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17 Activities You Do On A Daily Basis That Can Cause Cancer.

4 years agoMon, 15 Jul 2019 12:53:16 GMT
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17 Activities You Do On A Daily Basis That Can Cause Cancer.

With scientists claiming they are about to find the cure for HIV and AIDS, one then wonders will the cure for cancer ever come in this lifetime. While scientists are still searching for a way to curb or totally cure cancer these 17 daily activities can cause cancer and if they can be avoided, try by all means to do so.

17. Smoking Tobacco

A smokers’ life expectancy, in general, is 10 years shorter than that of a non-smoker, holding all things constant. Why, because tobacco has so many poisonous chemicals that have no business being in a human being’s system. According to the American National Cancer Institute. Tobacco has 7000 chemicals most of them unknown.

Of the more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanidecarbon monoxide, and ammonia

Among the 250 known harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 69 can cause cancer. These cancer-causing chemicals include the following Acetaldehyde, Aromatic amines, Arsenic Benzene,  Beryllium (a toxic metal), 1,3–Butadiene (a hazardous gas), Cadmium (a toxic metal), Chromium (a metallic element), Cumene, Ethylene oxide, Formaldehyde, Nickel (a metallic element), Polonium-210 (a radioactive chemical element), Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Tobacco-specific nitrosamines, Vinyl chloride

16. Sun Exposure.

While the sun is used as a cosmetic in some communities, too much sun exposure is bad for you. UV rays are said to damage your skin fibre and cause precancerous and cancerous skin lesions. If you like the sun too much, it’s better to busk in it during the low/weak UV radiation hours i.e before 9 AM and after 4 PM.

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15. Passive Smoking.

Involuntarily inhaling smoke from other people’s cigarettes, unfortunately, exposes you to the 7k chemicals we spoke about earlier. This also means you get to inhale the 250 deadly chemicals and the 69 cancer-causing chemicals found in cigarette smoke. Be ye strick about people smoking around you because this typical case of kudziya moto wembava( guilty by association) is not right.

14. Drinking Alcoholic Beverages

Whilst alcohol is good for the heart and probably the soul, the same can’t be said about it when it comes to the human body as a whole. Alcohol increases the risks of some cancers chief among them breast cancer, oesophageal cancer and liver cancer. Its believed those who drink 3 drinks a day, or more than 10 drinks a week may be at a higher risk of getting cancer than those who don’t.

13. Drinking excessively Hot Beverages

I am one individual that likes overly hot beverages,  when I say hot I mean overly hot. I rarely finish a cup of tea because the temperature decreases with each sip I take so after around 10 sips I will discard the cup and either make a fresh cup or forget about it. For that reason (the temperature decrease) I hate hot beverages.

Turns out overly hot beverages, served at over 60 degrees Celsius can elevate your risk of oesophagal cancer because they irritate the gut and the swallowing passage. According to another researcher based in the US:

It doesn’t take a scientist to appreciate that repeated irritation of any body surface increases your risk of cancer…many foods and drinks contribute to the risk of gastrointestinal cancers.

 

12. Being overweight or obese

Well, it’s hard to imagine how keeping a few more kilos on your frame can increase your chances of getting such a dreadful disease right? According to Dr Susan M Gapstur a renowned cancer researcher in the US:

Body weight plays a role in inflammation, changes in hormone levels, and can affect biochemicals in your body like insulin

So go ahead and shed those kilos if you want to keep the cancer devils away.

11. Not exercising

The 21st-century modern person sits for 8 to 10 hours a day. If you don’t exercise you are in danger of developing 6 different types of cancer eg colon and liver cancer and breast cancer.  I’m no scientist but I have discovered that regular exercising lowers blood estrogen, it helps lower a woman’s breast cancer risk.

Exercise also reduces other cancer-growth factors such as insulin so yeah you may be slim and slender but cancer is no discriminator because some of its growth factors have nothing to do with the amount of flesh and fat you carry on your frame.

10. Drinking Tap Water

While very few people in cities like Harare drink Tap water, some people out of Harare think tap water is safe for consumption. It’s shocking to discover that water treatment chemicals may not agree with some cells in your body thereby causing abnormal cell division.

