Contents:
- Medical Video: Is cancer a life style disease ? |ASK it from Health FAQS
- Unhealthy lifestyle that causes cancer
- Random gene mutations are the biggest cause of cancer
- Reducing the risk of cancer with lifestyle changes
- Conclusion
Medical Video: Is cancer a life style disease ? |ASK it from Health FAQS
Everyone knows that cancer is a deadly disease. Even so, that does not mean this disease cannot be prevented. A variety of appeals for implementing a healthy lifestyle have often been plastered and heard everywhere. The goal is only one, in order to reduce the risk of getting cancer. In fact, a study says more than 40 percent of cancers are caused due to lifestyle factors. So, what lifestyle is the trigger for cancer? Find the answers in this article.
Unhealthy lifestyle that causes cancer
According to a report published in the British Journal of Cancer, it is known that smoking is the biggest cause, around 23%, for cancer among men, while for women the figure reaches 15.6%.
While unhealthy eating patterns, such as rarely eating fresh vegetables or fruit, are the second largest cause of cancer among men. For women the second biggest cause is being overweight.
Based on these results, the researchers revealed if based on reference to the available evidence, it is clear that 40% of cancers are caused by preventable factors. Because the cancer is not a sudden illness. The development process can develop for years and is never instant. That is why, basically everyone can suppress risk factors, regardless of whether he has cancer genetic factors or not.
Random gene mutations are the biggest cause of cancer
Research conducted by John Hopkins University found that 65% of cancer cases in adults are triggered by gene mutations that attack people randomly, and eventually cause tumors. While other cancer cases are caused by a combination of gene mutations, environmental factors, and offspring. In other words, the most cases of tumors are due to a factor of misfortune.
This study starts from the curiosity of researchers why there are body tissues, for example in the small intestine and pancreas which have a higher risk of cancer than others. So they tracked the number of stem cell divisions in 31 types of tissue, comparing them with cancer risk throughout life on the same tissue. The conclusion they got was that the higher the amount of tissue cell division, the higher the risk of cancer.
That is, the more cell division occurs, the greater the risk of random mutations and the more malignant development of cancer.
Reducing the risk of cancer with lifestyle changes
Although there are 22 types of cancer that are closely related to gene mutation factors, there are nine other types that are more related to lifestyle. Nine types of cancer include cancer of the skin, neck, head, colon and rectum (large intestine and anus), and lung cancer.
The nine types of cancer, in addition to being closely related to lifestyle, also have to do with heredity. Therefore, routine health checks are very necessary to be able to detect the presence of cancer early, before developing life-threatening.
The reason is, the mutation rate will be higher in those who are exposed to poisons because of doing an unhealthy lifestyle. While the mutation rate is known to be lower in those who routinely apply a healthy lifestyle. Even in a study showing, the cancer gene triggers become inactive and cancer gene suppressors become active in those who have healthy life patterns.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cancer is the result of a combination of various factors such as genetics, environment, and random gene mutations. Because there are several types of cancer that offer greater opportunities for you to reduce genetic risk factors, living a healthy lifestyle is a very wise step.
The director of British Cancer Research, Dr. Harpal Kumar also said the same thing, a healthy lifestyle cannot indeed be a full guarantee that a person will not get cancer. However, based on various research results, it is underlined that by living a healthier lifestyle, the risk of getting cancer can be reduced.
According to the American Cancer Society's advice, changing a simple healthy lifestyle can be done to reduce the risk of getting cancer in several ways, for example, multiplying fresh fruit and vegetables, exercising regularly, avoiding the sun's UV rays with sunscreens, and most importantly stop smoking.
