Cancer Survivors & Non-Cancer Deaths

Nearly half of all cancer survivors die from non-cancer causes. Turns out that's actually good news.

The fact that just about half of cancer survivors today die from other causes is good news because it means they are surviving their cancers longer than before. But it's also a bit of a wake up call for them to take care of other things as well.

A new study looked at cancer survivors over the last decade. Researchers found that those participating in the national health and nutrition examination survey most commonly had breast, prostate, lung and colorectal types of cancers. They also found that although 51% of them died from their cancers over a 7-year period, 49%, or almost half, died from some other cause.

And the number one thing they did die from was heart disease. That's not a big surprise since it's also the number one overall killer in the U.S., but what was surprising was that it itself was responsible for over 2/3 of cancer survivors' non-cancer deaths.

Since more are surviving their cancers for longer periods of time, this means that they also need to remember to concentrate on other aspects of their health. That means continuing to eat right and avoid the deadly things like smoking to ensure that once they survive their cancer, they are around for as many years as possible.