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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Can You Really Prevent Cancer?

Can You Really Prevent Cancer?


By Diana Rodriguez | Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH
You can reduce your risk of many types of cancer if you adopt a healthy lifestyle and take a few other precautions.


We all want to live long lives without the threat of disease, especially cancer. But is cancer prevention possible? Actually, many different types of cancer, particularly some with the poorest prognoses, can be prevented — or at least the risk reduced — with simple lifestyle changes and precautions to keep your body healthy and protected from cancer. And stay on top of cancer information, as studies are published on a regular basis.

Cancer Prevention: Get Healthy

Bad habits are called bad habits for a reason — they can lead to serious health problems, like cancer. Here are some healthy lifestyle changes you should make to help prevent cancer:

Wear sunscreen every day. Skin cancer can turn into a bad prognosis quickly, but can easily be prevented with good skin care. That means protecting your skin from the sun by limiting exposure (staying in the shade, wearing long pants and long shirts) and by applying sunscreen every day, not just at the beach.
Quit smoking. Lung cancer is the most fatal type of cancer, and many lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. Quitting smoking can also reduce your risk of developing stomach, cervical, pancreatic, larynx, throat, mouth, esophageal, and bladder cancers. If you reduce your exposure to secondhand smoke, you'll also reduce your cancer risk.
Stick to moderate alcohol consumption. Excess alcohol consumption can increase the risk of developing cancers of the throat, mouth, and larynx, as well as breast, liver, and colon cancer. To help prevent cancer, it's best to enjoy alcohol only in small amounts on occasion; avoid drinking too much or too frequently.
Watch your diet. To help reduce your cancer risk, load up on plenty of plant-based foods, with at least five servings each day of fruits and vegetables. Opt for whole-grain foods — breads, pastas, and cereals — and limit red meat. Processed lunch meat, hot dogs, and the like should also be restricted for cancer prevention.
Maintain a healthy body weight. Obesity is linked to a number of different types of cancer, including breast, colorectal, endometrial, and prostate cancer. To keep your weight at a healthy level, follow the diet tips above and get plenty of regular exercise. Read more

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