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Women’s understanding of familial aspects of breast cancer was examined using both focus groups and interviews. The studies covered issues related to perceptions of breast cancer risk factors, perceived breast cancer risk, understanding of risk information, and family history of breast cancer as a risk factor. Study 1 consisted of four focus group discussions with women from the general community. Study 2 comprised ten face‐to‐face interviews with women who had a family history of breast cancer. The results in combination indicate a fairly high level of awareness of family history as a risk factor for breast cancer. However, the definition of a familial history of breast cancer differed between the groups, with those without a family history being more inclusive than those with such a history. The paper concludes with suggestions for use by those developing resources materials for those with a familial history of breast cancer.

Pamphlets are widely used by health authorities to inform the public about diseases, and it is essential that the information therein is accurate. This study reviewed the consistency of information on breast cancer screening in materials produced and distributed by Australian health authorities. The study found that there was a clear lack of consensus in terms of the stated lifetime risk of breast cancer; while most agreed that being a woman and increasing age were the major risk factors, there was far less agreement about other risk factors, and the specific representation of symptoms was one of the areas of greatest inconsistency. It appears that this lack of consensus is not unique to Australia, but exists in other countries. Material produced by health authorities is seen by the general public as “expert” opinion, and should be able to correct inaccurate perceptions generated by exposure to other sources. There is a need to develop and disseminate messages that provide women with an accurate understanding of breast cancer and breast cancer screening.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the levels of awareness and knowledge about oral cancer, its causes and or risk factors among Ugandan patients seeking oral healthcare.

This was a cross-sectional study on adult patients who attended a free dental camp. An assistant-administered questionnaire either in English or Luganda was provided to every even-numbered registered adult who consented to participate in the study. Information on demographics and known risk factors for oral cancer were captured. The two knowledge questions on oral cancers were scored by adding up all the correctly identified causes, non-causes and risk factors then scored out of the total. Data analysis was done by calculating proportions, Student’s’ t-tests and χ² tests with significant p-value set at 0.05.

The results showed a low level of awareness/knowledge about oral cancer in studied population. In total, 60 percent and less than 50 percent of respondents identified smoking and alcohol use as risk factors for oral cancer, respectively. Majority of respondents (88.8 percent) would seek help from medical personnel if diagnosed with oral cancer. Screening for cancer was low despite awareness and knowledge that it improves the chances of successful treatment.

Emphasis on risk factors including alcohol use in public health messages, use of mass media, religious and community leaders to disseminate messages to the communities and further research were recommended.

We need to emphasize the role of alcohol in oral cancer causation just as we do for tobacco consumption.

No study has been conducted in Uganda on the level of awareness yet the incidence of the disease and use of high-risk products are rising.

Breast cancer is the most increasing female cancer worldwide, including Bangladesh. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between dietary patterns and knowledge perception of breast cancer risk patients in Bangladesh.

A questionnaire survey about 27 frequently consumed food items was conducted among 140 patients in Amader Gram Cancer Care & Research Center. A logistic regression was applied to estimate breast cancer risk. Dietary patterns were analyzed by the principal component analysis: the fat-rich foods (meat, oil, etc.), fruits, vegetables, sugar, tea, coffee, eggs and fish patterns.

The marginal effect of the logit model estimated an increased risk of breast cancer for a“Fatty Diet”, characterized by a higher consumption of milk (1.2 per cent, p < 0.01), vegetable oils and fats, butter (3.7 per cent, p < 0.05) and red meat (4.9 per cent, p < 0.05), but a decreased risk of breast cancer for a “Fruity and Vegetable Diet”, characterized by a higher consumption of fish (1.3 per cent, p < 0.01), chicken and eggs (5.1 per cent, p < 0.05), fruits (0.05 per cent, p < 0.01) and vegetables (2.9 per cent, p < 0.05). The findings of this study also suggested that weight (0.07 per cent, p < 0.01) and age (19 per cent, p < 0.05) were associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, but exercise (13 per cent, p < 0.05) reduced breast cancer risk. The findings also showed that maximum patients had inadequate knowledge on dietary and clinical factors of breast cancer risk, in addition to poor cancer screening practice. Poor knowledge and practice of breast screening were likely to lead to late stage presentation of breast cancer.

