Five Steps Forward
How to Stop Stomach Cancer
By Caperton Gillett
"Eat your vegetables." You heard your mom say it. Now it's coming from the mouths-and research reports-of UAB cancer specialists. It turns out that little lifestyle changes, such as what you eat and how you take care of yourself, can make a big difference when it comes to preventing stomach cancer.
Taking five simple steps can help you get started on the path to a healthier and potentially cancer-free life, say the specialists:
- Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, particularly those with vitamin C and beta carotene, to reduce your risk.
- Limit your intake of smoked, pickled, and heavily salted foods as well as red meat, particularly when it's barbecued or cooked well-done. These foods contain high amounts of nitrites or nitrates.
- If you smoke or drink, you can reduce your risk by quitting or cutting back on those habits.
- Reduce your stress levels.
- If you experience burning stomach pain, nausea, or unexplained weight loss, seek treatment early; these symptoms may signal an ulcer.
These steps are key because they can help reduce irritation to the stomach, which can lead to chronic inflammation-and in turn, stomach cancer. "The link between inflammation and stomach cancer hasn't been as fully proven as the link between, say, smoking and lung cancer," says Martin J. Heslin, M.D., a surgical oncologist with UAB's Multidisciplinary Gastrointestinal Oncology Clinic. "But the inflammatory process over time increases the risk of developing cancer."
Controlling inflammation is also crucial because "in this country, the prevalence of stomach cancer is not high enough to warrant screenings like the ones recommended for colon cancer," says Dr. Heslin. He encourages you to know the signs of stomach cancer and ulcers to help prevent them or catch them in their early stages.
As you take your five steps toward prevention, UAB researchers are aiming for a giant leap forward. UAB specialists are actively involved with the development of new drugs that could help prevent and treat many types of cancer, including gastrointestinal cancers.