Can We Prevent Cancer?

Cancer is a word and a disease we would all rather not hear about. The dreaded C word is something we never want to see our friends suffer from and we certainly don't ever want to hear that word from a doctor. Sadly we are all at risk and we cannot just wish cancer would go away because it won't. We have to face up to it and do what we can to stay healthy.

There is a tremendous amount of research being carried out into finding cures for cancer and treatment for cancer once it develops but there has also been a great deal of research into the causes of cancer and what can be done to reduce the chances of it developing.

We all know that smoking can contribute to the development of lung cancer and we are also aware that too much sun can cause skin cancer. Have you noticed a pattern here? These are lifestyle things that we can reduce to help prevent cancer developing.

It turns out that there are several things we can do to help reduce our risk of having cancer. Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: "We know that around half of all cancers could be prevented by changes to lifestyle..."

Read that again. HALF of all cancers could be prevented if we are prepared to change our lifstyle!

We all know we should eat less red meat, drink less alcohol, smoke less, exercise more and lead a healthy lifestyle but with most of these we think in terms of heart disease and similar problems so discovering that improving our lifestyle can also reduce the risks of getting cancer as well as reducing your risk from heart disease should make us all stop and think.

We can make changes to what we eat and drink and reduce the risk of getting cancer and other illnesses. Does that not seem to be something worth doing to help you live longer and enjoy life more?

If you want to reduce your risk of developing cancer and you are prepared to make some lifestyle changes here are a few ideas to get you started.

Eat plenty of fruit and fresh vegetables.

Exercise regularly to build up your overall fitness levels and help improve the efficiency of your body's circulation and repair functions.

Reduce your consumption of processed foods, particularly processed meat products. Fish and poultry may be beneficial.

Get plenty of sleep to allow your body to recover from the wear and tear of daily life.

Quit Smoking. It's the best known way of reducing your risk of developing lung cancer.

Avoid spending too much time in strong sunshine with unprotected skin. The sun can encourage development of skin cancers.

Avoid exposure to potentially carcinogenic products and materials at work

Reduce your consumption of alcohol. There are suggestions that alcohol may increase the development of some cancers.

There is a wealth of information on websites about cancer and cancer treatments. There are various products offered that are claimed to help prevent cancer and to reduce it where it exists.

Knowledge is helpful but there is a lot of misinformation available too. Make use of government websites as you should be able to trust the information they provide. The give a lot of facts about cancer along with figures for the numbers of people affected each year and successful treatment rates.

It can be reassuring to know that for some cancers such as prostate cancer the treatment can be up to 97% effective if the cancer is discovered early enough.

There is a lot of good information available so don't ignore it and hope for the best. Find out the facts about cancer and always ask your qualified medical doctor for advice and suggestions for any treatment for any health concerns you may have.

The word cancer remains a scary one that most of us hope we will never be affected by but the reality is that a significant proportion of people living today will be affected by cancer either personally or in their families.

We should be very grateful to the researchers and scientists who have made enormous strides in discovering treatments for cancer that have resulted in far better chances of cancer not being the fatal illness we always thought it to be,

Early diagnosis can often make a huge difference to treatment options and success rates so do not run away from anything about cancer. Learn about it and find out what signs and symptoms might appear and if you have any concerns at all visit your doctor for advice.