You Can Reduce Cancer Risk by Following Just Eight Steps

Reduce Cancer Risk

The choices you make throughout your life bring you closer to cancer or move you farther away from it. Every day, you read articles in newspapers and magazines presented with exaggerated headlines: “The Cancer-Preventing Diet!”; “Halve your cancer risk in just a minute or two a day!”. Is it really possible to reduce your cancer risk through simple choices in daily life? You do not need to be a magician to protect yourself against cancer. It is possible to stay healthy with simple practices that do not cause you much difficulty...

Genetics plays an important role in cancer. Therefore, no matter how healthily you live, developing cancer remains a possibility.

However, experts estimate that of every 3 cancers in adults, 2 are associated with lifestyle factors that are within your control. Every decision you make about your health and every unhealthy habit you abandon reduces your cancer risk a little more each time.

The eight healthiest habits I list below will help protect you against cancer risk (the ninth is a habit that experts still approach with caution).

What habits trigger cancer risk and/or what should be done? Let us examine them together:

Do Not Smoke

Smoking is one of the greatest contributors to the development of lung cancer. Lung cancer, one of the most common types of cancer in both men and women worldwide, is a cancer that poses a risk to life.

Of course, it is not just lung cancer… There are dozens of cancers associated with smoking, and the risk of cancer-related death is around %30.

For this reason, most doctors say that the biggest step toward reducing cancer risk is to stop smoking and never start again. If you find it difficult to quit smoking completely, even cutting down will significantly reduce your cancer risk.

According to a study published in the American Medical Association's journal in 2010, someone who smokes 20 cigarettes a day and cuts consumption to fewer than 10 cigarettes a day reduces their lung cancer risk by %27. This is a good beginning for you, but you should not stop there. Quitting smoking completely will be the best choice for your health.

Even if you do not smoke, do not think that this will not affect your life. Each year, an average of 3,000 lung cancer cases occur in passive smokers, and strong evidence has been found that passive smoking may also be associated with other cancers.

In an enclosed bar or club with 100 smokers, you may effectively be smoking too. Smelly clothes afterward signal substantial exposure.

Therefore, think again before going to bars and nightclubs where people smoke or having your child stay in a car and/or an enclosed space with someone who constantly smokes.

Avoid Weight Gain

Many know excess weight harms the heart but not that it is a major cancer risk. Obesity causes %14 of annual cancer mortality risks and more than %3 of new cases.

Stay as close to a healthy weight as possible; this may be a key preventive measure.

As I have stated in many of my articles, eating healthily and exercising to avoid gaining weight are factors that prevent cancer from developing. Some of the wide range of cancers associated with obesity include esophageal (food pipe), pancreatic, gallbladder, breast, endometrial, and kidney cancers. In this situation, one of the most important aspects of maintaining a healthy weight is making healthy eating a way of life.

Move

All forms of physical activity help prevent many types of cancer. Some studies have found that exercising for at least 30 minutes each day reduces many common cancers by %30-50.

The type of exercise you do or when you do it does not matter. Just do it. Let us establish the connection between exercise and smoking. If you maintain a healthy weight, your physical activity increases and you begin eating more vegetables and fruit. If you smoke, this also means quitting smoking. The more you exercise, the less time you will find to continue your bad habits. Having a more energetic and fitter body is another benefit that exercise provides.

It is therefore very important to understand the significance of bad habits that creep into people's lives and adversely affect their health, and to organize your lifestyle accordingly.

Fill Your Plate with Vegetables

Different foods may protect against particular cancers. Lycopene, enabling intestinal fat absorption, can be obtained from red grapefruit, blackberries, tomatoes and watermelon to reduce prostate cancer risk.

To lower many cancer risks, fill your plate with carbohydrate-free vegetables and fruit. Consume at least an average 400 gr. daily. Mediterranean, St.Tropez and green diets are produce-rich and protective.

Two thirds should be fruit, vegetables, soybeans and whole grains; the remaining third lean meat, fish and low-fat dairy.

Do Not Drink Alcohol

When it comes to health, alcohol is like a double-edged sword. The consumption of low-alcohol drinks, particularly red wine, which experts say may benefit heart health, has been discussed repeatedly in print and broadcast media.

On the other hand, however, it is also stated that consuming alcohol in either small or large amounts may increase cancer risk.

There is no safe level of alcohol consumption for cancer. The more alcohol you consume, the more cancer risk increases. Certain cancers, including cancers of the mouth, esophagus (food pipe), and throat, carry increased risks associated with alcohol consumption. If you also smoke, your risk of developing cancer doubles.

The suggestion is that women consuming no more than one glass of alcohol a day and men no more than two glasses a day may reduce the risk factor.

Relieve Stress

People have always wondered whether stress contributes to an increased risk of cancer. No valid evidence has been found showing that stress is a risk factor for cancer. However, people under stress may engage in certain unhealthy behaviors. They may eat too much, drink alcohol, or smoke to relieve stress. These behaviors are themselves factors that can trigger cancer risk.

Journaling, meditation and exercise can help.

Reduce Screening Tests

Many screening tests, such as mammography and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, are performed to detect cancer at an early stage when it is treatable, rather than to prevent it.

Colonoscopy and Pap tests identify precancerous changes that may become colon or cervical cancer untreated.

The question of who should have which screening test and when can be confusing. Rather than trying to work out what to do on your own, discussing your personal health with your doctor will help resolve your questions.

For example, your question about having a mammogram should not be “Should women under 50 have mammograms?”.. Instead, you should ask “Should I provide information about my personal health and family history? If necessary, should I begin having mammograms before the age of 50?”.

Do not assume that speaking to your doctor once will be sufficient. Your health, new developments in cancer, and screening tests will change over time. It is therefore sensible to ask your doctor about all changes occurring this year, next year, and the year after that.

Explore Your Roots

All patients should investigate their family's health history. Family history allows us to develop personalized strategies to reduce cancer risk and detect it at an early stage. However, very few patients have sufficient health information about their family history.

Next time, therefore, you should get together with close family members and gather detailed information about their health. If you cannot meet, you can speed up the process by contacting them through social media such as Skype or Facebook. Carefully write down the information you obtain, then share it with your doctor.

Aspirin - Perhaps, with Caution About Dose

Should you take aspirin to prevent cancer?

Although uncertainty remains about regular low-dose aspirin use, some of the available data support the use of aspirin.

A large study in 2010 suggested daily low doses may reduce mortality from certain cancers, mainly lung, colorectal and esophageal, by approximately %21.

However, regular aspirin use can also cause certain side effects, particularly skin irritation and stomach bleeding. Most experts agree that it is still too early to say that aspirin is effective against cancer.

Everyone would like cancer prevention to be as easy as taking a pill each day. In reality, however, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, and eating vegetables and fruit are more lasting measures to reduce cancer risk than taking aspirin.

Consult your doctor before beginning regular aspirin use for any reason. Following decisions made by your doctor with knowledge of your health circumstances will help prevent other health problems that might arise in the future.