image source: www.altcancer.com

Current research indicates that the foods we ingest to our body can influence our risks to certain types of cancer. High energy and high fat diets can lead to obesity and are generally thought to increase the risk of some cancers. Plant-based diets high in fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes and wholegrain foods may help to prevent cancer.

Diet is just one of the lifestyle factors that influence the risk of developing cancer.

Smoking, obesity, alcohol, sun exposure and physical activity levels are also important.

Foods to limit in your diet or eat less of include: Fatty processed red meats ,Highly processed foods that are low in fibre Heavily salted and pickled foods.

Foods to eat more The strongest protective anti-cancer effect has been shown with: Vegetables, especially raw vegetables or salads ,Leafy green vegetables, carrots,Tomatoes,Citrus fruits ,Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, bok choy and other Asian greens.

Certain cancers can be avoided if proper immunization has been administered like Hepatitis and HPV both of which are viral diseases. These diseases are known to cause liver and cervical cancer in certain individuals the later being a sexually transmitted disease. Decision on whether one would benefit from the said vaccines is left to professionals so seek advice from your doctor to see how much benefit one can be gained from their administration. The vaccine for HPV has been approved by the US FDA in 2006 and is now available on the market.

Cancer is one of the most debilitating diseases on the planet to date. In its many forms that afflicts almost any part of the human body, it can be prevented with the help of intervention through medical means and simple changes to one’s lifestyle can work to your advantage if you know you are prone to get the disease. These prevention methods usually evolve around three major concepts which are; lifestyle/eating habit changes, cancer causing agent avoidance and last the intake of medicine to treat a precancerous condition in hopes of preventing the disease from starting. As we can see, the above conditions are quite easy with strict adherence and regular health evaluations they can be useful in the prevention of the disease.

Trends have shown that the coverage media is giving to the disease focuses more on treatments and not on prevention. As with any disease, prevention is the key and avoiding the disease or preventing one from contracting it outweighs the need for treatment. Media should bring more light into the need for measures such as the administration of the HPV vaccines which greatly decreases the risk of getting the disease in later life. A survey of several newspapers showed that over a two-year period, more than 200 stories have been published regarding the disease with only 18% of those total articles focusing on prevention. The amounts of preventive measures abound yet not many know enough. The disease is preventable as with most forms of disease with enough knowledge and effort it can be avoided; if people would just take time to learn the ways of how to prevent the disease then we wouldn’t have to present the numbers of fatalities and disfigured women from the whole country as much. Scientists have come up with many forms of treatments for the disease but scientists warn that their ability to provide cures can never outweigh the importance of prevention. The stories are quite sad and people feel that the life changing disease is out to get them, what they don’t know is that there are several methods of reducing risk and getting regular screenings is one of them so any changes can be diagnosed and prescribed proper treatment. Media sees the sad story as more sellable than the ones regarding high-risk people who are doing great because they are eating and living healthy. A healthy person is not much of a story but somebody who is suffering from the disease has a higher market affecting readership.

MicroRNA has been found to have regulatory in many cancer-related processes in the human body that researchers in Israel are capitalizing on as a sure way of detecting squamous and non-squamous cells that are sure sign of lung cancer. This is vital for current available treatments for non-squamous cancers are deadly to squamous cancer sufferers and vice versa. On the other hand, Italian researchers have devised a way by which oncologists can check for three genetic markers as determining factor of the best approach treatment is to take. This allows better diagnosis with treatment customized to individual patients giving the oncologist the best possible chances of success and the patient recovery. To determine the advancement of the disease greatly enhances our ability to treat and provide the best possible medical solutions for a particular disease. This for m of diagnosis is being tested out for other forms of cancer which can greatly increase survivability rates of sufferers. It may also aid scientists in providing better prevention drugs or through genetic analyses be able to say who is susceptible of what thus giving patients time to adjust their lifestyles to avoid contracting that form of the disease.

Research submitted to the 1st European Lung Cancer Conference have conclusive proof that may warrant more study that the human HPV virus has a role in the formation of lung cancer. Smoking is still the main contributory factor for contracting lung cancer but the presence of the HPV virus in the lungs of women who have lung cancer may establish a link between the two diseases. HPV or the Human Papilloma Virus is a cause of cervical cancer and the discovery was quite a surprise for it shows that the virus present in the cervix that caused it to form there was present in the lungs of all test subjects. HPV is now being looked at as a co-carcinogen or cancer causing agent and future studies may prove a link should it really be there.

As with any disease, there are lots of myths surrounding the ability of a family member to develop the same form of disease. Some experts say there is no direct link to the said relation and your ability to get the same disease except perhaps for the same environmental factors which may be causing the disease to manifest in both of you. There is no solid scientific basis for cancer being inherited but it should be used as an indicator that you are susceptible to it. The size of breasts is also a point of contention for many claim that having large natural breasts are a sure sign of you being prone to getting breast cancer. Experts say there is also no medical foundation for the myth and that whatever size of breasts you may have; the best tool in the fight against cancer would be to get screened regularly. There are more myths regarding the disease and most are said to be just plain myth without scientific basis. The best tool for prevention and successful treatment is early detection which is the key.

Ouch, that sunburn sure is painful isn’t it. Then you didn’t carry enough protection for you or your family for sunburn is a bad case of UV exposure which can lead to skin cancer. Yep, that cheaper bottle of sunscreen may not have provided enough protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays. So cheaper, isn’t always better for the buck you save today may multiply thousands of times when somebody in the family does develop the dreaded disease. Use lip balms that are rated to have UV blocking ingredients and sunscreen that has the highest SPF ratings that you could find. Some of the biggest names in cosmetics have products that are not only tested to comply with the most stringent control methods but they also have versions that are for sensitive skin such as kids. There are also spray type ones that allow kids to be protected in no time, just send them on a spin like on a horizontal barbecue and they’re off. An ounce of prevention is always cheaper than a ton of care.

Researchers have found that kids who are educated on proper diet and nutrition from an early age are more likely to be conscious about their health in later life. Parents are advised to get their children involved in chores such as shopping at the grocery and explaining to them the pro’s and con’s of the various food choices that are available. These children have these lessons built into them allowing them to be healthy and active. They are also recommended to partake in most activities such as exercise and other physical activities so they tend to open their eyes to the active lifestyle to avoid obesity. Obesity is a growing threat to the health of many developed countries and has become so much of a threat that drastic measures such as the banning of junk foods form schools and other government facilities have been put in place.

The process is quite unpleasant and requires a lot of time for the digestive tract has to be void of all contents before it can be done (imagine the mess it would create if it were full). Testing usually requires fasting for up to 12 hours before the exam during which the colon, through the rectum is flushed again and again to remove all contaminants which can impair the view of the colonoscopy scope. Once a cleared view of the colon is assured, the test continues with a lighted tube to which a camera is attached allowing viewing of the colon to find growths called polyps. Polyps are not cancerous but are considered to be the beginnings of such so dietary adjustments are required if they are to be tamed to prevent colorectal cancers. If polyps are found, regular exams are required to see if the polyps remain as polyps and do not progress into cancerous growth. For those who go thought the procedure, ask the doctor to increase the time they scan for these growths for studies in the US have shown that the standard exam to a maximum of almost 20 minutes increases the success of locating them by as much 10 times increasing accuracy.