What Causes Cancer?

Cancer is caused by certain changes to genes, the basic physical units of inheritance. Genes are arranged in long strands of tightly packed DNA called chromosomes. Cancer is a genetic disease—that is, it is caused by changes to genes that control the way our cells function, especially how they grow and divide. Certain lifestyle choices are known to increase your risk of cancer. Smoking, drinking more than one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men, excessive exposure to the sun or frequent blistering sunburns, and being obese can contribute to cancer.

Some factors that increase your risk of developing cancer include behaviors such as smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, on-the-job exposure to chemicals, radiation and sun exposure, and some viruses and bacteria.

First, most of the time, cancer is caused by bad-luck copying errors and there is nothing that you can do to prevent it. Second, whether you live an athletic and healthy lifestyle or not, cancer screening is important.

No, being stressed doesn’t directly increase the risk of cancer. The best quality studies have followed up many people for several years. They have found no evidence that those who are more stressed are more likely to get cancer.

A new study shows sleeping less than six hours per night may increase your risk to develop a key sign of early colon cancer by about 50 percent. Patients who reported short sleep durations are far more likely to be diagnosed with colorectal adenomas, a precursor to cancer tumors

• Don’t use tobacco. Using any type of tobacco puts you on a collision course with cancer.
• Eat a healthy diet.
• Maintain a healthy weight and be physically active.
• Protect yourself from the sun.
• Get vaccinated.
• Avoid risky behaviors.
• Get regular medical care.

The list is usually topped with berries, broccoli, tomatoes, walnuts, grapes, other vegetables, fruits, and nuts. “If you look at the typical foods that reduce cancer risk, it’s pretty much all plant foods that contain phytochemicals,” says Wohlford.

The incidence rates for cancer overall climb steadily as age increases, from fewer than 25 cases per 100,000 people in age groups under age 20 to about 350 per 100,000 people among those aged 45–49, to more than 1,000 per 100,000 people in age groups 60 years and older.

• Coughing, chest pain, and breathlessness. Speak to a GP if you’ve had a cough for 3 weeks or more.
• Changes in bowel habits.
• Bloating.
• Bleeding.
• Lumps.
• Moles.
• Unexplained weight loss.
• Tummy or back pain.

Tobacco use, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and air pollution are risk factors for cancer and other non-communicable diseases. Some chronic infections are risk factors for cancer; this is a particular issue in low- and middle-income countries

Lung and bronchus cancer is responsible for the most deaths with 130,180 people expected to die from this disease. That is nearly three times the 52,580 deaths due to colorectal cancer, which is the second most common cause of cancer death. Pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest cancer, causing 49,830 deaths.

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Featured Photo by Marijana from Pixabay