Cancer

Cancer is unpreventable

Cancer is scary. Many people don’t like to talk about it at all because they fear it so much. A lot of the fear comes from a belief that there’s nothing you can do to prevent cancer. That’s totally not true. And getting over this myth could actually save your life.

First of all, there are a number of things that people do that seriously increase their risk of getting cancer. Our advice: stop doing them. For instance, tobacco use is significantly associated with cancers of all types. The scary truth is that smoking cigarettes has been proven to be associated with cancer in the lungs, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, stomach, pancreas, and cervix. It can also cause certain types of leukemia. Studies have shown that about 30 percent of all cancer deaths occurring in the United States are caused by smoking cigarettes. Don’t do it. Not smoking in the first place or quitting smoking if you do is probably the very best way to prevent cancer.

Another major cause of cancer is infection. Luckily, many of these infections are also preventable. For instance, human papillomavirus (HPV) is well established as the cause for cervical cancer. Luckily, there is now a vaccine for HPV, which can lead to a significant decrease in precancerous lesions. A vaccine to protect people against cancer is a great thing! Hepatitis B is also known to lead to liver cancers. There’s a vaccine for that too. Granted, some viruses that lead to cancer can’t be prevented by vaccine, but many types of cancer can be avoided by taking good care of your body.

Radiation exposure can also lead to cancer. Specifically, ultraviolet radiation from the sun is a major cause of skin cancer. So, cover up, or at least use sunblock. Ionizing radiation is even more of a concern in regard to cancer, because it actually rips electrons from their orbit, killing or irreparably harming components of some of your body’s cells. These cells can then go on to become cancer. Ionizing radiation can come from either medical sources, such as radiological scans, or from radon in homes. Most of the increase in radiation exposure in recent years is because of the increased use of CT scans in medical practice. Try to avoid these when you can.

There are a number of other things you can do to prevent cancer, although there is not as much evidence for them compared to what we’ve already discussed. A number of reviews have been conducted, and most point to the fact that fruits and nonstarchy vegetables are associated with a decrease in the risk of getting cancer. However, when these types of food are carefully studied in scientific randomized controlled trials, their protective effects are not clearly seen. Similarly, alcohol has been linked to some cancers. But no conclusive evidence exists. Since we always rely on evidence to make declarative statements, we can say with confidence that a diet high in fruits and nonstarchy vegetables, without alcohol abuse, may reduce your risk of cancer and definitely will result in better overall health.

Lots of people will tell you that vitamin and mineral supplements will prevent cancer. This, unfortunately, goes over the line into the myth category itself. No good evidence exists that they do any good. In fact, a prospective study of beta-carotene (vitamin A) found that it might actually increase your risk of lung cancer. Antioxidants like vitamin E or selenium have failed to show any significant results in studies. Vitamins C and E do not prevent prostate cancer. And the Women’s Antioxidant Cardiovascular Study could detect no protective effects for vitamins C, E, B6, B12, folic acid, or beta-carotene.

The problem with all this is that we often pin false hopes on things that don’t work and ignore the obvious things that do. It would be great if popping a few vitamin pills would prevent cancer. But they won’t. What will is avoiding tobacco and the sun, getting necessary vaccines, and, perhaps, eating more healthily.