World Cancer Day 2022: Breast implants to hot tea, 7 things that can raise your risk of cancer

On World Cancer Day, let us know what to avoid to raise cancer risk from the expert. We spoke to Dr J Hari Kishan, Consultant General Medicine, Kamineni Hospitals, Hyderabad, for more details 

Worldwide, people observe World Cancer Day on February 4 to make people aware of cancer and the prejudices associated with the condition. The Union of International Cancer Control (UICC) has declared World Cancer Day a “global uniting initiative." Today, on this day, we listed some things besides tobacco, sunlight radiation and many more, which may raise your risk of cancer. 

Hot tea: According to the 2018 report published in China, it was proved that drinking extremely hot tea may increase the risk of cancer of the esophagus. They also claimed that people who generally drank hot tea and smoked tobacco, and drank alcohol had five times higher risk of esophageal cancer than those who did none of those three things.

Breast implants: Women who opt for breast implants face an increased risk of a rare type of lymphoma called Anaplastic large cell lymphoma(ALCL), which may increase the risk of breast cancer in women.

Sitting still: Lack of physical activity may cause lots of fatal diseases; cancer is one of the diseases linked with higher levels of physical activity. Researchers proved that physical exercise lowers the risk of getting cancer up to 7 per cent.

Smoke from the grill: In 2018 a study found that there are some certain chemicals found in grills called Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The burning of wood or charcoal releases those chemicals. They are known as carcinogens, or cancer-causing agents, so according to this study, we can conclude that people who sit close to a grill may absorb an increased amount of chemicals through their skin which may cause a greater risk of cancer. 

Alcohol: A study proved that alcohol in the body might release a chemical that damages the DNA of the stem cells of the blood, which is considered one of the major causes of cancer. Alcohol is linked to increasing the risk of various type of cancer such as Liver, colorectal, esophageal and breast cancer.

Obesity: People who suffer from obesity have double the risk of stomach, liver, and kidney cancers compared to normal-weight people.

HIV/AIDS: Infectious agents cause HIV/AIDS, including EBV, HBV, and HCV, which may cause oropharyngeal, anal, liver, and many other cancers.