Cancer Prevention- 6 Ways to Reduce Your Cancer Risk

Cancer can start from any organ of the body and spread to another organ very fastly. The tissues began to grow abnormally and uncontrollably and become life-threatening if not treated on time. The metastasizing is a major cause of death from cancer. We can fight cancer by knowing ways to prevent cancer.

According to a study, in 2018, 9.3 million deaths were estimated due to Cancer globally. Cancer is said to be the second-largest cause of death globally. This deadly disease mostly affects Lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach, and liver in men, while in women, the most affected organs are the breast, colorectal, lung, cervical, and thyroid.

The cancer risk burden continues to grow globally, exerting tremendous physical, emotional, and financial strain on individuals, families, communities, and health systems. Many health systems in middle and low-income countries are barely prepared to manage this burden, and a wide range of cancer risk patients globally do not have access to diagnosis and treatment. In countries where a well-developed health system is operating, the survival rate of cancer risk patients is improving due to the early detection, quality treatment, and survivor-ship care.

As this disease is spreading rapidly and if we see around, we can find every 10^th person suffering from this deadly disease. But, cancer risk is preventable. There are so many ways how to prevent cancer that we will discuss in this article.

Here, we will discuss cancer, its major causes, and 6 ways how to prevent cancer.

What is Cancer?

Cancer is a disease that occurs when normal cells have abnormal growth which forms into a lump called a tumor; this is true of all cancers except leukemia (Blood Cancer). When it is untreated for long, It grows and spreads to the other normal tissues of the body and affects them badly via the bloodstream and lymphatic systems. It also affects essential systems of the body like the digestive, nervous and circulatory systems or releases hormones that may affect body function.

Before jumping to the how to prevent cancer risk, let talk about its symptoms:

What Are Cancer Symptoms And Signs?

• Change in bowel or bladder habits can increase cancer risk high.
• A sore throat that does not heal can have cancer risk.
• Unusual bleeding or discharge (for example, nipple secretions or a “sore” that will not heal that oozes material)
• Thickening or lumps in the breast, testicles, or elsewhere can increase cancer risk.
• Indigestion (usually chronic) or difficulty swallowing. Changes in the size, color, shape, or thickness of a moleor wart.
• Nagging cough or hoarseness can increase cancer risk.
• Unexplained loss of weight or loss of appetite.
• Newly developed pain in the bones or other parts of the body and increasing fastly.
• Persistent fatigue, nausea, or vomiting.
• Unexplained low-grade fevers may be either persistent or come and go.
• Recurring infections will not clear with usual treatment but there are ways to prevent cancer.

Types of Cancers

There are 5 types of cancers according to the cell where they grow inside the body:

• Carcinoma

Cancer that arises from the epithelial cells (the lining of cells that helps protect or enclose organs). Carcinomas affect the surrounding organs and metastasize to the lymph nodes also. The most common forms of cancer in this group are breast, prostate, lung, and colon cancer. Cancer prevention is a must.

• Sarcoma

A type of fataltumor of the soft tissue or bone (muscle, fat,blood vessels, nerves, and other connective tissues that support organs). There are many common forms of sarcoma like liposarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, and osteosarcoma.

• Lymphoma and Myeloma

Lymphoma and Myeloma cancer attack the immune system. Lymphoma cancer is associated with a lymphatic system that’s why its spread is faster throughout the body. Myeloma starts from the plasma cells. Plasma cells are the white blood cells that are responsible for making antibodies to help fight infection. This cancer hinders the immune system function of the body. That’s why cancer prevention is a must.

• Leukemia

Leukaemia is a cancer of the white blood cells and bone marrow, the tissue that forms blood cells. The sub types are lymphocytic leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

• Brain and Spinal Cord Cancer

These are the central nervous system cancers that develop in the nervous system. Some of these cancers are benign while others are malignant.

Why Prevent Cancer?

Cancer prevention is a must as cancer can kill when it invades essential organs, like your liver, lungs, or brain, and stops them from functioning properly. It affects the day-to-day lifestyle and makes it hard for a person to perform various activities. It makes the body weak and is highly painful. And if cancer is left untreated, it can lead to a tragic death. Cancer prevention is important to lead a happy and healthy life.

