy, they also rank first in the world for “healthy life expectancy.”

    Healthy life expectancy (Healthy life expectancy, HALE) is a data from the World Health Organization, which reflects the high quality of life. As the saying goes: Some people are alive, but they are dead. If life is long, but you can only stay on the bed for the last few years, the numbers will be discounted.

    In Japan, men and women rank first in the world in terms of healthy life expectancy, 72.5 years for men and 77.2 years for women.

    What about China?

    There is a clear gap. The man is 67.7 years old and the woman is 69.5 years old. Men are 4.8 years younger than Japan and women are 7.7 years younger.

    The numbers in the United States are similar to those in China, and far less than those in Japan.

    Although we often say that we have to catch up with Europe and the United States, Japan is one of the best learning models for “Healthy China.”

    So much has been said, where in Japan are we worth studying? There are at least the following 3 points:

    1: Healthy eating habits. Japanese people like fresh food and eat a lot of seafood (sea fish, kelp, etc.) , soy products and vegetables, and relatively few junk food. This directly brings excellent weight control. Although it is a developed country, the obesity rate of the Japanese population is only a staggering 3.5%, and there are fewer chronic diseases.

    2: Quality medical system. The Japanese medical system is one of the most accessible and cost-effective systems in the world. Japan has done a good job in promoting early screening of cancer and controlling cardiovascular diseases.

    3: Leading innovation capabilities. Japan attaches great importance to scientific research, and is the world leader in both basic research and translation application. The Japanese have not only won many Nobel Prizes, but also many top pharmaceutical companies and biomedical technology companies.

    China still has a big gap with Japan as a whole. We should work hard to learn the advantages of others and make adjustments that suit national conditions. I believe that with the further improvement of the economy and education, we will definitely do better.

    This requires both national-level investment and continuous reform of the health care system, as well as the need for everyone to be more responsible for their own body and lifestyle.

    To health China, let’s work together!

    To pay tribute to life!

    Further reading

    Why do people in some countries live longer and have less cancer?

    Why are there so many differences in cancer mortality between two neighboring countries?

    References:

    1. Cancer in Japan: Prevalence, prevention and the role of heterocyclic amines in human carcinogenesis. Genes and Environ 38, 16 (2016).

    2. Why is Japanese life expectancy so high? Lancet. 2011 Sep 24; 378 (9797): 1124-5.

    3. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

    4. http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.LIFECOUNTRY?lang=en

    5. http://gco.iarc.fr/today/online-analysis-map

    This article is from the WeChat public account: Pineapple factor (ID: checkpoint_1) , author: pineapple