University of South Wales: NCDs, Cancer, Dietary Risk Factors Essay

This essay examines the relationship between non-communicable diseases (NCDs), specifically cancer, and dietary risk factors. It begins by defining NCDs and highlighting cancer as a major global health concern, particularly in developed countries like Australia. The essay discusses the various types of cancer, their causes, and the role of risk factors, with a specific focus on diet. It explores how dietary choices, such as high consumption of processed meat, red meat, and insufficient intake of fruits and vegetables, can increase the risk of different cancers. The essay also discusses the Australian Dietary Recommendations and their impact on reducing dietary issues. Furthermore, it highlights the gender differences in cancer risk and the importance of limiting energy-dense foods and sugary drinks. The essay concludes by emphasizing the strong link between diet and cancer, providing examples of specific cancers and their associated dietary risk factors, such as lung, breast, and prostate cancer, while also mentioning the role of refined carbohydrates in colon cancer risk. This essay is a valuable resource for understanding the impact of diet on cancer and the importance of public health initiatives to address these risks.

Running Head: NCD
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Non-communicable disease and Risk factor
student
9/22/2019

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Discussion...................................................................................................................................................3
Risk factors..............................................................................................................................................4
Dietary intake and cancer........................................................................................................................5
Implications.............................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
A non-communicable disease also called chronic disease is the illness that cannot be transmitted
directly from one individual to another. This type of diseases tends to be long duration. The
world health organisation has recognised four main non-communicable illnesses are cardiac
diseases, different type of cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes mellitus (Ding et al.,
2016). NCDs are the main reason of death worldwide, killing around 40 million individuals
every year. NCDs mostly affect low-income countries, but also impact people from developed
countries. Particularly in Australia, these particular health issues contribute to 91 per cent of total
deaths. Cancer is one of the major reasons of death in the world and Australia accounting 8.8
million deaths every year. Cancer is a life-threatening disease, in which the uncontrolled cell
division takes place abnormally and leads to the development of tumour in the body (Muka et al.,
2015). This build-up of tumour in the body can further grow and spread to other body parts. For
instance the carcinomas like prostate cancer and lung cancer. Sarcomas begin in the body tissues
that support and link the body. Some types of malignancy cause a quick growth of the cell, while
other cancers cause body cells to develop and multiply at a slower speed. Certain types of cancer
shows observable growths termed tumours, while others, like leukemia, do not. It can be
developed in the fat, muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, bone etc. there are different risk
factors that can lead to cancer, including consumption of tobacco, being overweight or obesity,
lack of bodily activity and inactive behaviour, diet, consuming alcohol, UV radiation, and
different infections. In developed countries like Australia, diet and alcohol consumption has
become a major risk factor of cancer (Jaspers et al., 2015). In this particular assessment report,

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the relationship between the risk factor (Diet) and non-communicable disease (cancer) will be
discussed.
Discussion
Cancer is a standard term for an enormous group of illnesses that can impact the body's any part.
Other different terms used to describe cancer are cancerous tumours and the neoplasms. One
significant feature of malignancy is the speedy formation of unusual cells that grow outside their
normal limits, and which later attack neighbouring body parts and transfer to other organs, the
concluding course is mentioned as the metastasizing (Siegel, Miller and Jemal, 2016).
Metastases are the main cause of expiry from malignancy. Malignancy is the main cause of
patient death worldwide, accounting for a projected 9.6 million expiries in 2018. Worldwide,
around 1 in 6 six deaths are because of cancer. About 70 per cent of deaths from malignancy
happen in nations with low and middle income (Favoriti et al., 2016). About one-third of
deceases from malignancy are because of the leading behavioural and dietetic risks: increased
body mass index (BMI), low consumption of fruit and vegetable, absence of physical activity,
use of tobacco, and alcohol intake. Tobacco use is recognized as the most significant risk factor
for malignancy and is accountable for about 22% of cancer deceases. Malignancy causing
infections, for example, hepatitis and human papillomavirus (HPV), are accountable for around
25 per cent of cancer diagnosis in low- and middle-income nations (Bray et al., 2018). This
particular health issue is also common in developed countries. The highest rate of cancer for
male and females together was in Australia, estimated 468.0 individuals per 100000 (Siegel,
Miller and Jemal, 2016). It is estimated that around 145000 new cases of malignancy will be
diagnosed in the current year in Australia, with the rise to 150000 in 2020. One in two Australian