Cancer prevention is a must as cancer spreads throughout the body, it becomes more difficult to control. Some types of cancer are spreading slowly in the body. Other types spread more aggressively. There is cancer risk but taking precautions are ways to prevent cancer.

Cancer will not affect just the person who has cancer but also the family not physically but mentally and emotionally. Early detection can lead to lesser expenditure and prevent cancer there are ways to prevent cancer.

How to Prevent Cancer Risk

Here are some easy ways to prevent cancer risk. Follow these steps carefully to reduce your cancer risk and live a healthy life.

1. Ditch the Smokes

Smoking is a major cause of lung cancer. But do you know quitting smoking can also lower your risk of bladder, stomach, kidney, and pancreatic cancers?  It’s never too late to quit.Stop smoking is one of the ways to prevent cancer.

2. Maintain A Healthy Weight

Aim to keep your body mass index within the healthy range, and as close to the lower end as possible for cancer prevention. Keeping your weight in check is the most important thing you can do to lower your cancer risk after not smoking. Excess body fat triggers the release of certain hormones that can cause cancer risk is one of the ways to prevent cancer.

3. Eat More Plants

Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains for cancer prevention. Red meat and cut-out process meat can also help in cancer prevention. It is also important to limit alcohol consumption because alcohol can increase your risk for liver, colorectal, and breast cancers. If you drink alcohol, having no more than two drinks a day if you are a man, or one drink a day, if you are a woman, is one of the ways to prevent cancer.

4. Protect Your Skin From The Sun

Skin cancer is the most common and most preventable cancer there are ways to prevent cancer by using sunscreen. According to the study, over 96,400 people are diagnosed with melanoma every year. The ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun causes skin cancer. Never using indoor tanning beds is a way to prevent cancer.

5. Get Immunized (HBV & Hepatitis Vaccines)

Certain viruses have been linked to cancer, but cancer prevention through vaccination is quite successful. One-third of liver cancers are linked to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). An HBV vaccination is available and is recommended for babies, older children who were not vaccinated earlier, and adults who are at risk for HBV infection, getting vaccinated to lower cancer risk is the way to prevent cancer.

6. Observe the Family Medical History and Go for Screening Regularly

Cancer prevention can be done by talking to your health care professional about cancer screening for cancer prevention. Some tests can help detect cancer early when treatment is more likely to be successful, and some can also detect precancerous conditions before they become cancer is the way to prevent cancer. While screening has been proven to save the lives of a cancer patient, but sometimes screening guidelines aren’t always “one size fits all.” This can reduce cancer risk.

Foods that Fight Cancer

No single food can protect you against cancer by itself but can reduce cancer risk or be a way to prevent cancer.

But research shows that a diet filled with a variety of these foods like whole grains, fruits, beans, vegetables, and other plant foods helps lower cancer risk for many cancers. In laboratory studies, many individual minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals demonstrate anti-cancer effects/cancer prevention. These food are apples, asparagus, blueberries, broccoli and cruciferous vegetables, brussels sprouts, carrots, cherries, cranberries, flaxseed, garlic, grapes, oranges, spinach, tomatoes, whole grain. Consuming them is one way to prevent cancer.

Foods to Limit

A lot of us grow up eating foods that might be okay to eat but aren’t necessarily the best thing to eat. Don’t overdo your meal, have small and frequent meals. Food to avoid for cancer prevention is alcohol, processed meat, red meat, sugar-sweetened drinks. Less intake of such food can lower cancer risk these are a few ways to prevent cancer.

Conclusion

Cancer prevention should be done because cancers can be very serious for people living with HIV. If you see a health care provider regularly, cancer can be diagnosed and treated early, or may even be prevented or how to prevent cancer. Take your HIV medicine regularly, it will help you to keep your immune system strong and it also helps to count CD4 cells. This also helps decrease your cancer risk. Many latest advances create their outlook in which they taught you how to prevent cancer. There are so many ways to prevent cancer. Some of them are listed above in the article.