Satish was a compulsive alcoholic. He shrugged off any advice that came along his way to give up his habit. After all, it cannot cause any harm, he would think. Today, sitting in his hospital ward, diagnosed with a stage two prostate cancer, he regretted his behaviour. How he wished he would have listened to his wife earlier. It would have lessened the trauma his family was going through.
While it is true that genetics play a huge role in the development of cancer, there are a host of environmental and lifestyle factors that can gradually, over a period of time lead to cancer. In fact, if the rise in the number of cancer patients in the past few years is to be believed, cancer is emerging as a lifestyle disease in urban India. It won’t hurt to change your lifestyle to avoid cancer. Here are a few lifestyle changes you can make to avoid cancer:
- Quit smoking: Associated with 14 different types of cancer, smoking and tobacco use are both detrimental to general health and lead to several complications. Incorporating giving up smoking in your lifestyle has several benefits such as:
- Improvement in blood circulation and lung function after two to three weeks
- Decrease in coughing and shortness of breath after one to nine months
- Decreased risk of heart attack after a year
- Decreased risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, oesophagus and bladder after 5 years
- Decreased risk of cancer of the larynx(voice box), pancreas and lungs
- Giving up alcohol:Alcohol consumption has been found to trigger cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver, colorectum and breasts. If you can become a teetotaler and change your lifestyle, it could lead to benefits such as:
- Better quality of sleep
- Higher energy levels
- Improved concentration
- Better skin health
- Healthy diet: Consuming a diet that is free from junk food and rich in antioxidants is one of the best lifestyle changes to avoid cancer that you can make in your day to day life. This includes eating fresh fruits and vegetables and saying no to red meat and processed food. It could lead to several benefits such as:
- Help maintain a healthy weight
- Improve heart health and reduce stroke risk
- Help you develop strong bones and teeth
- Help in memory retention
- Lead to the development of gut-friendly bacteria
- Exercise more: If you want to change your lifestyle to avoid cancer, start with exercising daily for at least 30 minutes. Whether it is a walk, or a sport or yoga, do what seems comfortable and you can reduce your risk of cancer to a great degree. Apart from this regular exercise can also:
- Help reduce obesity and maintain a healthy weight
- Make you feel happier and more content
- Improve muscle and bone strength
- Increase your energy levels
- Improve brain health and memory
- Sun protection: Skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer but is also the most preventable. Apart from protecting you against cancer avoiding the sun especially during mid-day can also protect you from harmful UV rays that may cause sunburn
Apart from making these lifestyle changes to avoid cancer, it is also essential to be prepared, should this life threatening condition strike unannounced. It is not just mental, physical and psychological preparedness, but also adequate financial protection that comes handy. With treatment costs of cancer running in lakhs, you might exhaust all your savings before you even know it.
Which is why, a cancer insurance plan like Future Generali Cancer Protect Plan can be a godsend in such an hour of need. Covering you right from the diagnosis of cancer to treatment and even recovery, it handholds you providing financial assistance throughout the course of the disease.
With it, you can focus on your physical and mental well being rather than constantly worrying about your finances. So secure you and your family’s health with cancer insurance and live worry free life.
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