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| Aware, beware |
| Archana Jahagirdar / New Delhi Apr 12, 2009, 00:04 IST |
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With lifestyle changes, certain cancers can be kept at bay.
When a person is handed a prognosis of cancer, the reaction is one of deep fear. It must have been no different in the days of Hippocrates, who described several cancers and coined the word “carcinoma”. Egyptians in 1600 BCE apparently knew of cancer surgery. And text from that period says, “There is no cure.” That sentiment is prevalent even today, more than two centuries after the cause of cancer was discovered in the 1770s. Says Dr Sidharth Sahni, oncologist with Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon, who has set up the Cancer Research Foundation of India (CRFI), “We want to spread awareness that cancer can be prevented.”
Prevention has been an under-used word in India in the context of this disease. Says Dr Jem Prabhakar, additional professor, Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, “There is a lack of awareness programmes in India.” Experts say that several cancers can be prevented.
At the top of the list is cervical cancer. Women in rural India are the most affected by this cancer, which is spread by the human papilloma virus (HPV). Simple lifestyle changes, says Sahni, could stop its spread. “Just not having unprotected sex is a way to prevent this cancer. Getting pregnant at a young age too can make you susceptible to this cancer.” Maintaining hygiene post-sex is another way to prevent this cancer. Sahni adds, “Post-coital bleeding is the first sign of this cancer. The bleeding tends to be scanty in the beginning, so women don’t pay attention to it. The bleeding increases as the cancer reaches an advanced stage.” The most well-known sufferer of this cancer was reality TV star Jade Goody, who recently died of it at a young age.
Apart from cervical, India leads in head and neck cancers. The reason is wrong lifestyle choices; in this case consumption of gutka, pan masala, tobacco and smoking. HPV is also implicated in these cancers, which are linked with poor dental and oral hygiene. Says Sahni, “It is believed that 43 per cent of all cancers can be prevented by making the right lifestyle changes.” According to new data coming in, smoking is going up among young, pre-menopausal women, even as men are kicking the butt.
In the eyes of many (even most) doctors, one of the biggest lifestyle-related culprits that leads to all kinds of serious health issues including cancer is, of course, tobacco. Sahni says, “Tobacco-related cancers such as cancer of the lungs, head and neck cancer, and cancer of the uterine cervix, are forms of preventable cancer. There is evidence to show that tobacco cessation and smoking less can and will reduce lung cancer by 46 per cent immediately and 72 per cent by the end of five years. Currently there are 1.2 million people every year who are diagnosed with lung cancer and 750,000 with head and neck cancer. One-third of these are from India.” The outgoing union health minister Dr Ramadoss’s ire was well-directed, though poorly communicated.
There is also, according to Sahni, a link between smoking and breast cancer. “Only five to 10 per cent of all breast cancer cases worldwide have a genetic link. The remaining are sporadic events.” Apart from smoking, obesity was identified as a risk factor as far ago as 1889. Obesity leads to changes in the body’s metabolism which affect the oestrogen levels. Oestrogen is one of the hormones linked to breast cancer. Adds Sahni, “Almost 64 per cent cases of breast cancer that we see at Artemis are of women who are medically obese. Data is showing that 20 to 30 per cent of breast cancer can be brought down if obesity is controlled.” Prabhakar says, “In the case of breast cancer, even if there is awareness, it isn’t followed up with screening. Even health professionals who are aware don’t go for screening. We need to give a positive push for people to opt for screening.” India sees 150,000 new breast cancer cases every year.
For breast cancer survivor Supriya Singh, routine screening saved her life. Her cancer was caught while still in stage one. Singh was diagnosed last year after undergoing a routine mammogram on her doctor’s insistence. Singh says, “I had turned 40, and my doctor wanted me do both a mammogram and a pap smear. There isn’t anyone else in my family who has had breast cancer so I was shocked when my mammogram showed cancerous cells. Today, I tell everyone that they should get routine screening done.”
Sahni, Prabhakar and Singh are all in agreement that healthy eating choices can make all the difference between getting or not getting certain kinds of cancer. Says Singh, “Sugar is a cancer-feeder, so I have cut down consumption. I am told that eating a red apple in the morning is good, as is papaya. So I eat both. I eat sprouts, which are also something I have added in my meals.” A recent study at the Johns Hopkins University suggested that consuming vegetables, cooked not at very high temperatures, and fruits can prevent head, neck, cervix, lung, food-pipe and breast cancers. Says Prabhakar, “A healthy way of life has to start in one’s childhood.”
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