Lifestyle issues
Obviously, giving up smoking will dramatically reduce our chances of developing many cancers. So will limiting our exposure to strong sunlight by, for example, staying in the shade, wearing sensible clothes and high-factor suncream.
But there are other things we can do too.
There is a large amount of evidence to suggest that eating a healthy, balanced diet reduces our risk of cancer. We don't fully understand what factors in the diet are responsible for this, but we are helping to fund a massive research project (EPIC) to understand why.
Doctors recommend that we eat at least five portions of fresh fruit and vegetables every day, eat plenty of fibre and starch, and avoid excessive alcohol, fatty foods and red and processed meat.
Some studies indicate that regular physical activity can also protect us against some types of cancer. For example, lack of exercise has been shown to increase a person's likelihood of colorectal (bowel) cancer, whereas maintaining a healthy bodyweight reduces post-menopausal women's' risk of breast cancer.
There is a much more detailed information about lifestyle and cancer risk in the ’Healthy living’ section of this website.