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males and females will be identified with these health issues by the age of 85 (Feletto, Grogan,
Vassallo and Canfell, K2019). This particular health issue has become a major problem for the
government authorities as it accounts for huge money investment in the healthcare department. It
has been identified that around 50000 deaths form malignancy are estimated for 2019 (Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018). Particularly in 2014, cancer was the second central cause
of death in Australia and accounted for nearly 3 in 10 deaths. However the death rate due to
cancer has fallen by 24 per cent, and the survival rates are now better to compare to 1980s.
Cancer issues in 2016, cost more than $4.5 billion in the direct costs on health system. In the
years of 2916-18, the Australian government-funded around $252 million for the cancer research
projects and other programs (Lisy et al., 2018).
Risk factors
Cancer occurs from the conversion of the common cells into the malignant cells in the
multiphase process that commonly progresses from the pre-cancerous type of lesion to the
malignant tumour. These specific changes take place due to the connection between the genetic
factors of an individual and other 3 classes of outside agents like physical carcinogens, chemical
pollutants, and biological carcinogenic (Wu et al., 2016). Diet can play a main role in causing
cancer. Diet is the complex combination of constituents, which have the joint and dissimilar
effects that are problematic to dependably estimate. Nutrition is recognized to have the major
effect on the gastric, lung and breast malignancy of the oesophagus part, colon, rectum, bladder,
prostate and the endometrial malignancy risk. Dietary fat upsurges the risk of dissimilar forms of
cancers like cancer breast, colon and pancreatic cancer. It has been investigated by different
researchers that Cancer tissue requires energy and essential minerals to grow rapidly, therefore
nutrition can affect not only on the development of malignancy but also its growth (Koene et al.,

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2016). Dietary fibres are probable to protect the body against colorectal type of cancer. Different
Root vegetables and the rye bread, included in customary Finnish diet, are similarly healthy in
this respect. Additionally, diet with enough fruit and vegetable decreases the risk of several
cancers. The impact of the red and processed type of meat on the occurrence of certain types of
malignancy has been examined extensively. High consumption of processed meat is linked with
an augmented risk of the colorectal and gastric type of malignancy (Baena and Salinas, 2015).
Red meat is also associated with the colorectal in addition to pancreatic and prostate cancer. The
Australian Dietary Recommendations established by the National Health and Medical Research
Council helped in reducing the dietary issues. Characterize a nourishing diet as containing
limited ingestion of saturated fat, the added sugars, salt, and liquor, and also recognizes the trans-
fatty acids as to be evaded. It similarly includes daily intake of vegetables, fruits, grains, lean
meats, poultry products, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds and legume, and dairy foodstuffs.
Notwithstanding this, non-nutritious diets continue to be a problem for the Australian inhabitants
with (Nagle et al., 2010).
Dietary intake and cancer
Numerous Australians do not comprise adequate vegetables and fruits in their everyday diets.
Statistics from the Australian Health Survey of 2011-12 identified that only 5.5 per cent of
Australian grown-ups had a satisfactory usual daily consumption of fruit and vegetables (Fayet-
Moore et al., 2018). Nearly 48.5 per cent of Australian adults stated that they usually
encountered the recommendation for everyday fruit consumption (2 serves each day), only 8.2
per cent met the recommendation for regular vegetable consumption (5 serves each day) (Crane
et al., 2016). A contemporary meta-analysis of about 580,000 participants specified a protective
link between the dietary fibre and increased risk of gastric malignancy. It has been reported that

