Things You Can Do to Help Prevent Cancer

The best protection against developing any form of cancer is to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Unhealthy habits damage the body over time, which can create vulnerabilities and cell mutations that can lead to cancer.

Below are a few suggestions on what you can start (or stop) doing today   to greatly decrease your chances of developing life-threatening cancers in the future.

Avoid Tobacco

Hand rejecting cigarettes

Thankfully, lots of progress has been made to spread awareness of the dangers of tobacco and help people quit the habit for good. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death and current smokers are 25 times more likely to die from lung cancer than any other cancer.

However, tobacco smoking doesn't just cause cancer in the lungs, it leaves your body vulnerable to other types of cancers too. Tobacco has been linked to mouth, throat, esophagus, colon, stomach, liver, pancreas, kidney, and cervical cancers, as well as many more.

Second-hand smoke is another deadly preparator that even leaves non-smokers vulnerable to cancer. 

Scale says 'Watch Your Weight'

Watching the scales and maintaining and healthy body weight has many benefits, and keeping cancer at bay is one of them.

Research has demonstrated that being overweight or underweight can have a detrimental impact on your body’s ability to function and protect itself from developing life-threatening illnesses. Obesity increases the chances of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, as well as uterine and colorectal cancers in all overweight patients.

Hepatitis C Testing

Spotlight on Hepatitis C

Hepatitis and cancer are not often discussed together, but recent research suggests that certain types of cancer are linked to the presence of the Hepatitis virus. Hepatitis C causes inflammation of the liver and is one of the most common forms of viral Hepatitis in the US. As well as liver damage and cirrhosis of the liver, Hepatitis is the leading cause of liver cancer. The CDC recommends that most adults get tested for Hepatitis C at least once in their lifetime.

There are different ways you can prevent cancer depending on where you are in your lifetime. Different approaches to maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be taken for early childhood, adolescence, pregnancy, midlife, and older adulthood. For more information and to find out more about the latest cancer treatments visit www.natcaf.org for advice, guidance and to find out how you can get involved to help others stay healthy and safe from cancer.

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