Change Your Lifestyle & Thwart Cancer

Regular exercise and dietary control can play a vital role in fighting cancer and other chronic diseases, says Dr. Amer Radwi, consultant medical oncologist and head of the Oncology Data and Research Unit at Princess Nora Oncology Center of King Abdulaziz Medical City in Jeddah. “Exercise is advised as a protection against cancer,” Radwi told Arab News. A sedentary lifestyle, on the other hand, can endanger a person’s health and make him a victim of various diseases, including cancer, he added. Radwi said cancer cases are low in the Kingdom compared to Western countries. “The ratio is 80-100 per 100,000 population in the West against 20 in the Kingdom,” he pointed out. But, according to Radwi, the gap is narrowing and modern lifestyle is the main reason. “Rapid changes have taken place in the lifestyle of Saudis over the last two decades. The pattern of cancer in the Kingdom is changing because of the change in lifestyle. Before the 1990s there were few cases of colon cancer in our country.

Now it’s No. 1. It’s a lifestyle-related cancer,” he said. Radwi said cancer diagnosis and treatment in the Kingdom has witnessed remarkable progress with the opening of specialized hospitals and centers in almost all parts of the country. Radwi said most hospitals in the Kingdom, including Princess Nora Center and King Faisal Specialist Hospitals in Jeddah and Riyadh, have world-class oncology departments with advanced facilities. Radwi warned against unscientific use of herbal cure for cancer and other diseases. “Most herbalists have no medical background,” he said, adding that those who promote herbal medicine do not know about the harmful side effects of the medicines, which have not been clinically tested. He however pointed out that research into herbal medicines is in progress in some Western countries. Radwi spoke about the dangerous effects of smoking, saying it could cause different types of cancer. “Smoking is the single biggest cause of cancer in the world.

It causes nine out of 10 cases of lung cancer. Smoking also increases the risk of over a dozen other cancers, including that of mouth, pancreas, stomach, kidney, bladder and cervix, as well as some types of leukemia.” Tobacco smoke contains about 70 different cancer-causing substances, Radwi said. When a person inhales smoke, these chemicals enter his lungs and spread around his body. “Stress is another important reason for the spread of cancer as it affects our immune system,” Radwi said, adding that a strong faith in God could help a person resist and overcome the disease. More recent research suggests that the body’s neuroendocrine response (release of hormones into the blood in response to stimulation of the nervous system) can directly alter important processes in cells that help protect against the formation of cancer.