GENEVALUNCH – The most comprehensive study ever of the source of cancers in Britain according to its authors shows that smoking, drinking, poor eating habits and excess weight trigger 43 percent of cancers in the country and are responsible for half of all cancer-related deaths.
The study is published today in the British Journal of Cancer and is receiving considerable media attention in the UK.
The biggest lifestyle changes men should make, the report suggests, is to eat more fruits and vegetables and to smoke less. Women should keep their weight down.
The authors, in their introduction to the special supplement to the regular journal say the results show “a limited number of important factors that can, at least to some extent, be affected by personal or political choices. The most important among these is continuation of the significant reduction in tobacco exposure. Next in importance are reductions in obesity and in heavy alcohol consumption, and certain other dietary changes. Each of these four main strategies for cancer control would also substantially reduce the burden of other non-communicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular, diabetic, renal and hepatic disease.”
The UK had 134,000 new cases of cancer diagnosed in 2010. Tobacco alone is responsible for about 20 percent of all cancers and 25 percent of cancer-related deaths.
“Over the past 40 years in the UK, the probability of death before the age of 70 years has been halved, and over the next few decades it could be halved again by continued improvements in the treatment of disease and by paying appropriate attention to the few major avoidable causes of disease.
17-year-old on two-night binge had no reason for doing it, he says
Altar burned in village church after car vandalism: youth confesses to drunken spree
SION, SWITZERLAND – A 17-year-old who got drunk and damaged 23 cars one night, then burned the inside of a church in Châble the next told police he didn’t do it for any particular reason. He turned himself in Monday and admitted to the crimes.
Police turned him over to juvenile authorities who are detaining him.
The fire destroyed the altar and caused extensive smoke damage to the church. It was set by the youth the day after he and an old school friend from Fribourg went on a rampage and vandalized 23 cars. The second youth was being sought by police late Monday.
The fire occurred Saturday night 19 November about 23:00. The prayer books inside the church were piled on the altar and then lit.
The vandalism to cars Friday night involved petty damages such as broken side-view mirrors and antennas.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Speeders and drunk drivers could soon find it’s not easy to get their drivers licenses back, and not without conditions applied. The lower house of Parliament’s transport commission says it will back recommendations from the upper house to toughen rules for drivers.
The two houses are looking to clamp down on speeders who have lost their licenses for a year by obliging them to drive with a vehicle equipped with a black box that measures their speed, in future. Repeat offenders arrested for drunk driving would be required to have vehicles with ethylometres that go into effect when the car starts, for five years.
Switzerland’s death and serious injury rates have dropped significantly in recent years with tougher laws governing speeding and drinking/driving, which the Swiss safety council says is due to a mix of prevention, greater public awareness and stiffer penalties.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Nez Rouge helped 24,000 people make it home safely during the 2009 holiday season after they were unable to drive due to alcohol, drugs and exhaustion.
The group kicks off its volunteer operation for the 2010 holiday season Friday 10 December in most parts of Switzerland and a week later in the rest of the country.
If you can’t drive, don’t: phone Nez Rouge at 0800 802 208.
The group consists of local sections and you can also phone their local numbers directly, so print out the numbers and keep them handy if you plan to party during the holiday season. You can always pick up your car later, as long as you’re alive because you’ve called Nez Rouge.
Geneva – 022 710 27 77: 10 and 12 December, then from 17 December to 31 December
Morges-Lausanne – 021 702 55 10: 10 and 12 December, then from 17 December to 1 January
Eastern Vaud – 021 964 60 68: 10 and 11, 17 and 18, then 23 to 31 December
In France, the night of 31 December only, in Haute-Savoie
Swiss police at the start of every school year run campaigns to emphasize road safety near schools
Sion, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A 63-year-old school crossing guard in Vouvry, at the eastern end of Lake Geneva, is in stable condition with head injuries after she was hit by a car and dragged by it at 13:10 Monday afternoon, 6 September. She was conscious when she was taken to the nearby Monthey hospital.
The accident was witnessed by a number of children returning to school after lunch, and they are being given counselling.
The driver of the car was a 54-year-old Zurich woman who lives in canton Valais. She was arrested and has had her driver’s license confiscated after the accident. She was found to have an alcohol level of 2,03 %o, more than four times the legal limit. According to police, she did not see the crossing guard as she came up over a hill “due to her physical state.”
Pfaeffikon, canton Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The body of a 22-year-old man from Pfaffikon near Zurich has been recovered from the Pfaeffikersee lake. He and three companions went out on the lake in a boat around 01:30of Monday, after drinking. The boat capsized and one man swam to shore while two others were pulled in by rescuers. The fourth man was found 250 metres from shore, 18 metres underwater, at the end of a day of searching that involved several divers, helicopters and a boat equipped with a special camera, reports Le Nouvelliste (Fre).
A study of a million UK women, published in the British Medical Journal, indicates that those who drink alcohol and are overweight may be at as much as double the risk for developing cirrhosis of the liver and other liver diseases. The study suggests that alcohol limits for obese and overweight people may need to be redefined.
Links to other sites: British Medical Journal, BBC
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The time has arrived for the annual Christmas party reminder: don’t drive if you plan to drink. The limit in Switzerland is 0.5 per 1,000, which means about one glass of wine. That said, Christmas parties, at the office or elsewhere, often catch people by surprise, and if you have one too many, consider phoning Nez Rouge to have someone come and drive you home in your own car. The Geneva area service also covers neighbouring France.
The holiday season service starts this weekend, with drivers on call 11 and 12 December, and then throughout the holidays but with dates and times varying slightly from one region to another.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The number of deaths caused by road accidents fell by 7% in 2008 to 357, compared to 2007, and the number of serious injuries was down by 9%, to 4759.
The statistics were released 24 February by BPA, the Swis Bureau for the Prevention of Accidents which credits a variety of factors with the improvement: more low-speed (30 kph) zones, more fixed speed radars, driving courses and longer learner periods for young drivers, continued checks for drunk driving.
