Lifestyle-specific risk

factors of Cancer
By Matthias De Souza and Alessio Petulla`
What is Cancer and what are the lifestyle-
specific risk factors associated with the it?
Cancer is a disease which someone suffers from when their body cells begin to mutate into an
abnormal state and uncontrollably divide, which can result in the spreading of the disease
around small fragments of tissue and eventually body organs.
Cancer is well known to kill at least 430 people in the UK daily and 7.6 Million people annually
on a global scale. A large reason for this is because Cancer can target people in various organs
and can spread around tissue, therefore, as it isnt restricted to a single organ, there are so
many lifestyle choices which can increase the risks of getting the disease in some part of the
body.
An example is: if you reduced the number of cigarettes smoked daily from 10 to 2, it would
likely decrease the risk of Lung cancer, but wouldnt necessarily prevent all forms of the
disease, such as from catching Skin Cancer, however, many interlinked forms of the disease can
be prevented from the example of smoking, such as throat and mouth Cancers which are highly
likely to affect someone who smokes.
Risks associated with the disease
Smoking- Cigarettes contain 60 toxic chemicals. Of these chemicals, there are some known to damage a gene found in the Nucleus of every cell which is produced to prevent the likelihood of Cancer
cells developing. This gene is called P53. When this cell is damaged and mutated, it can develop and spread directly where the chemicals are mostly concentrated: in the Lungs, Mouth and the throat
Overexposure of UV Rays- our body produces melanin to help prevent UV rays from penetrating too many layers of the skin when exposed to UV rays, however, it has been shown that those who are in
the Sun for too long and havent bee able to produce enough melanin to prevent the UV rays from penetrating the skins layers, sun-burning occurs. If the skin cells are too damaged, they could be
ridden of and a new one is produced, or it could mutate and divide.
Eating too many processed foods and drinks- there are many chemicals used to preserve, colour, sweeten and emulsify foods which, if over-consumed, can increase potential risks of obtaining Colon
and even in some cases, Lung Caner. Even eating refined White flour can raise blood sugar levels, therefore, provide energy to the Cancer cells to divide and survive.
Frequency of exercise- if you exercise frequently, fat levels will reduce as will stress levels and blood pressure (due to a smaller fatty build up blood vessels and arteries). This can also affect
Homeostasis, therefore, the amount of sugar in the blood will be less than before exercise. To prevent Breast Cancer, exercise is a good way of doing so because it limits the amount of Insulin produced
(as Insulin affects the development and behaviour of Breasts). If there isnt enough Insulin being in the blood, Breasts cant produce properly, therefore, Cancers could develop due to damaged cells
being produced.
Overexposure of Radiation- a reason why people are likely to get Cancer when overexposed to some forms of radiation is because the radioactive rays of energy are able to ionise our body cells and
make them unstable (mutated) which eventually can divide and spread.
Environment and pollution- in areas of natural surroundings, the risk of getting Cancer is though to be lower than people living in the city. This is because cities tend to have many cars and industries
releasing fumes of Carbon Monoxide and other toxic chemicals which, similarly to smoking, damages cells which eventually begin to develop and spread. There are also less processed foods and drinks,
therefore, fewer chemicals which can damage cells.
Are these factors correlations or causal?
Most of these facts are causal because there has been medical
research which indicates that if you do or do not take part in
something as part of your lifestyle, the potential risks of getting
the disease will increase, however, it doesnt state that this will
decrease or increase the risks of getting the disease for everyone,
however, based on statistics, demonstrates that the positive
changes in a lifestyle will decrease the likelihood of getting the
disease by a certain amount.
Everyone is different, therefore, the genetics of every individual
may contribute to a greater likelihood of getting Cancer or in fact
decrease the likelihoods of obtaining the disease, for example,
there are some people who have been able to smoke unfiltered
cigarettes for at least 50 years and havent gotten Cancer,
however, there are some people who have smoked for 20 years,
however, have got Lung Cancer at a younger age.
Another factor that demonstrates a correlation is if all of the
people examined live in the same form of environment, such as a
City. If this is the case, due to the similarities of the toxic
chemicals found in car fumes and cigarettes, Lung Cancer patients
who happen to smoke cant just get told that the cigarettes
caused it because the chemicals found in the car fumes may have
done.
If Colon Cancer patients are all accused of eating too much
processed foods and drinks, however, some of the patients only
have a processed meal once a month in comparison to someone
who eats it almost every week, it is unfair to say that this is the
reason, because, everyone reacts differently to certain chemicals.