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Obwohl maligne Tumoren immer erfolgreicher bekämpft werden können und dadurch die Sterblichkeitsrate kontinuierlich sinkt wird die Zunahme der diagnostizierten Krebserkrankungen im Jahr 2006 - verglichen mit 2004 – auf 300.00 Malignome geschätzt. Wie lässt sich dieser scheinbare Widerspruch erklären?

Read more: Zunahme der Krebserkrankungen in Europa

After cardiovascular diseases, cancer is the second leading cause of death. There is evidence that 40 to 60 percent of all cancer diseases are related to the diet. Lots of fruits, vegetables and salad can lower the risk for certain cancers. This is mainly due to the vitamins C and A and beta carotene.

Fruits and vegetables rich of carotene, for example, can reduce the risk of tumors of lung, prostate, bladder, oral cavity, esophagus and stomach. A vitamin C-rich diet confers some protection against esophageal, gastric and colon cancer. It is still not yet entirely clear how vitamins can reduce the cancer risk. It is obvious, however, that both vitamin C and beta carotene are so-called antioxidants which can tame the aggressive oxygen compounds (free radicals).

Read more: Vitamins can reduce cancer risk

A healthy diet which is rich of fruits and vegetables can prevent lung cancer (bronchial carcinoma). This is evidenced by a series of studies within a population of about 100,000 participants in total, as reported in the medical newspaper, citing Prof. Karl-Matthias Deppermann from the hospital for pulmonary medicine and thoracic surgery in Berlin-Buch.

So it showed in the Iowa Women's Health Study with over 40,000 volunteers that a high consumption of pears, broccoli etc. halved the risk of lung cancer. That lung cancer risk, especially for women, is the less, the more fruits and vegetables they eat, also turned out in an investigation involving about 11,500 senior citizens of both sexes.