Prague, Sept 30 (CTK) – Praguers pay dearly with their bad health for living in the Czech capital, daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes yesterday, referring to a study on the cancer and other diseases incidence in Prague compared with the rest of the country.
Prague inhabitants are diagnosed with prostate and breast cancer more often than those living in other regions. Moreover, the number of these cases has been steadily rising, LN says.
The main causes are an unhealthy lifestyle and a bad air in Prague with the population of over 1.2 million, LN adds.
In the past ten years, the number of men in Prague treated for prostate cancer increased by 106 percent. Men living in Prague also lead the statistics of melanoma incidence.
Women in Prague suffered from breast cancer most of all in the Czech Republic in the past decade, shows the study, released by the Prague Sanitary Office recently.
These diseases’ incidence has been rising with the rising age, while the 45-49 year group is critical, Eliska Nemeckova and Anna Fueleova, who worked on the study, said.
Apart from cancer, Praguers seek doctors with psychological and infectious diseases most frequently, compared with the whole country, LN writes, adding that psychological conditions affect physical health.
Almost a half of all viral hepatitis cases have been registered in Prague, LN adds.
Administrative work prevails in Prague, its inhabitants do not have enough physical activities and a lot of them smoke, Zdenka Jagrova, head of the epidemiology section of the Prague Sanitary Station, told LN, speaking about the causes of their worsening health.
One in five Prague inhabitants smoke, LN adds.
In addition, Praguers are exposed to harmful factors at work and elsewhere, primarily noise, pollution and stress, more than the rest of the Czech population, LN writes.
Paradoxically, Praguers live longer than the rest of the country though they suffer from the diseases of affluence, such as diabetes and depression, the most.
Life expectancy of women and men in the Czech Republic is 81.1 and 75.2 years on average, while in Prague it is 82.1 and 77.3 years, respectively, LN writes.
However, the figures may be misleading, experts point out. The current high-quality health care is able to prolong life, but people do not always spend their last years in good health, Miroslav Slavik, director of the Prague Sanitary Office, said.
The higher sickness rate in Prague is also caused by its population ageing. The share of people over 65 years has been rising in Prague. They make up one-fifth of its inhabitants now.
Some experts also point out that Praguers lead the statistics of some diseases’ incidence because of a high concentration of health-care services in the capital.
Prague inhabitants are presumably well informed about the possible risks of tumours and this is why they see doctors more frequently than other inhabitants, Jagrova told LN.
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