We are not so sure about the chemicals that are used to treat water by our different town councils. But we are so sure Harare water is not filtered to perfection as it comes out of the tap dirty and if you let it settle it will have a layer of dirt at the bottom of the container. Disinfection chemicals and some compounds found in tap water should never be ingested by anyone.

9. Getting Fake Nails.

I was and still am a nails obsessed person. This means I can’t see my natural nails for more than the time they are being done. While this may seem harmless, according to Medical News,

Chemicals like triphenyl phosphate, toluene, and dibutyl phthalate can all cause cancer or congenital disabilities. The danger of getting your nails done doesn’t just impact clients, however. Manicurists are also at increased risk of being diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

8. Getting Your Clothes Dry Cleaned.

Surprising right? Well dry cleaning is done using one health hazard chemical called Perchloroethylene (PCE, PERC). Exposure to this chemical via:

  • Breathing releases from dry-cleaned clothes, or products that contain perchloroethylene
  • Touching dry-cleaned clothes, products made with perchloroethylene, or soil contaminated with it
  • Bathing in water contaminated with perchloroethylene

Can cause any or all of these side effects

  • Dizziness
  • Drowsiness
  • Headache
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Lack of coordination
  • Irritation of eyes and respiratory tract
  • Skin Irritation
  • Redness and chap
  • Cancer

Think again before drycleaning all your clothes.

7. Not getting enough sleep

While we may think kurara hope rugare( sleeping is a luxury), actually, sleeping is not a luxury but mandatory. As scientists go deeper and deeper in their cancer research, it has emerged that lack of sleep/poor sleep is also linked to cancer.

While the research may still be ongoing, researchers have found that people with natural internal systems that don’t properly regulate sleep-wake cycles are at an increased risk of some types of cancers eg breast and prostate cancer. Get your body into a routine. stick to it and by all means, sleep the mandatory 7 hours a day if possible.

6. A Sexually Transmitted Viral Infection.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a virus usually passed through skin to skin contact. Many people with HPV don’t develop any symptoms and some cases of genital HPV infection may not cause any health problems. However, some types of HPV can lead to the development of genital warts and even cancers of the cervix, anus, and throat.

5. Consuming Red Meat.

Red meat is a lot of people’s favourite. While it may be tasty and all, its recommended that you eat at most 500 grammes of red meat a week because

Red meat can also contain nitrates and nitrites. However, even without these compounds, the process of cooking and eating red meat can expose you to other cancer-causing compounds, like heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). When you grill a steak or cook a burger over an open flame, these compounds are created. So as mutagenic compounds, they can change your DNA in ways that can increase your cancer risk.

4. Eating Processed meat.

Polony, Bacon, hotdogs etc can also lead to cancer cells multiplying out of control in your body.

Research shows that eating any processed meat increases the risk of both stomach and colorectal cancers. Processed meats are generally made with nitrates and nitrates, which can form nitrosamines when heated. These carcinogenic compounds can build up and cause issues.

3. Eating Trans Fats or Unsaturated fats

Unsaturated fats became widely produced industrially from vegetable and fish oils in the early 20th century for use in margarine and later also in snack food, packaged baked goods, and for frying fast food. These fats can increase your risk of breast, colon, and prostate cancer.

Women with the highest levels of trans fats have double the risk of developing breast cancer as women with the lowest levels.

2. Eating fermented Foods

Fermented foods like some fermented yoghurts and some of our native dishes like Maheu and porridge rakaviriswa and 7 days may also lead to cancer in some cases.

While fermented foods can have a number of health benefits, there’s increasing reason to believe that some fermented foods can increase your risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Much like processed meats, some fermented foods contain high amounts of nitrates and nitrites, which react with proteins in your body to form nitrosamines.

Take them sparingly.

1. Frequent Flying

Whether you’re a flight attendant, a pilot, or a jet-setting businessperson, you are at a much higher risk of a variety of cancers. Female flight attendants have a 50% higher risk of breast cancer than women in other professions, and frequent flyers are four times more likely to get non-melanoma skin cancer.

Cabin crews are also at an increased risk of cervix, thyroid, colon, liver, and stomach cancer. However, if you’re not a frequent flyer, you likely won’t be exposed to enough ionizing radiation to matter.

 

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