Dr Risk Factors For Cancer – How To Lower Your Risk For Cancer
Dr Oz says everyone should know his or her risk factor profile and learn what they can do to change or eliminate their chances of developing cancer. In this segment of the Dr Oz 6 Risk Factors For Cancer Ultimate Countdown he talk’s about risk factors as something that you do, or is done to you, that increases the chance of developing a disease. To establish risk factors researchers look at the details of people who have developed the disease for shared features like age, race, living habits, environmental exposures, commingling diseases, genetic defects and family history.
Oz says some people are more susceptible to outside influences then others, while others have personal characteristics that are inherently protective. So you can have one or many risk factors and dodge the disease entirely, or have no known risk factors and get hit with the disease.
Dr Oz 6 Risk Factors For Cancer
Learn What Dr Oz says about the 6 leading risk factors for developing cancer and assess your cancer risk.
6. Unhealthy Lifestyle Behaviours
Smoking Tobacco – increases the risk for at least 15 different cancers including lung, mouth, tongue, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas.
Alcohol Consumption – alcoholic beverages can increase the risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, breast, colon and liver.
Risky Sexual Behavior – human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the cause of almost all cervical cancers. Hepatitis B and C infections can cause liver cancer, and people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at greater risk of lymphoma and Kaposi’s sarcoma.
5. Too Little or Too Much Sunlight – Too much ultraviolet radiation (UVA and UVB rays) can cause melanoma and other types of skin cancer. And not enough sunlight can cause vitamin D deficiency, a recently proposed suspect in cancer of the colon, rectum and pancreas. Take a daily vitamin D supplement especially if you spend a long time indoors or measure deficient on blood tests
4. High-Fat, Low-Fiber Diet - Diets that are high in fat – particularly saturated fat, or low in fiber, have an increased risk of cancers of the colon, uterus and prostate. Diets high in fat may also contribute to obesity, another major risk factor for cancer. Eat no more than 30% of daily calories from fat and choose foods that contain unsaturated fat vs. saturated or trans fats. Eat foods and high in fiber such as whole grains
3. High Body Mass Index - The higher the BMI, the higher the death rates for all cancers, particularly esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, gallbladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and leukemia. If a person has a BMI of 40 or higher the death rate from cancer is increased substantially – by 52% in men and 62% in women when compared to people of normal weight.
2. Family History of Cancer - Family history is one of those risk factors that we can do absolutely nothing about, but knowing what you might be up against is key to a plan of protection.
1. . Age - Cancer can occur at any age, most cancers are diagnosed in people older than 65, when cells begin to deteriorate and the natural protective mechanisms begin to fail.
Dr Oz Lower Your Risk For Cancer
- Quit smoking (and don’t expose yourself to any tobacco smoke)
- Do more physical activity
- Lose weight if overweight
- Have periodic cancer-screening tests as recommended by your doctor
- Protect yourself from long ultra violet light exposure and use sunscreen (SPF of 15 or higher) if you are planning to be in direct sun especially sun reflected by sand, water, snow or ice
- Eat no more than 30% of daily calories from fat and choose foods that contain unsaturated fat vs. saturated or trans fats
- Eat foods and high in fiber such as whole grains
- Ask family members to share their cancer history
- Consider genetic testing for known familial cancer genes
- Ask your doctor if there are any preventive medicines you can take if you are at high risk for certain types of breast, prostate or colon cancer
- Take a daily vitamin D supplement especially if you spend a long time indoors or measure deficient on blood tests
- Practice safe sex and use condoms consistently and correctly
- Do not share instruments (intravenous needles, toothbrushes) that can expose you to infected blood
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