World Cancer DAy
Cancer is the uncontrolled growth and spread of cells. It can affect almost every part of your body. Cancer is one of the leading reasons for mortality worldwide. 2015 it was responsible for 8.8 million deaths. Even though everybody can be affected by cancer there are one out of three cases caused by specific risk factors. Those risk factors are high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, lack of physical activity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption. Especially tobacco use is the reason for most deaths caused by cancer with a percentage of approximately 22%. Also a lot of chronic diseases like HPV have an impact on cancer.
30-50% of cases of cancer could be prevented. Most important is to avoid risk factors like tobacco use. Another prevention strategy is to vaccinate against HPV to protect yourself from sexually transmitted HPV. Furthermore protect yourself from ultraviolet radiation. Use sun cream and stay away from the sun in the middle of the day. Moreover the early detection of cancer is really important for the chance to cure it. Many cases of cancer have a good chance to be cured if they are detected early and are treated adequately. So go and get yourself checked regularly and especially if you have a specific suspicion.
Get more information on http://who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/ .
By Vera Lennartz