Seven Things You Can Do To Minimize The Cancer Risk

There is a lot of anxious curiosity these days about the life style and general habits amongst people and their impact on the risk of cancer. There are things that range from food/eating habits to smoking,drinking and exposure to sun etc. One week people see a study that talks about the positive effect of red wine on health and then the very next week there is another study linking alcohol consumption to enhanced risk of breast cancer for example.

All this tends to get very confusing for people and creates more questions than answers in terms of what they could do in terms of bringing about changes in their daily habits and overall lifestyle to protect themselves or at the very least minimizing their risk for cancer.
Here are the 7 recommendations that could help.
1. Quit smoking.----If you are a smoker, the SINGLE biggest thing that you can do to minimize yours and your family's risk to a large number of potential cancer is to give up smoking immediately. This is quite simply a no brainer and the most important positive change you can make in your life.
If you are not a smoker, please DO NOT even think about taking up smoking as a habit for just for social outings.
2. Say NO To Pan Masala ---- Pan Masala is by far the leading cause of head and neck ( oral) cancers in India and certain regions in UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat,West Bengal and several other states in India have a very high degree of mouth and throat cancers on account of consumption of pan masala. The very jazzy advertising that some of these companies undertook in earlier years got even the middle class ( and indeed some pretty affluent industrialists) to take up the habit of chewing pan masala and and a very large number of people have paid the price by acquiring this deadly disease in the bargain.
3. Fruits, Vegetables and Tea have been found to have a positive impact on reducing the cancer risk and therefore it is a very good idea to have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet.The natural chemicals--Flavonoids found in different fruits and vegetables and teas reduce the risk of lung cancer even amongst the smokers. Strawberries, green and black teas, brussels sprouts, apples, beans and broccoli are good sources of flavonoids.
4. Alcohol consumption must be in moderation. Even if it is wine--red or white or any other drink, the idea is to limit your consumption to not more than 10 -15 drinks per month and that too on a very well spread out basis. The better option would be to have a glass of wine 2/3 days per week and not to drink on an empty stomach.
5. Protect yourself from direct exposure to sun. Sunbathing has been found to be the leading cause of skin cancer and prolonged exposure to sun without adequate sun protection lotions is highly dangerous. Tanning salons that use chemicals to induce tans are not recommended at all as they could potentially be quite risky as well.
6. Red meat in general and burnt meat ( barbeque / open fire / over heated) frozen and re-heated meat have all been founf to be enhancing the risk of various types of cancers in different studies and therefore they all must be avoided. Overall, it has also been found that vegetarians have a lower risk of getting cancer than the non-vegetarians.
7. Finally, one must lead a balanced life with pleanty of exercise, physical activity and nutritious meals. Stress, though in some form, is unavoidable in our lives these days, must me minimized and social interaction with family and friends goes a long way well. Avoid very hot liquids ( tea/coffee/soups etc.) as they can damage the inner lining of the stomach and lead to acid reflux ( commonly known as acidity). Acid reflux must be treated comprehensively as well and not dismissed merely as acidity tackled with anatcids. Esphegeal cancer is a very serious condition with very limited treatment success.

Overall, though a disease like cancer continues to be a major challenge for clinicians and researchers alike and there is no guaranteed and fool proof check list possible for its avoidance, these seven suggestions can certainly help minimize one's risk to various cancers.

Good luck and God bless.
Let us keep working for a healthier world for "Every Life Matters"

Pradeep K Jaisingh