10 Important Ways On How To Prevent Cancer, has been comprehensively discussed in this article. You can access this detailed report below.
An estimate of 10.0 million people died globally from cancer in 2020, an article on PUB Medicine reports.
Cancer has been a growing concern for people around the world because of the nature of the illness.
Some cancerous cases have sentenced people to a duration of time before death. This is why it is important to learn about the important ways how to prevent cancer.
Before delving into how to prevent cancer, it is first of all important to know what cancer is and its type.
Cancer is an abnormal growth of cells in the human body. A Consultant obstetrician-gynaecologist with Evercare Hospital, Lekki, Dr Fatimah Habeebu-Adeyemi gave this definition.
Adeyemi who spoke about Cancer during the March Wellness Health Series said a lot of factors triggers cancers.
She said these factors include:
For the purpose of this article, we would be focusing on how to prevent cancers.
Eating a healthy diet simply means avoiding junk and maintaining a healthy food lifestyle. Junks are produced with processed food; this is why they are unhealthy.
Also, watching out for calories and portion control is important to protect you from obesity.
According to a report on CNN Health, a low nutritional diet is linked with cancer.
In this report, an estimate of 471,495 adults from 10 European countries was observed. The rate of cancer among those who consumed junks was 81.4 per cent.
Those who ate healthily had lowered their risk of cancer. Junk food exposes people to various kinds of cancers. These include:
Eating a healthy diet and minimizing or avoiding junk lowers a person’s risk of cancer.
Health experts have vigorously warned and campaigned against smoking. This is because smoking exposes not just the person smoking but the people around the smoker to cancer.
“The Ministry of Health (in Nigeria) has warned that smokers are liable to die young.” This statement comes after every anti-smoking campaign on various advertorials.
Statistics from Cancer Atlas showed that 52% of oesophagus cancer death in men is caused by smoking. 44% of oesophagus death in women is caused by smoking.
Smoking also leads to 83% and lungs cancer, 93% of larynx cancerous deaths in women.
Doctors have specifically warned against smoking Tobacco and the risk attached.
NB: Smoking does not only affect the smoker but those in close proximity to the smoker.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 4% of cases of cancer globally is caused by alcohol.
This data states that about 750,000 cases of cancer in 2020 was linked to alcohol abuse.
Although alcohol accounts for a few cases of cancer, doctors still warn against abusing it. Also, those suffering from liver cancer have been warned to stay away from alcohol.
According to a new study on NPR, alcohol causes respiratory tract cancers, liver, colon, rectum and breast cancer.
The respiratory cancers are:
Minimizing and avoiding alcohol prevents alcohol.
Maintaining a healthy weight does not always protect a person from cancer but it reduces the chances of having cancer.
According to the America Cancer Society being obese and underweight increases the risk of cancer.
A study by the ACS reveals that obesity is responsible for 11 per cent of cases of cancer in 5 per cent of men.
The study also reveals that overweight and obesity is the cause of 7 per cent cases of death.
Below are the following cancers obesity and overweight can cause:
Physical activity helps maintain a healthy weight and prevents breast and colon cancer. Health experts advise that adults get a minimal amount of 150 minutes of aerobic exercise weekly. Of the 150 minutes, 75 can be vigorous and the other 75 minutes can be mild. Also, 30 minutes of physical activity is recommended daily.
Health experts have advised that exposure to sun rays between 10 AM and 4 PM can lead to skin cancer.
People have been warned to avoid excessive sun rays because of Ultraviolet exposure. UV is largely responsible for early ageing, skin damage and can lead to skin cancer.
Sunrays cause two common skin cancers. They are; Basal cell and squamous cell skin cancer. Low-risk cancer that the sunray causes are melanoma. Melanoma is low-risk because It usually occurs in persons exposed to sunburn before age 18.
The preventive measures are:
The Human Papilloma vaccines are popularly known as the HPV vaccines. The HPV vaccines prevent sexually transmitted viruses that lead to cancer. The HPV vaccine is recommended for children between the ages of 11 and 12 years. Sexually active adults are also at risk.
The kind of cancers from lack of the HPV vaccines include:
The US Food Administration and control only recently adopted Gardasil for males and females. People between the ages of 9-45 years of age can also take the vaccine.
Similarly, Hepatitis B vaccines also prevent liver cancer. This vaccine is recommended for adults who are at higher risk. People at risk of the Hepatitis B vaccine include:
Avoid behaviours that expose you to some diseases and cancer. Limit your number of sexual partners, use a condom when you have sex and do not share sharp objects.
Health experts have said that the more sexual partners you have, the higher your chances of contracting HIV and HPV.
Also, sharing sharp needles exposes people to Hepatitis B and C which would lead to liver cancer.
Sharing sharp objects also puts you at risk of contracting HIV.
Regular cancer screening reduces your risk of getting cancer. It also increases the survival of any kind of cancer. Also, self-examination of cancers such as breast, skin, colon and cervix increases the risk of survival.
The Wellness Plus App gives women access to the best health choices in one click. All that she needs is to download the Wellness Plus App on any Android smartphone.
With this App, everyone including women could access:
Download the Wellness Plus App here
For more health updates in Nigeria, visit the Wellness Healthcare homepage