The authors found an association between the prudent dietary patterns and breast cancer risk and poor knowledge on nutrition and breast cancer.

Despite the crucial role that healthcare practitioners (HCPs) have in preventing and detecting oral cancer (OC), studies suggest that dentists and physicians do not adequately detect early stage OC which is attributed to their attitude and knowledge. This Saudi Arabian study aims to assess HCP's knowledge and practice vis‐à‐vis OC's risk factors and patient evaluation.

A questionnaire was distributed to HCPs in six different Saudi Arabian settings. A total of 16 items representing a mixture of OC's risk and non‐risk factors were measured.

The study found that only 20.9 percent of HCPs could distinguish 11 items or more correctly. Additionally, when HCPs obtained the patient's medical history, no more than 32.3 percent routinely assessed ten important OC issues. Almost 36 percent of HCPs thought that attending to too many patients prevented them from taking proper medical histories, and 37.6 percent admitted that more training in preventing and detecting OC is needed.

Since there is no effective automated system to reach Saudi Arabian practitioners, the number of practitioners involved in this study is limited.

The knowledge and practice of HCPs with relation to OC do not appear to be sufficient and HCPs should have better and more training in OC prevention and early detection.

It appears that Saudi Arabian HCPs do not adequately participate in OC's prevention and early detection. It is suggested that continuous education strategies in Saudi Arabia should be reassessed and emphasis given to OC diagnosis.

This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.

This study presents literature reviews for the period 2000–2013 on (i) the health effects of pesticides and on (ii) preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, as well as a discussion of the role of benefit-cost analysis applied to pesticide regulatory measures.

This study indicates that the health literature has focused on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, i.e. farmers, while the literature on preference valuation has focused on those with indirect exposure, i.e. consumers. The discussion highlights the need to clarify the rationale for regulating pesticides, the role of risk perceptions in benefit-cost analysis, and the importance of inter-disciplinary research in this area.

This study relates findings of different disciplines (health, economics, public policy) regarding pesticides, and identifies gaps for future research.

This paper provides an overview on the links among diet, obesity and cancer prevention. It also highlights a study which confirms that following specific diet and health recommendations can help prevent cancer.

Literature searches were conducted to find the most up‐to‐date and relevant literature on diet, obesity and cancer to be included in this paper.

The World Cancer Report predicts that worldwide new cases of cancer will increase by 50 per cent by 2020 and will present a huge challenge for health and cancer support services. However, it is estimated that eating healthily, staying physically active and maintaining a healthy body weight could reduce cancer risk by 30–40 per cent. Evidence suggests that a plant‐based diet including fibre rich foods and a wide range of vitamins and minerals may offer cancer protection, while obesity and low levels of physical activity may increase cancer risk. In 1997 World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR) produced a pioneering international report: Food Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective. The report drew attention to several links between diet and cancer prevention, and made diet and health recommendations to guide health policy and help reduce cancer risk. Adhering to these guidelines has now been shown to predict risk of and mortality from cancer. WCRF/AICR are compiling a second report which will systematically review published research on food, nutrition (including obesity), physical activity and cancer prevention. Also included will be the new and emerging area of nutrition and lifestyle factors for cancer survivors.

Information is presented to give non‐experts a general, up‐to‐date overview on the links between diet, obesity and cancer prevention.

Breast cancer (BC) presents a major public health challenge world-over including India. While several risk-factors, early signs and symptoms of BC are known, the knowledge and awareness of this disease remains poor among the population. The present study aimed to determine the extent of knowledge and awareness of BC, its risk factors, early signs and symptoms and breast self-examination (BSE) practice as an early detection method among Indian college-going female students.

