Spring Break
Eat well and exercise to prevent cancer
Amanda Heidman
Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: Opinion
It seems like there are rumors every day of another food you can eat to help prevent cancer. Though they may seem random or repetitive at best, each one provides a flicker of hope for cancer patients or people with a history of cancer in their family.
A study held by Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center showed the right thing to do may not be to scout out those foods that might prevent cancer, but to take things in the complete opposite direction.
In his studies, Cristofanilli found that the severity of a common type of breast cancer is determined largely by the patient's Body Mass Index, or BMI. MSNBC reported that of the 606 women with breast cancer who were studied, inflammatory breast cancer was found in 45 percent of obese women, 30 percent of overweight women and only 15 percent of women of average weight.
An article published on ObesityFocused.com titled "Obesity and Cancer Statistics: Complex Issues" brings forth the fact that risk factors and causes are two totally different ideas. Though obesity may be a risk factor of certain types of cancer - specifically breast cancer - it cannot be classified as a cause since there are many people who suffer from cancer that are of healthy weight. However, the article goes on to state that a person's chances of developing cancer of the breast, colon, endometria, esophagus, kidney or prostate are much greater if he or she is overweight or obese.
So, if the upcoming bathing suit season wasn't enough of a reason to get your body into shape, hopefully this will be. Cancer can affect anyone, and though it may seem to be so far from a college student's life, what you do now will determine what kind of a life you lead later on.
If you take care of yourself now and take the proper steps to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, you have a better chance of avoiding cancer later on in life. So get out there and walk, run, swim, bicycle - anything to get you into shape.
A study held by Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center showed the right thing to do may not be to scout out those foods that might prevent cancer, but to take things in the complete opposite direction.
In his studies, Cristofanilli found that the severity of a common type of breast cancer is determined largely by the patient's Body Mass Index, or BMI. MSNBC reported that of the 606 women with breast cancer who were studied, inflammatory breast cancer was found in 45 percent of obese women, 30 percent of overweight women and only 15 percent of women of average weight.
An article published on ObesityFocused.com titled "Obesity and Cancer Statistics: Complex Issues" brings forth the fact that risk factors and causes are two totally different ideas. Though obesity may be a risk factor of certain types of cancer - specifically breast cancer - it cannot be classified as a cause since there are many people who suffer from cancer that are of healthy weight. However, the article goes on to state that a person's chances of developing cancer of the breast, colon, endometria, esophagus, kidney or prostate are much greater if he or she is overweight or obese.
So, if the upcoming bathing suit season wasn't enough of a reason to get your body into shape, hopefully this will be. Cancer can affect anyone, and though it may seem to be so far from a college student's life, what you do now will determine what kind of a life you lead later on.
If you take care of yourself now and take the proper steps to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, you have a better chance of avoiding cancer later on in life. So get out there and walk, run, swim, bicycle - anything to get you into shape.
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