Statistics reveal that nearly 850,000 American women become diagnosed with cancer every single year. Some people end up getting diagnosed with this deadly disease due to unhealthy lifestyles, substance abuse, faulty genes, and even plain old bad luck.
Researchers reveal that nearly two-thirds of the deaths caused by cancer in the United States are actually preventable. One just needs to have a sound understanding of all the symptoms, along with effective preventive measures so the disease can be eliminated despite having high risk factors. Research suggests that if you are prepared to make some tiny changes in your diet, lifestyle and body, you can actually combat these diseases and control its symptoms.
We’ve put together a series of preventive measures to help you understand and learn how to protect yourself against the 5 most common types of cancers that affect women.
Here, take a look:
1. Colon Cancer
In 2016, there were nearly 47560 new cases of colon cancer amongst women, and statistics reveal that colon cancer effects both gender equally, reporting the same number of cases amongst both men and women every year. Fortunately, experts believe that colon cancer is very easily preventable and treatable.
How can you protect yourself?
You can easily protect yourself against the risk factors of colon cancer by getting regularly screened for cancer signs and growths. The current gold standard dictates the need of a colonoscopy, beginning from the age of 50 and performed nearly every 10 years. The test basically involves the insertion of a thin and flexible tube within the rectum, allowing your doctor to get a detailed view of your colon so he/she can identify all the signs and perform an accurate diagnosis.
Keep in mind that a colonoscopy is not only used to diagnose colon cancer, but in fact, it also allows the doctor to identify and eliminate polyps before they turn cancerous and malignant. There are several other screening options to detect the signs of colon cancer, for instance, a fecal occult blood test, during which the doctor will examine your poop for signs of blood indicating the presence of cancer.
Similarly, a DNA stool test, also termed as a Cologuard, aids the doctors in ruling out any potentially cancerous changes within our genes. However, both the Cologuard and the fecal occult blood test can often have false positives, which indicates the need for a colonoscopy to detect the disease.
2. Lung Cancer
There was an estimated number of nearly 106,470 new cases of women suffering from lung cancer in 2016. Statistic reveal an alarmingly horrible increase of 98% in lung cancer cases amongst women in the past 40 years. Even more alarming is the fact that nearly half of these cases have been found in women who have never smoked in their entire life. Which is why it is still a mystery while non-smokers can develop lung cancer.
Researchers have put forward several theories to explain this, for instance, women’s lungs tend to be much more susceptible to second-hand smoke, and estrogen being a potential factor that triggers the emergence of cancerous cells.
How can you protect yourself?
You can protect yourself from avoiding smoking, and staying far away from second-hand smoke, which tends to increase the risk of suffering from cancer by an alarming 30%. If you used to smoke or have a great exposure to second-hand smoke, consult your doctor on the benefits of taking one regular strength 325mg aspirin every day, as research reveals that it may prove beneficial in preventing lung cancer.
3. Endometrial Cancer
In 2016, there were nearly 60,050 new cases of endometrial cancer amongst women. This form of cancer is also referred to as uterine cancer, and it largely tends to affect postmenopausal women above the age of 60. Unfortunately, modern science has not yet been able to come up with an effective screening test to detect this type of cancer in its earliest stage.
How can you protect yourself?
You can protect yourself by maintaining a healthy weight and adopting a mindful lifestyle. Research reveals that women who are overweight or obese are thrice more likely to develop endometrial cancer. Basically, fat cells secrete estrogen, which can promote the emergence of cancerous tumours and cells.
If you are in a premenopausal phase and taking birth control, it is advisable to take the Pill, even if it is just for a couple years. Research reveals that just using the Pill for 5 years can actually help cut down the risk factors of endometrial cancer by 25%.
4. Breast Cancer
Statistics suggest that there were nearly 246,660 cases of breast cancer registered in 2016 alone. Even though breast cancer is not the most commonly occurring type of cancer amongst women, as skin cancer happens to be the No. 1. However, experts don’t categorise non-melanoma skin cancers in these statistics as they aren’t usually life-threatening.
Nearly 8,500 patients in America get diagnosed with any given type of skin cancer every single day, while there is an estimated number of 144,860 new cases of potentially fatal melanoma to grow in both, men and women, this year.
Nearly every 1 out of 8 women are likely to develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Fortunately, after constantly rising for over 20 years, the number of women patients suffering from breast cancer has begun to drop since 2000, and it has experienced a 7% decrease from 2002 until 2003.
Researchers suggest that this can be explained by a decline in the number of women who used hormone therapy to eliminate the symptoms of menopause. Moreover, if the breast cancer is cured and treated during its earliest stage, it now has a 5-year survival rate for about 100%.
How can you protect yourself?
It is absolutely essential to perform regular mammograms so be sure to consult your doctors on the ideal time to begin getting them. Experts recommend everyone above the age of 45 to get these tests done annually. Also, it is equally important to make a closer inspection of your lifestyle, particularly your eating habits.
Individuals who consume a high-fat diet consisting of foods made with animal fat, along with being sedentary and obese, tend to experience greater risk factors that lead to the development of breast cancers. Therefore, adopt a healthy, well-balanced diet, and cut down your alcohol consumption, because regular consumption of alcohol has been directly associated with increases risks of breast cancer, and research suggests that the more you consume, the higher your risk.
5. Thyroid Cancer
There were around 49,350 new cases of thyroid cases amongst women in 2016. Researchers reveal that the chances of patients suffering with thyroid cancer have nearly tripled in the last two decades.
However, there’s no need to worry because experts believe that even though the numbers of actual thyroid cancer cases have not increased as much, doctors are picking up many more incidental cases while conducting MRIs or CT scans to diagnose other ailments, such as neck aches and migraines. Moreover, despite the sudden and alarming increase in the incident rates of thyroid cancer, the death rates have remained unusually stable.
How can you protect yourself?
You can protect yourself by avoiding rushing into any kind of overtreatment. When your doctor detects the presence of a tiny nodule, it is highly advisable to monitor it for some time rather than rushing into surgery. And even if your doctor recommends the urgency of a surgery, you always have the option of getting just half of the thyroid removed instead of the entire gland.
In such an instance, you will not need to take the thyroid replacement hormone. In the instance your doctor stresses the need to remove the entire thyroid, even if you have a nodule under 1 centimetre, it is highly advisable to obtain a second opinion.
Keep in mind that a surgical operations comes with several risks, such as permanently damaging your vocal cords, and it also requires you to take thyroid hormone for as long as you live.
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