 These three steps can reduce cancer risk
 The goal of Cancer Control Month is to remind us of the various cancer risks we can control. These are three things you can do.
1. See your doctor for a health review and summary of preventive tests that are recommended for your age group and sex. A colonoscopy, mammogram, or a PSA test could be recommended. Make an appointment to have tests. Be sure to keep it.
Get serious and follow the doctor's advice about general health issues such as weight control and diet.
2. Create a plan for exercise. If you don't exercise now, you only need 10 or 15 minutes a day to start. Make a point of putting activity into your life: walk up stairs; park farther away from work and the store; work in your yard. Get back to your favorite sport. Tennis and swimming are good choices.
3. Put cancer-fighting foods into your diet. Nutritionists at Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans recommend:
Apples: Eat one the usual way or put chunks in salads or slices in sandwiches.
Berries: Add them to smoothies or top your breakfast cereal with berries. Blueberries are highest in antioxidants.
Artichokes:They have more antioxidants than other vegetables. Chop an artichoke heart into tomato sauce or a green salad.
Potatoes: Russets have the highest antioxidant count, but it's mostly in the skins. Eat them baked or into soups.
Oregano, cinnamon, and cloves: Spices that are high in antioxidants.
Nuts: Pecans have the highest antioxidant count. Crush and add them to chicken or fish before baking.
Beans: Small red beans are best, but all dried beans fight free radicals.
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The good news about cancer: many
types are preventable
It's a frightening word that no one wants to hear, especially from their own doctor. Fortunately, preventing many types of cancer can be accomplished by these lifestyle changes.
Stop smoking. In addition to lung cancer, smoking is the culprit in cancers of the mouth, nose, voice box, esophagus, stomach, and cervix. It contributes to cancers of the liver, kidney, and bladder.
Eat a healthy diet. Researchers estimate that some types of cancer could be reduced by one-third if we ate right. That means less fat and more fruits and vegetables. It also means eating more fiber, less salt, and less sugar.
Healthy eating helps to prevent cancer of the bowel, stomach, breast, prostate, and bladder, among others.
Guard against the sun. Though we need to get some exposure to the sun for vitamin D, we should be very careful. In fact, if you are fair skinned or have a close relative who has had skin cancer, it's probably best to get vitamin D from enriched foods and supplements. For everyone else:
- Don't sit in the sun between noon and 3 p.m.
- If you will be outside during the day, cover up with a hat, long-sleeved shirt, and trousers.
- Wear sunscreen, the higher the SPF rating, the better. Reapply every couple of hours.
- Be immunized against cervical cancer if you are a young woman. About 70 percent of cases are caused by the human papilloma virus. They can now be prevented by immunization.
- Exercise. For everyone, exercise improves general health. For women, it has been shown to reduce the risk of breast and endometrial cancer.
Vitamin D for cancer prevention
A study published in the Journal of Public Health concludes that taking vitamin D pills could substantially reduce the risk for breast, colon, prostate, and ovarian cancer. The University of California, San Diego researchers contrasted the nickel-a-day cost of a vitamin D supplement with "the high human and economic costs of treating cancer attributable to insufficiency of vitamin D."
Other evidence shows that vitamin D is as important as calcium for building bone and preventing osteoporosis. |
Don't believe it!
Some common cancer beliefs are wrong.
Researchers quoted in HealthNews tell of five mistakes people make when thinking about cancer.
Wrong: "Stress can cause cancer." Oncologists at Toronto Sunnybrook Cancer Center examined 70 studies of conditions such as distress, psychological problems, poor coping styles, and personality factors. Chronic daily stress, they conclude, may actually reduce the incidence of some cancers.
Wrong: "A strong immune system decreases risk of cancer recurrence." One typical finding: even as chemotherapy weakens the immune system, it cures some cancers.
Wrong: "There's nothing I can do to prevent cancer." First identify your risks and deal with them, smoking, for example. Smoking causes one-third of all cancer deaths.
Wrong: "Elderly people don't benefit from intense cancer care." Oncologists at The Cleveland Clinic say patients in their 80s and beyond who are in otherwise good condition benefit significantly from careful selection of treatments.
Wrong: "Why get screened because cancer is rarely cured?" Screenings such as the Pap test, mammography, and colonoscopy prevent huge numbers of cancer deaths each year.
More April Gems: Arbor Day articles |
