CANCER RISK FACTORS: AGE AS A RISK FACTOR

The older you get, the higher is your risk of developing cancer. Your risk for cardiovascular disease also increases with age, but to a greater degree. The Biometry Section of the National Cancer Institute has presented studies which show that with every five-year increase of age there is a doubling in the incidence of cancer. The elderly often suffer from nutritional deficiencies, and they have an increased number of infections, autoimmune diseases, and infantile disease patterns, as well as cancer. Werner's syndrome, which prematurely ages very young children so that they die in early adolescence, is characterized by an impaired immune system. These facts suggest that the immune system in the elderly is working inefficiently, partly due to poor nutrition. Because the gastrointestinal tract absorbs nutrients less efficiently with age, the elderly need more nutrients in their diets.

As you get older, your risk of getting cancer increases not only because of your age but also due to the amount of time you have been exposed to external risk factors. For example, cigarette smoking increases your chances of getting lung cancer. The longer you smoke, the greater is the likelihood and incidence of lung cancer. For men between 55 and 64, the annual lung cancer mortality rate is five times higher if they started to smoke before age 15 than if they started to smoke after age 25. If a person stops smoking, there is a decreased risk of developing lung cancer, but this risk does not go back to zero.

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Cancer