DON’T panic, you can protect yourself and your family from cancer by making simple changes to your lifestyle.

The fear of the Big C strikes terror into all of us. Not surprising, when one in three men and one in four women will be directly affected by cancer before the age of 75. But according to Professor Ian Olver, from The Cancer Council Australia, 50 per cent of all cancer cases are potentially preventable and “are directly linked to lifestyle factors”.

While researchers still don’t know all the factors that contribute to the disease, they do know that, while it may never be 100 per cent avoidable, there are many things you can do to lower the risk.

1. Get to know  your local fruitier

Antioxidants, which are abundant in fruit and vegetables, neutralise cancer-causing free radicals. Lycopene, a potent antioxidant, is found in tomatoes, watermelon, guava, pink grapefruit, blood oranges and other foods. Beta-carotene is found in many orange foods, including rockmelon, apricot and mango. But the banana is the superstar - a Swedish study of 61,000 women found those who ate bananas four to six times a week had half the risk of kidney cancer.

2. Choke the smokes

Smoking is the obvious cancer causer. It’s related to a massive one-third of all cancers and 80 per cent of all lung cancers. But it’s not just your lungs that are in danger. “Everything that the smoke passes as it weaves its way down to your lungs - your mouth, larynx and oesophagus - is at risk,” says Anita Tang, chair of the Tobacco Issues Committee at The Cancer Council. Then there’s the fact that smoking also greatly boosts your risk of stomach, cervical, kidney, breast, liver and prostate cancers. But there is some good news in the doom: if you give up the fags today, within 15 years your lung cancer risk will drop to almost pre-smoking lows. Top tip: Make a pact with a child - seeing the disappointment on their face if you light up again may be enough to make you stop forever.

3. Shed excess kilos

Keeping your weight in check is one of the most important things you can do to keep your cancer risk low; experts believe that one-third of cancer deaths can be attributed to poor diet and inactivity. “New research indicates that being overweight or obese significantly raises your risk of cancers of the bowel, kidney, gall bladder, oesophagus and uterus, and breast cancer in post-menopausal women,” says Professor David Hill from The Cancer Council Victoria. So grab a tape measure: the World Health Organisation recommends that women maintain a waist circumference of 80cm, and men one of 94cm. A waist circumference of 88cm for women and 102cm for men is considered overweight.

4. Use fake tan

Although we’ve had the “slip slop slap” message drummed into us, Australians are still dying for a tan and still have the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world. One culprit is solariums. “A solarium can emit UV radiation that is five times as strong as the midday summer sun,” says Professor David Hill, chair of the National Sun Survey Research Committee at The Cancer Council. “Subjecting skin to the excessive amounts of UV radiation that solariums emit can be dangerous.” For a safe tan, slip slop slap on a fake tan instead.

5. Know your genetic history

Genetic factors affect the tendency to develop cancer. “Some people inherit altered genes that may predispose them to developing particular cancers,” says Professor Olver.For example, a woman who has inherited a single altered copy of a specific breast cancer gene(either BRCA1 or BRCA2) has a higher risk ofbreast (or ovarian) cancer than a woman who inherited two normal genes. However, only aroundfive out of every 100 cases of breast cancer may be inherited. If you believe you are at risk of familial cancer,see your doctor, who can refer you to a familial cancercentre, which will have geneticists, genetic counsellorsand oncologists (cancer specialists).

6. Know your bowels

Bowel cancer is Australia’s most common cancer. However, 90 per cent of bowel cancers are treatable if found early enough.The fastest way to know if you’re suffering is to check your stool for blood. But according to The Cancer Council’s figures, 33 per cent of sufferers had noticed blood in their faeces, but failed to go to the doctor. “There’s a dangerous silence around bowel cancer, despite it being the most common cancer for men and women, claiming one Australian every two hours,” says Gillian Batt, directorof Information and Support Services at The CancerCouncil NSW. Other symptoms to be on the lookout for are bleeding from the rectum, a change in bowel habits lasting two weeks, weight loss, bloating and abdominal pain.

7. Break into a sweat

Breaking into a sweat for 30 minutes, at least five days a week, is a pre-emptive cancer strike. A Canadian study involving 850 women found that exercise prevents endometrial and breast cancer. The more the subjects exercised, the lower their odds of being diagnosed with cancer - even if they were considered “at risk” for the disease. “It could be that exercise influences levels of hormones in ways that impact the body at a cellular or molecular level, therefore affecting cancer processes,” says Professor Hills. You don’t have to hit the gym - take a brisk walk or climb the stairs, just as longas your combined exercise is 30 minutes a day.

8. Have a weekly curry

According to researchers in the US, turmeric, the spice that gives curry its yellow colour, could prevent the spread of breast cancer cells. The magic ingredient is a compound called curcumin. Researchers also found that curcumin, together with phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a naturally occurring substance found in watercress, cabbage, winter cress, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, cauliflower, kohlrabi and turnips, helps retard prostate cancer cell growth.

9. Make some screen time

An early diagnosis is your best chance of survival from cancer - so women over 18 should have a Pap smear every two years and women over 50 should have a mammogram every two years. Once you’re over 50, make sure you’re also screened every two years for bowel cancer. And if you do have a change in your body function for a few weeks, such as a cough or a pain that doesn’t get better, or a lump that doesn’t go away, see your doctor. “Don’t panic, though - there’s a far greater chance that it isn’t cancer,” says Professor Olver. “But it pays to be cautious.”

10. Go green

Green foods are the superstars of cancer prevention. So steam some broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage, which are all rich in sulforaphane, which protects your cells from carcinogens. Top of the pile, though, are broccoli sprouts (grown from broccoli seed). Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found they contain up to 50 times the concentration of these protective nutrients compared to mature broccoli plants. So make them an essential part of any salad. Buy them at any good health food store or sprout your own. Go to www.greenharvest.com.au

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 3rd, 2006 at 10:21 am and is filed under News Items. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.