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consuming as a minimum 400 g of a range of non-starchy vegetables and different fruits daily,
along with including comparatively natural cereals (grains) and/or different type of pulses
(legumes) with all meals to decrease the risk of malignancy. Overnutrition, i.e. over intake of
calories from foods and its associated weight gain has been recognized as subsidizing greatly to
malignancy burden. Intake of extra calories from different sources contributes to obesity and
upsurge the risk of malignancy (Grosso et al., 2017). Reports published by different researchers
identified that increasing intake of energy-dense foodstuffs and sugary drinks is possibly
contributing to the increase in overweight and fatness, which upsurges the risk of certain
categories of cancer. It has been also reported that people should be educated to limiting energy-
dense foodstuffs and outside fast foods, and evading sugary drinks to stop and control the weight
gain, overweight and fatness (Nagle et al., 2010).
According to research conducted last year, nearly 40 per cent of the deaths annually in Australia
is possibly preventable. And poor diet and fatness are becoming the increasing and contributing
factor to about 5 per cent of malignancy death. There is also a difference in the cancer risk
between genders (Whiteman et al., 2015). It has been described that almost 75000 males will be
diagnosed with a malignancy in Australia in 2018, then 63,670 females. The proportions of
preventable malignancy deaths are higher among males than females as, on average, male smoke
and drink more; they spend more time in the sun and do not eat as well. Males consume more
calories from food and additional saturated fat and meat, and this increases the weight and
obesity among men (Weber et al., 2019).
The foremost interest regarding the link of vitamins and malignancy has been in the carotenoids,
A, E, C, and D vitamins and folate. Vitamin foodstuffs have also been investigated for the

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avoidance of cancer. Some foodstuff preparation processes cause chemical alterations which
outcome in cancer-causing ingredients establishing in the food (Grosso et al., 2017). Smoking
and grilling type fatty food over the open fire or other increased temperature makes small
quantities of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the food surface, which upsurge the
risk of malignancy. The increased intake of salt and foodstuffs preserved in salt upsurge the risk
of gastric malignancy (Sobotka et al., 2017). There is a strong relationship between different
kinds of cancers and diet as the risk factor. There are some examples of cancers and associated
specific diet as the risk factor of cancer. Lung malignancy is recognized as the major cause of
death due to cancer in the world, and most of the lung malignancy care caused by smoking.
Consuming healthy food like fruits and vegetables are linked with the reduced risk of lung
cancer, both in the individuals who smoke and those who avoid smoking. Recent investigations
suggest that eating cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli are the best
choices. Breast cancer is common types of cancer among females globally. Some of the risk
factors that upsurges the risk includes rapid early growth, increased adult height and weight gain
in adulthood (Lisy et al., 2018). The rate of breast malignancy can be reduced with the diet rich
in mono-saturated fat like olive oil, canola oil, certain nuts, and seeds. Prostate malignancy is
recognized as the most common malignancy in Australian males. Males 50 years old or above
are at increased risk. However, it can be reported in younger males as well. Vegetables like soy,
in specific, might reduce the risk, whereas a high-fat food that includes mostly from animals (for
example dairy foodstuffs, fatty meats and pre-cooked foods) might upsurge the risk. Lycopene is
the strong antioxidant found in tomatoes, other tomato-based foodstuffs, watermelon and
strawberries that might help in reducing the risk of prostate malignancy. Evidence recommends

