World Cancer Day (Feb 4th, 2019)

The Treatment & After-effects of Cancer Take a Toll on Mental & Physical Health of the Patient

Spread Awareness & Aim for Preventing Cancer

‘With great advancements come great complications too’ might be apt for this world which faces the wrath of serious diseases, illnesses and deaths. Cancer, a disease that has the potential to kill the patient has become one of the most popular causes of deaths in recent years. While surfing the net or texting people in our smartphones there are frequent pop ups of cancer-affected people requesting money for their treatment or for those of their loved ones. Needless to say, even new-born babies or small kids are often the victims here. More than the disease it is the agonies of the treatment which includes chemotherapy and radiation that makes people fear the attack of the disease. Cancer kills, but not before attacking the person leaving him/her with debilitating pain and hardships. Do you know that 17 people die every minute from cancer across the world amounting to almost 25,000 deaths in a day? Shockingly, almost 4% of cancers in the world is due to excess body weight. Weight holds responsibility to almost 7-8% of cancers in high-income countries. In 2016 alone almost 40% of adults and 18% of children aged 5-19 years were defined to be overweight/obese.
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World Cancer Day
The World Cancer Day is celebrated on the 4th of February every year to raise awareness about cancer and make it a global health priority. Worldwide, events are organized in the form of seminars, campaigns and advertisements to spread the news about this deadly disease and educate people about fighting cancer through screening and early detection, through healthy eating, regular physical activity, quitting smoking and requesting health workers to prioritize working on cancer. 2019 is the first of the three-year theme ‘I Am & I Will’. This talks about the effect of our present actions that help in curbing cancer and the year 2019 sees various arrangements in more than 130 countries.

The Invisible Destroyer
Not all cancers show early signs and symptoms but there are some cancers including cervical, breast, colorectal, skin, oral and other childhood cancers that do show signs. This is extremely important as diagnosing cancer at an early stage helps in treating the disease and improving chances of survival. Even a recent study in the UK found that survival rates for the eight-most common cancers that includes bladder, bowel, breast, cervical, womb, malignant melanoma, ovarian and testicular cancer are three times higher when diagnosed at an early stage.
According to the World Health Organization at least one third of common cancers are preventable through a healthy diet, maintaining normal weights and being physically active:

Tobacco: Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of cancer and stopping smoking reduces the risk by multifold. Smoking is responsible for more than 15 types of cancer including oral, stomach and bowel cancer. Smoking accounts for more than 70% of lung cancer deaths and 22% of all cancer deaths.

Alcohol: Drinking alcohol is linked to increased risk of several cancers including that of the larynx, mouth, liver, breast and esophagus. 

Physical Activity: As mentioned earlier, excess body weight is a serious risk factor for cancer. Maintaining a healthy weight and including physical activity as a part of the daily schedule helps in reducing the risk of ten cancers including bowel, breast, ovarian, kidney, pancreatic, liver and gallbladder cancers. The World Health Organization suggests that organizations, businesses and governments tackle the increased consumption of unhealthy foods and lack of exercise by limiting portions, decreasing package sizes, imposing tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, offering fruits/veggies at affordable costs and redesigning city layouts to promote walking and bicycling. If you are interested in losing weight get in touch with reputed dietitian nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com who can guide you to weight loss in a scientific and practical way.

Ultraviolet radiations: Irrespective of where you live take care that your exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun is moderate and avoid tanning beds. Stay under shade, cover yourself with protective clothing and avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight to protect yourself.

Helping People Help Themselves & Others
Individuals can address their own well-being and those of other by addressing some issues:

1. Lead a healthy lifestyle adhering to the above-mentioned suggestions
2. Realize the signs and symptoms of cancer as diagnosing cancer early eases the treatment process
3. Impart positive vibes with others by sharing your own cancer experiences and joining support groups to encourage those affected by cancer.
4. Try maintaining a normal daily routine during and after treatment which helps the affected individual maintain normalcy and social contact
5. Stand by cancer survivors during their physical and mental impacts of cancer even after treatment is over
6. Spread awareness to break myths and rumors discriminating cancer-affected people
7. Motivate schools and offices to impart the importance of physical activity, healthy eating habits and avoiding smoking/drinking which would help people adopt a healthy lifestyle

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