You can ward off certain types of cancers by quitting smoking today

The exact reason why people develop cancer is yet to be known. But we do know some of things that cause or influence the risk of developing cancer. We call them risk factors.

You can reduce your risk of getting cancer by making positive lifestyle choices. For instance, abstain from smoking, eat a healthy diet and keep physically active are some of the ways you can do.

Smoking-related cancers

It is no news to everyone that smoking is the main risk factor for lung cancer. Smoking hosts a number of cancers apart from just lung cancer. When we think of smoking-related cancers, lung cancer is often our first thought.

I understand that cancer is tricky! At times you can’t avoid it by maintaining just one or two healthy lifestyle habits, but at least it helps a lot! There are several cancers which have been fairly conclusively linked to smoking for many of these, smoking is the leading risk factor for the disease.

Today therefore, let’s take a look at the types of cancers that we can ward off by simply quitting or never smoking.

Lung cancer: While lung cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, it is also one of the most preventable one.

Since cigarette smoking is the cause of over 90 per cent of lung cancer cases, avoiding smoking or quitting smoking can significantly lower a person’s risk of developing this disease.

A smoker’s risk of lung cancer is 15 to 25 times more that of a non-smoker and the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked each day and the number of years of smoking. Quitting at any age will significantly lower the risk.

Oesophageal cancer: This is another type of cancer that you can avoid by never smoking. This type of cancer occurs in the oesophagus, a long, hollow tube that runs from your throat to your stomach.

Your oesophagus helps move the food you swallow from the back of your throat to your stomach to be digested. Oesophageal cancer is one of the cancers, that in few cases is triggered by a number of chemicals that are present in cigarette.

The good news is that, oesophageal cancer rarely affects Tanzanians, but people are at higher risk of acquiring this disease at some point in their lives due to smoking habits.

Leukemia: Yes. it is in the list too! This is blood cancer that grows in the bone marrow. Although statistics are yet to be actualised, the rate of this disease in Tanzania is alarming. Hundreds of Tanzanians fall victim to this disease and apart from other risk factors, smoking and alcohol is confirmed to be one of its leading causes.

I understand that smoking is very hard to quit among the majority. But rather than dying of smoking-related cancers, it’s better to try to quit it. You can’t win it by your own, but doctors, psychologists and spiritual leaders will be a great help for you!

Tip: One of the most important things to keep in mind when you’re trying to give up cancer sticks is that you really shouldn’t go on a diet. Depriving yourself of your favorite foods could cause you to lose focus. Instead, eat what you want, but keep in mind that certain foods and drinks are more likely to send you reaching for a cigarette, such as glucose. So try to stay away from foods that contain a lot of sugar.