The best way to reduce your risk of lung cancer? Don’t smoke. And if you do, quit smoking. But until now, researchers have been perplexed about why quitting smoking reduces your risk of developing lung cancer so significantly. In a bid to understand what happens to normal cells when they’re exposed to tobacco smoke, a team of researchers instead uncovered the surprising answer to this question. They found that in people who quit smoking, the body actually replenishes the airways with normal, non-cancerous cells that help protect the lungs – which in turn reduces the risk of getting lung cancer.
Cancer still kills nearly 10 million people every year. In Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa have the largest number of new cases. In Kenya, cases have risen by 30% in the past eight years. Gershim Asiki sets out what’s driven those numbers.
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The findings show it’s never too late to quit.
Nuttaphong Sriset/ Shutterstock
Sam Janes, UCL; Peter Campbell, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
The study found that ex-smokers had four times the amount of "normal" protective cells than smokers.
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Cancer cases are on the rise in many parts of the continent.
CI concept/Shutterstock
Gershim Asiki, African Population and Health Research Center
The rapid rise in cancer cases can be attributed to major societal and environmental changes that have occurred in the past few decades.
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Business + Economy
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Chengwei Liu, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
Ignore business books which promise to reveal the secret formula of success – usually it's down to luck.
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Douglas Webber, INSEAD
At the time of the 2016 referendum, there were widespread fears that Brexit would unleash a contagion effect among other member states.
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Politics + Society
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Dirk Siebels, University of Greenwich
Navies, and other security agencies, won't be able to improve maritime security as long as root causes on land are not addressed.
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Yehudah Mirsky, Brandeis University
Long in the making, the US administration's Middle East plan was quickly rejected by Palestinian leaders. It was hardly surprising, as they took no part in its drafting.
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En Français
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Monika Siejka, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin en Yvelines – Université Paris-Saclay
Rey ayant succédé à Luke, les héroïnes ont-elles pour autant fini par détrôner les héros ?
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Véronique Lefebvre des Noettes, Université Paris-Est Créteil Val de Marne (UPEC)
Il n’y pas une seule région cérébrale dévolue à la mise en mémoire, mais plusieurs. Et il importe de mieux les connaître dès lors qu’on souhaite prendre en charge ceux dont la mémoire défaille.
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