The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey at a University in Delhi-NCR. Data on socio-demographic, knowledge and awareness of BC including BSE was collected using a pretested questionnaire. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis was performed. All tests were two-sided and significance was set at p < 0.05.

A total of 866 female students participated in the study with mean age of 22.32 (±0.146) years having mean body mass index (BMI) of 21.22 (±3.52). As high as 82.1% of the participants had heard of BC but while 74.8% thought early detection is possible, 70.7% believed BC cannot be prevented. Gene mutations (60.2%) were identified as a significant risk factor, while breast pain (61.4%) was commonly recognized as a sign of BC. Only 29.8% of students ever performed BSE. Increased odds of performing BSE (OR = 3.4) was found among students who recognized gene mutations as an important BC risk factor.

Knowledge and awareness of BC including BSE among female college students were found to be below average. It is suggested that there is an urgent need for increasing BC awareness among young girls through workshops and mobile-health interventions.

This study provides new information on the level of knowledge and awareness of BC risk factors, sign and symptoms and self-examination practice among young college girls. Moreover, this study advocates the need for design and implementation of a sustainable digital health model for active population BC screening, which is not being done currently.

BC is a highly aggressive disease, which is now one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in India and world over. Although the knowledge of BC risk factors and its signs and symptoms have increased, the awareness of these elements among the general population at large is low and/or missing, especially in India. Furthermore, as a consequence of unorganized screening programs in the country, majority of women are presenting young with locally advanced disease. Understanding the existing level of knowledge and educating school, college and University students of the pertinent factors and screening practices such as BSE could drastically help in improving the self-screening and/or clinical examination rates. This could potentially lead to early detection and improved prognosis, thus ameliorating disease burden.

This study is one of the few studies conducted in India among young female college students belonging to non-medical backgrounds, delineating the level of knowledge and awareness of BC risk factors and signs and symptoms along with practice of early detection method such as BSE. The study has a considerable sample size and provides valuable evidence for a need to implement programs incorporating digital health models for accelerating awareness and screening of young girls in both rural and urban settings.

This paper aims to evaluate the use of Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses for judging the effects of alcohol consumption on the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

This paper presents a review of methodology for MR and describes its early application to judging health effects of alcohol, current uses and a recommended approach of combining MR results with those from observational and experimental studies.

Early applications of MR to health effects of alcohol consumption were inadequate for providing unbiased results, but newer attempts using polygenic scores show promise. It is important to combine data from MR analyses with those from observational and experimental studies to obtain an unbiased and scientifically sound estimate of alcohol’s effects on health.

Giving advice to the public regarding alcohol consumption must be based on accurate, unbiased scientific data; this paper describes attempts to use MR for achieving this goal.

Given that light-to-moderate alcohol intake is associated with a lower risk of CHD, type II diabetes mellitus and total mortality, it is important to be able to evaluate both the benefits and harms from alcohol before giving advice regarding drinking.

This is part of a group of three papers dealing with the potential health benefits and harms associated with alcohol consumption.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the UK. Black men are in a higher prostate cancer risk group possibly due to inherent genetic factors. The purpose of this paper is to introduce PROstate Cancer Evaluation and Education (PROCEE), an innovative serious game aimed at providing prostate cancer information and risk evaluation to black African-Caribbean men.

PROCEE has been carefully co-designed with prostate cancer experts, prostate cancer patients and members of the black African-Caribbean community in order to ensure that it meets the real needs and expectations of the target audience.

During the co-design process, the users defined an easy to use and entertaining game which can effectively raise awareness, inform users about prostate cancer and their risk, and encourage symptomatic men to seek medical attention in a timely manner.

During focus group evaluations, users embraced the game and emphasised that it can potentially have a positive impact on changing user behaviour among high risk men who are experiencing symptoms and who are reluctant to visit their doctor.