Tag Archives: cancer prevention

Cancer

A young woman exhales cigarette smoke in Shanghai, China. The People’s Republic of China is both the world’s largest producer and largest consumer of tobacco, which has led to an impending cancer epidemic in the most populous country on Earth.

Cancer is a disease that begins as a renegade human cell over which the body has lost control. In order for the body and its organs to function properly, cell growth needs to be strictly regulated. Cancer cells, however, continue to divide and multiply at their own speed, forming abnormal lumps, or tumors. An estimated 6.7 million people currently die from cancer every year.

Not all cancers are natural-born killers. Some tumors are referred to as benign because they don’t spread elsewhere in the body. But cells of malignant tumors do invade other tissues and will continue to spread if left untreated, often leading to secondary cancers.

Cancers can start in almost any body cell, due to damage or defects in genes involved in cell division. Mutations build up over time, which is why people tend to develop cancer later in life. What actually triggers these cell changes remains unclear, but diet, lifestyle, viral infections, exposure to radiation or harmful chemicals, and inherited genes are among factors thought to affect a person’s risk of cancer.

Lung cancer is the world’s most killing cancer. It claims about 1.2 million victims a year. Most of those victims are smokers, who inhale cancer-causing substances called carcinogens with every puff. Experts say around 90 percent of lung cancer cases are due to tobacco smoking.

Breast cancer now accounts for almost one in four cancers diagnosed in women. Studies suggest the genes you inherit can affect the chances of developing the illness. A woman with an affected mother or sister is about twice as likely to develop breast cancer as a woman with no family history of the disease. Lifestyle may also have an influence, particularly in Western countries where many women are having children later. Women who first give birth after the age of 30 are thought to have a three times greater risk of breast cancer than those who became mothers in their teens.

Geographical Distinctions

There are also stark geographic differences, with incidence rates varying by as much as thirtyfold between regions. In much of Asia and South and Central America, for example, cervix cancer is the most deadly in females. However, in North America and Europe another kind of gynecological cancer, ovarian cancer, is a more serious threat.

Among males, southern and eastern Africa record the second and third highest rates of oesophageal, or gullet, cancer after China, but western and central regions of Africa have the lowest incidence in the world. Differences in diet may explain this.

Nevertheless, the reasons why many cancers develop remain elusive. Brain cancer, leukemia (blood cancer), and lymphoma (cancer of the lymph glands) are among types that still mystify scientists.

Treatments

Yet ever more people are surviving diagnosis thanks to earlier detection, better screening, and improved treatments. The three main treatment options are surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Radiotherapy, also called radiation therapy, involves blasting tumors with high-energy x-rays to shrink them and destroy cancerous cells. Chemotherapy employs cancer-killing drugs.

Even so, future cancer cases are predicted to climb, since the world’s population is aging. The proportion of people over age 60 is expected to more than double by 2050, rising from 10 percent to 22 percent. This will add an estimated 4.7 million to the cancer death toll by 2030.


Healthy eating for cancer survivors

girl-in-mirror

Healthy eating for cancer survivors

DIET-related chronic diseases have now become significant causes of death in many countries, including the developing world. Cancer is one such chronic disease. In many of its forms, cancer is a disease that can cause great suffering and claims many lives.

However, cancer is not an inevitable consequence of ageing, and people’s susceptibility to it varies. There is abundant evidence that food and nutrition, physical activity, and body composition are individually and collectively important modifiers of the risk of cancer. This does indeed mean that at least in principle, most cancer is preventable.

Recognising this, I have highlighted the prevention of cancer, especially through appropriate food and nutrition practices, in a series of NutriScene write-ups over the past year. I had relied on recommendations contained in the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) expert report on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer released in November 2007 . In addition, I had also relied on the Hong Kong WCRF recommendations for cancer prevention booklet

I had highlighted eight general recommendations and one special recommendation of the WCRF report in previous write-ups. All these recommendations dealt with lowering risk and prevention of cancer.

In this article, I will discuss the last of this series of recommendations. This recommendation does not deal with prevention of cancer, but focuses on healthy eating for cancer survivors. I find this an extremely important topic to highlight. There is a great deal of misconception regarding the dietary and nutritional needs of cancer patients and survivors.

Healthy eating is vital for cancer survivors

Cancer survivors are people who are living with a diagnosis of cancer, including those who have recovered from the disease.

Treatment for many cancers is increasingly successful, and so there are many more cancer survivors. Furthermore, cancer survivors are living longer and may live long enough to develop new primary cancers or other chronic diseases. It is therefore extremely important for cancer survivors to adopt appropriate healthy eating practices and an active lifestyle.

There are just too many people out there providing nutrition advice, some of which are really dubious, and others can even be harmful. There are patients who tell me they are afraid of drinking milk or taking eggs as these will make the cancer cells multiply even faster. There are others who eat only fruits and vegetables because they believe they are healthy foods. Such myths about food and nutrients can result in the cancer survivor not obtaining much needed nutrients.

There are also promotions for dubious products that supposedly can “treat” cancers. These include various antioxidant supplements that are supposed to be able to kill cancer cells. It will be very sad indeed if patients forgo conventional medical treatment and dietary advice for such products or practices.

WCRF recommendation for cancer survivors

Upon reviewing all available evidence, the WCRF expert panel concluded that:

·There is growing evidence that physical activity and other measures that help us maintain a healthy weight, such as a balanced diet, may help to prevent cancer recurrence, particularly for breast cancer.

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