Dr. Tejinder Kataria, Chairperson, Radiation Oncology, Cancer Institute, Medanta, the Medicity, Gurgaon, today held a live session on Healthwire’s Facebook Page. During the session, she talked about lifestyle and food habits that have been modified over the years. She also shared many important tips with our viewers on how to minimize and reduce chances of getting many lifestyle related cancers.
She talked about changes and modifications in lifestyles to prevent cancer. Approximately 40% of cancers are preventable.
Data show that, in India more than 35% of adults (274.5 million) use tobacco, of this, 163.7 million use only smokeless tobacco; 68.9 million are only smokers while 42.3 million users of both smoking and smokeless tobacco. Over 30 percent of Indian population above the age 15 uses some form of tobacco which includes 14.6% of children in the age group of 13-15 years.
Tobacco use affects almost every major organ and system in the body causing a great deal of morbidity and untimely death. Tobacco use in any form can cause cancers in different organs/sites in the body.
These cancers can be prevented or reduced by quitting tobacco, says Dr Kataraia.
Another cancer that is related to lifestyle is colon cancer. According to her, rising incidence of colon cancer can be attributed to taking non-vegetarian diet, especially red meat.
In India, about 30 years ago, there was not very high prevalence of colon cancer, says she. Now, we are seeing more and more cases of colon cancer, and they are due to the change in the food habits, she says.
Vegetable-rich, fruit rich foot habits can prevent colon cancer.
Third lifestyle that has been modified over the last few years due to our sitting habit. We keep watching television for long hours, and everything is available on the phone. We need to learn how to exercise, because obesity is a big risk factor for cancer, she says.
Watch the video for more tips that he shared with our Facebook audience.
https://www.facebook.com/healthwiremedia/videos/600992870821720/?t=243