February is National Cancer Prevention Month. Prevent Certain Types of Cancer by Following a Few Steps

February is National Cancer Prevention Month. Certain cancers can be prevented, but people have to be careful and follow certain steps to prevent them. Skin cancer is one of these, and a great way to prevent skin cancer is to protect your body from sun exposure. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer and is one of the most preventable types. The best way to prevent it is to stay out of the sun, but that is not always possible, so people need to utilize sunscreen and limit sun exposure as best as possible. Protective clothing should also be worn out in the sun to prevent sunlight from touching a majority of open skin. This can include long sleeves, hats, and pants. When using sunscreen, it is recommended to use an SPF of at least 30, but higher is always better.

People also need to keep a healthy body weight because higher body weight can lead to cancer. Eleven percent of cancer cases in women and five percent of cancer cases in men are a result of excess body weight. Excess body weight also causes seven percent of all cancer deaths. Excess weight increases cancer risk by causing inflammation, cell and blood vessel growth, and increasing hormones. If body weight is not kept to a healthy level, people can be at risk of breast, colorectal, endometrial, esophageal, gallbladder, kidney, liver, ovarian, pancreas, stomach, thyroid, multiple myeloma, and meningioma cancers.

Being physically active can also greatly reduce the chance of developing cancer. It does this by keeping weight down and improving the immune system and hormone levels. The immune system is supposed to fight cancer so an improved immune system could be better at stopping the growth and spread of cancer cells. It is recommended that adults have 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity activity per day or 75-150 minutes of vigorous intensity activity per day. Children are recommended to have 60 minutes of any type of activity. It is also very important to limit sedentary behavior, which keeps people active and helps keep weight down.

It is also important to reduce exposure to carcinogens like asbestos. Asbestos is a group of silicate minerals that can cause mesothelioma and lung cancer. Many workers were not told that asbestos was dangerous and ended up working with the substance every day, leading to a cancer diagnosis in the future. Many of these workers inhaled the asbestos fibers which then became embedded in their lung and mesothelial tissue, causing the cells to change and turn into cancer. If you were exposed to asbestos, it might be beneficial to see the doctor more frequently to catch the asbestos related cancer early.

If you were exposed to asbestos and now have lung cancer or mesothelioma, you could be entitled to compensation. Call us at 412-471-3980 or fill out our contact form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Sources:

“Diet and Physical Activity: What’s the Cancer Connection?” American Cancer Society (June 9, 2020). [Link]

“Does Body Weight Affect Cancer Risk?” American Cancer Society. [Link]

“Sun Damage: Protecting Yourself” Cleveland Clinic. [Link]