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that eating one to two tomatoes servings every day (where a single-serve is ½ a cup or around 75
grams) is linked with decreased risk of prostate malignancy) (Lew et al., 2019).
One investigation in over 47,000 grown-ups found that those people who consumed a diet rich in
refined carbohydrates were nearly twice more probable to die from colon malignancy compared
to those who consumed a diet with low refined carbohydrates (Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare, 2018). It is assumed that increased levels of glucose in the blood and insulin are the risk
factors of cancer. Insulin is the body has been revealed to trigger cell division, contributing to the
growth and further spread of malignant cells and causing them additional difficult to eradicate.
Additionally, increased insulin levels and blood glucose intensities can contribute to the
inflammation in the human body. if It is not managed earlier, this can result in the progression of
abnormal cells and probably contribute to malignancy. This might be why individuals with
diabetes (a condition described by increased blood glucose and insulin levels) have a higher risk
of certain kinds of malignancy (Whiteman et al., 2015).
Implications
The above discussion on the relationship between diet and cancer progression made it clear that
the unhealthy diet can increases the risk of cancer and the Australian government must identify
common causes of unhealthy diet among both indigenous and non-indigenous individuals. To
deal with the increase in non-communicable illnesses, the Australian government in
collaboration with the World Health Organization has suggested population-based strategies,
including inducing the healthy food environment via cost-effective and reduced-cost inhabitants-
wide methods (Cullerton et al., 2016). These might include limitations on marketing of
foodstuffs and drinks that are high levels of sugar, salt and fat content to children, and financial

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policies to upsurge the availability and intake of healthy food and decrease intake of harmful
foods. The food situation is also the attention of the health promotions programs initiated by the
Australian government, which summaries food policy start-ups that governments might adopt to
endorse healthy diets and decrease obesity and obesity-associated cancers. In Australia, the 2009
National Preventative Health Strategy comprised suggestion to examine the use of taxes and/or
inducements to promote intake of healthier foods; present food labeling on the front side of
wrapping, and on the menus, to contribute healthier food selections; and decrease the exposure of
kids and others to the campaign of energy-condensed, nutrient-poor foodstuffs and beverages
(Lim et al., 2016). Government- recognized food strategies can deliver an enabling atmosphere
for learning healthy first choice, impelling food selections and stimulating favourable changes to
the diet system. Though, public provision and attention are needed to influence Australian
governments and counterbalance every negative response to policy application. Public support
for the food-associated obesity prevention guidelines is strong for control of marketing to kids
and better food labelling, however weaker for taxation guidelines (Grosso et al., 2017). Cancer
Australia is a constitutional agency within the wellbeing portfolio, recognized underneath
the Cancer Australia Act 2006, to decrease the influence of malignancy for all Australian people.
It delivers strategic management in malignancy care by carrying together key malignancy
organizations and intentions to diminish the divide in results for groups of individuals who have
inferior to regular survival rates or malignancy experiences, counting Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander individuals, persons living in the rural and local parts of the country, individuals
from culturally and linguistically dissimilar backgrounds, and individuals from low
socioeconomic circumstances (Puhringer et al., 2015).

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Conclusion
The non-communicable disease can be chronic and not transmits from one person to another.
One of the most common non-communicable illnesses is cancer which affects people from all
around the world. Cancer is the uncontrolled division or growth of cancer cells in the body which
further affects other parts of the body. Particular in Australia this health issues counted for 50000
deaths in 2019. There is a different risk factor of cancer such as alcohol use, diet, physical
activity, exposure to harmful chemicals, etc. Diet is one of the central causes of cancer in
Australia. It has been recognized by different researchers that there is a relationship between
cancer and diet. The poor diet and obesity are becoming the reason for nearly 5 per cent cancer
death. High intake of carbohydrates and calories is also linked with augmented risk of cancer.
Consuming a healthy diet rich in vegetables, fruits, mono-saturated fats, tomatoes etc. can help in
reducing different kinds of cancer like breast cancer, lung malignancy, and prostate cancer.
Different health promotions programs are being implemented by the Australian government in
collaboration with other organization like WHO. They care to initiate healthy food environment
strategies to enhance public knowledge about the relationship between poor diet and cancer
progression. Although the must also include initiating the education programs in different
education institutes like schools and colleges so that the kids and adults so that the diet-related
issues can be eliminated from the routes.

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