CAN YOU PREVENT CERTAIN TYPES of CANCER?

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in America. There are many different kinds of cancer, so the first question we should ask ourselves, is there something we can do to prevent some, or possibly all cancers? Obviously, we cannot prevent all cancers, but a new clinical study teaches us, there are numerous things we can do to avoid many types of cancer.

One of the leading causes of cancer deaths is colon cancer. Guess what? This is essentially almost 100% preventable, by having a colonoscopy at least once every 5-7 years.

Colon cancer starts with polyps in your colon. It takes approximately 8-10 years for a polyp to become cancerous. If you get regular colonoscopies, the doctor will remove those polyps before they become cancerous. Hence, you just virtually eliminated one of the biggest causes of death in America.

A new study by the American Cancer Society revealed that many types of cancers can be eliminated via lifestyle choices.

• Smoking was the leading risk factor by far, the study found, contributing to nearly 1 in 5 cancer cases, and nearly a third of cancer deaths.
• Other key risk factors included
  • excess body weight
  • alcohol consumption
  • physical inactivity
  • diet
  • infections such as HPV

Here’s something else this new study is trying to teach us. Cancer grows because of DNA damage or because it has a fuel source. Other factors, such as genetics and the environment, can also create these biological conditions. However, modifiable risks explain a significantly larger share of cancer cases and deaths than any other known factor. For example, exposure to sunlight can damage DNA and lead to skin cancer, while fat cells produce hormones that essentially feed certain cancers.

With cancer, people usually believe they have no control, but that isn’t true. One of the key findings of this new study is the following. People need to feel a sense of control over many types of cancer.  Modifiable risk factors contributed to more than half of new cases for 19 of the 30 types of cancer evaluated in the study.

There were 10 types of cancer where modifiable risk factors could be attributed to at least 80% of new cases, including more than 90% of melanoma cases linked to ultraviolet radiation and nearly all cases of cervical cancer linked to HPV infection, which can be prevented with a vaccine.

Lung cancer had the largest number of cases attributable to modifiable risk factors. There were more than 104,000 cases among men and 97,000 among women, and the vast majority were obviously linked to smoking.

After smoking, excess body weight was the second largest contributor to cancer cases, linked to about 5% of new cases in men and nearly 11% of cases in women. It was associated with more than a third of deaths from cancer of the endometrium, gallbladder, esophagus, liver and kidney, the new study found.

Another recent study revealed the risk for certain cancers was significantly reduced for people taking popular weight-loss and diabetes medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.

New studies are teaching us that obesity is emerging, in several ways, as just as big a risk for people as smoking.

Here’s something else the scientists want you to know about cancer prevention. It’s never too late to make these changes. Turning unhealthy behavior around, even later in life, can make a profound difference. And making lifestyle changes to minimize exposure to certain factors can reduce cancer risk relatively quickly, experts say.

There is another aspect of your life which can help prevent cancer from spreading throughout your body, and that is STRESS. Studies found that two people facing almost identical medical issues had very different outcomes, based on the level of stress in their body. Someone under severe stress has a significantly reduced ability for their body to fight off inflammation, or other types of threats which can cause the spread of cancer. If you can find a way to eliminate, or reduce the level of stress in your body, that will definitely help prevent several forms of cancer from spreading.

Cancer is something your body fights every single day as your cells divide. It’s a risk that you face every day, and that also means that a reduction of the risks can benefit you big time.

Personal Story

This little story isn’t specifically about cancer, but it’s definitely related to the premise of this article. About 3 or 4 years ago, I read about a professional basketball player who was in a very serious motor vehicle accident. The doctor who treated him, said he would probably die within 60-90 days at most.

Six months later, the basketball player was almost fully recovered. Reporters asked the doctor why his prediction never happened. The physician said, I didn’t factor in the very high level of fitness the patient had. He was so physically fit, his body was able to fight off the inflammation and other negative impacts of the motor vehicle accident. 

This is a critical lesson about the importance of being on a regular exercise program and how it can help fight off negative elements in your body. The above reminded me of a study I read about many years ago.

Once of the conclusions of that study was the following. Two people can have the same physical assault on their immune system, and one can survive, while the other persons succumbs to the attack. Why did one survive? Because they were so physically fit, just like the professional basketball player, they could fight off the inflammation and attacks on their immune system.

Finally, I have one more similar story. In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Americans were dying in huge numbers. 60 Minutes did a report on the people who were dying from Covid-19 by visiting hospitals treating victims of the pandemic. Those seriously ill covid patients were placed on ventilators, in an attempt to keep them alive. The 60 Minutes reporter asked the doctors and nurses if there was any one thing most of the patients on ventilators had in common. The answer was, YES, obesity.