Because their lifestyles are changing, women today are more and more affected by certain diseases.
In France, the figures and data put forward by recent scientific studies are clear: many cancerdiseases cardiovascular And gynecological increase considerably in the female population. Here are 8 diseases on the rise in women to watch out for.
1. Pancreatic cancer: rising mortality among women
“Pancreatic cancer is one of increasing cancers, particularly in France, and its incidence increases especially in women., reports Pr Renato Lupinacci, pancreatic and digestive surgeon at the Ambroise-Paré Hospital (APHP-Paris Saclay University), whom we previously interviewed on this subject. According toNational Cancer Institute (Inca)THE incidence rate is progressing of +3.3% per year between 1990 and 2023 for women (against +2.3% for men). Number of new cases of pancreatic cancer in 2023 is of 7668 in women, against 8323 for men. “If today, more men have pancreatic cancer than women (51% of men against 49%)the gender gap is narrowing“, comments our interlocutor. Pancreatic cancer death rate is rising also in a way more marked in the woman.
2. Heart attacks tripled in women under 50
I’myocardial infarction – commonly known as heart attack – increases in women under 65, reports the French Society of Cardiology (in January 2023 in Paris). “The incidence increased by +8.3% among them between 2014 and 2019. In women under 50the number of myocardial infarctions per year tripled in 15 years : today more than 11% of women victims of a heart attack are under 50 years old“, emphasizes the SFC. Today, cardiovascular diseases now represent the leading cause of death in women And “kill 8 times more than breast cancer“, recalls the French Federation of Cardiology in its pamphlet entitled “Coeur de femmes”. This increase is mainly due to the rise in smoking and obesity in this population, two risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, argues for its part theInserm.
3. Obesity: 1 in 6 women is obese in France
The prevalence of obesity has almost triple globally between 1975 and 2016, more markedly in women. In 2020 in France, there were 17.4% obese among women compared to 16.7% for men, reports a series of surveys coordinated by Inserm. This would be explained by the fact that at equivalent weight and sizewomen have a lower energy expenditure than men, but also by the fact that the estrogen (whose rate increases at several stages of a woman’s life: puberty, menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause) contribute to fat storage and have a direct influence on the weight.
4. Lung cancer: a very worrying increase in women
Since 2010, lung cancer has been on the rise considerably in women: +4.3% between 2010 and 2018.”There is no other cancer where we observe such an increase“, comments Dr Maurice Pérol, medical oncologist specializing in thoracic cancers at the Léon Bérard Center in Lyon. He now represents the second cause of death by cancer in women in France (10,300 deaths or 15%), after breast cancer (12,000 deaths per year or 18% of cancer deaths). This increase is mainly due to the rise in smoking. “If we look at the lung cancer incidence curve, it is exactly superimposable on the sales curve for industrial cigarettes in France since the Second World War, with a lag of about twenty years”, explains our interlocutor.
5. Breast cancer: increasing in women since 2010
Breast cancer is the most frequent in women (approximately 60,000 new cases per year. Its prevalence has increased by +0.3% between 2010 and 2023according to data from the 2023 edition of the Panorama of cancers in France from the National Cancer Institute (INCa). However, the number of deaths has decreased: -1.6%. Some of the reasons for the rise in breast cancer cases include: Aging of the population women in France, the increase in alcohol and tobacco consumption among women, the increase in physical inactivity and overweight, the INCa list.
6. Alcoholism: “a natural inequality between men and women”
Alcohol consumption among women has increased considerably in recent years. According to’European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) relayed by Insee, 20.8% of women reported consuming alcohol several times a week in 2019 compared to 14.7% in 2014.”Women’s alcoholism is more often linked to personal difficulties. Sometimes it can also be linked to traumatic events from the past such as sexual abuse. Depression and anxiety are also often managed through alcohol consumption. Besides, there is a natural inequality between men and women. Indeed, their biological constitution means that they develop an alcohol dependence more quickly than men, for the same consumption.“, confided to us Pr Amine Benyamina, psychiatrist-addictologist at the Paul-Brousse hospital (Villejuif) during a previous interview.
7. Endometriosis: a “real increase” in women
In 2022, Public health France published an epidemiological study on endometriosis in France and reported an increase in the number of cases treated in hospital among women aged 10 and over between 2011 and 2017 (28,377 cases in 2011 compared to 31,237 cases in 2017). “These results reflect a real increase in incidence and/or the influence of factors modified during the study period: the women and practitioners would be made more aware pathology, the use of pelvic magnetic resonance imaging for the detection of endometriosis would be more and more frequent, surgical practices would have evolved…“, can we read in the balance sheet.
8. Melanoma: female cases have tripled in 30 years
In the woman, the number of new cases of melanoma (skin cancer) has increased by 240% between 1990 and 2023 (8,813 new cases in 2023 against 2,590 in 1990). “The significant growth in the number of skin cancers is due to the increase in exposure to UV rays” justifies theNational Cancer Institute (INCa).
Thank you to our interlocutors: Pr Renato Lupinacci, pancreatic and digestive surgeon, Dr Maurice Pérol, medical oncologist specializing in thoracic cancers and Pr Amine Benyamina, psychiatrist-addictologist.