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Tips to Lower Your Cancer Risk

The choices we make each day influences our possibilities of getting cancer. Three factors that we manage have a lot to do with our risk of growing this terrible disease. There are no proven ways to stop cancer, but you can lower your chances of getting it and according to Cancer Research, 4 in 10 cancer cases can be stopped, largely through lifestyle changes. It will support you to lower your risk of cancer if you:

  • Eat a healthy, balanced diet

Stories about different foods and diets connected to preventing cancer are often in the news. It is because much research is going on a diet and cancer. Anyhow, it is not easy to study the link between diet and cancer, because there are so many various factors involved, and cancer can take years to grow.

No single food or supplement can stop cancer from growing. Overall, research shows a connection between eating certain groups of foods (rather than any specific food, vitamins or nutrients) and decrease in cancer risk. 

  • Maintain a healthy weight

Being overweight or obese can increase your possibility of some cancers, like:

  • Bowel cancers
  • Pancreatic cancers
  • Oesophageal cancers
  • Breast cancers, if you are a woman who has gone through the menopause
  • Cancer of the womb (uterus)
  • Kidney cancer

Being a healthy weight can lower your risk of growing cancer. You can find out whether your weight is healthy by using the BMI healthy weight calculator.

  • Stay physically active

It is evident that being physically active can lower your risk of bowel and breast cancer, and also endometrial. It is not known exactly how physical activity decreases the risk of these cancers, but research reveals that regular exercise helps you to keep your hormone levels healthy. Having high levels of some hormones can raise your cancer risk.

Physical activity also assists you to maintain a healthy weight, which in turn lowers the risk of cancer.

  • Drink less liquor

Drinking liquor is known to increase your risk of some cancers, including:

  • mouth cancer
  • larynx and pharynx cancer
  • oesophageal cancer
  • colorectal cancer in men
  • breast cancers

It is probably a cause of other cancer as well, like colorectal cancer screening in women and liver cancer.

  • Stop smoking

Lung cancer is answerable for around a quarter of cancer deaths, and 90% of lung cancer treatment cases are related to smoking.

Stopping smoking greatly cuts the possibility of growing cancer. The earlier you stop, the greater the impact. Anyhow, it is never too late to quit. People who quit smoking at 30 living nearly as long as a non-smoker and those who quit at the age of 50 can still undo half the injury.

  • Protection of skin from Sun injury

Take care in the sun so that you do not get burned is vital for eradicating skin cancer.

  • Spend few time in the shade between 11 am and 3 pm.
  • Make sure you never burn up.
  • Cover yourself with a T-shirt, hat, and sunglasses
  • Take care not to let children get burned.
  • Use sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15.

Keep an eye on any freckles or moles you have. If they change at all, see your GP, as this can be an early sign of cancer. The earlier skin cancer is caught, killer it is to treat, so see your GP as soon as possible.

We require sunlight on our skin so that our bodies can make vitamin D, which is essential for healthy bones.

Cost of Cancer Treatment

India is known to be the center of successful cancer treatments done across the globe. All the major surgeries related to cancer are performed by the top oncologists in India. Low-cost and high standards of medical health care services in India are attracting people from diverse and remote corners of the world.

Into the Brain Through the Nostrils: Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Pituitary Tumor Surgery

Transsphenoidal pituitary tumor surgery is also called as Endoscopic pituitary surgery or an Endonasal endoscopic surgery. In this surgery, the nostrils are used as the main source to remove the pituitary tumor (adenomas) from the pituitary gland and the skull base. It is a simple surgery performed by two surgeons (Neurosurgeon and ENT surgeon) in which the tumor is completely removed with the help of a device called endoscope. It is vital to remove the pituitary tumor as they lead to hormone problems and loss of vision. The removal of this tumor will make an alteration in the vision problems and balance the hormone levels.

About Transsphenoidal Surgery

Transsphenoidal surgery is performed through the nose via sphenoid sinus to remove the pituitary tumor (adenomas). Two medical experts with their team of specialists conduct it with the help of using a high-definition device called endoscope. It is a simple technique in which a small cut is made at the back of nasal cavity which leads to slight disturbance of the nasal tissues. Small openings are made in the nasal septum, sphenoid sinus, and sella to reach the pituitary tumor. When the tumor is visible, it is removed by the neurosurgeon.

Who is the right candidate for this surgery?

You may be the right individual for this surgery only if you are diagnosed withany one of the following tumors:
  • Pituitary adenoma
  • Craniopharyngioma
  • Meningioma
  • Chordoma
  • Rathke’s cleft cyst

Recovery And Prevention of Transsphenoidal Surgery

You will have to fix an appointment with your ENT surgeon 1 week after surgery to check the surgical site and also to take off the nasal splints. You will be under the observation of ENT surgeon for 3 weeks till the nasal cavities are completely healed. Usually, 2 to 4 visits will be required.
Small crusts will be formed inside the nose leading to nasal congestion. The ENT physician will spray the nose to give a local anesthesia to the nasal cavities so that the crusts can be removed easily. The patient will be given a nasal saline rinse to use for 4 weeks after the surgery as it will reduce the need to remove the crusts and speed up the nasal healing.
You will also need to fix an appointment with your neurosurgeon to have an endocrine check up for 2 to 4 weeks following the surgery.

Risks Involved in Transsphenoidal Surgery

Every surgery involves risks in it. Some of the risks and complications involved in this surgery are as follows:
  • Bleeding
  • Infection
  • Blood clots
  • Reactions to anesthesia
  • Loss of vision
  • Damage to normal pituitary gland
  • Diabetes Insipidus
  • Cerebrospinal fluid leak
  • Meningitis
  • Sinus congestion
  • Nasal deformity
  • Nasal bleeding stroke

Outcomes of Transsphenoidal Surgery

If your tumor is secreting a hormone, the endocrinologist will check your hormone levels after surgery to decide whether you are cured or not.Some of the pituitary tumors will stay incurable due to the seizure of large sinuses and other vital structures. Radiosurgery is used to treat those tumors which are unable to be removed through surgery. Since it is quite difficult to predict when a tumor may re-occur, continuous monitoring with MRI scans is needed to watch for any changes or re-growth.

Cost of Transsphenoidal Surgery

India is one of the leading destinations in the field of medical tourism. Pituitary tumor treatment in India is performed by well-trained expert surgeons of India. Pituitary tumor surgery cost is found to be cost-effective and affordable in India. Be comfortable, stay relaxed and make your treatment in India, a healing experience.