Cancers of Excess: Smoking, Drinking, Overeating and Sex

Balance is always a good thing. Ideally, in life, everything should all be in moderation but that can be a difficult thing especially with all the temptations we have around us. Too much of anything can make us unhealthy. The reality is, all of us will depart from this world, but there are measures we can take to at least delay it if we make the right choices. Here are some of the cancers of excess we should all be wary of.

The Smoking Cancers
smoking and lung cancerIf you smoke, you are more likely to develop certain types of cancer, especially lung cancer, which has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancer cases.

Cigarette and tobacco smoke contain poisons that damage our DNA and genes which protect us from cancer, weakening our body’s ability to eliminate toxins. The chemicals in cigarette smoke enter our bloodstream and can then have negative effects on our entire body, causing so many diseases, including heart disease and various lung diseases. Aside from lung cancer, smoking also increases the risk of having cancers of the larynx, pharynx, oesophagus, mouth, bladder, kidney, liver, stomach, pancreas, bowel, cervix, ovary and breast cancer. The best way for smokers to reduce their risk of cancer is to give up smoking completely.

alcohol drinking liver cancerThe Drinking Cancers
Drinking alcohol increases the risk of developing several types of cancers and the more bottles you drink, the higher your risks are to develop cancer and other diseases.

Heavy drinking can cause cirrhosis of the liver, which can in turn cause liver cancer. Other types of cancers which can be caused by regular and heavy alcohol consumption include mouth cancer, pharyngeal cancer, oesophageal cancer , laryngeal cancer, breast cancer and bowel cancer.

 

The Overeating Cancers
Recent studies revealed that a third of adults and a quarter of children today are overweight. This poses a big problem because being overweight boosts the risks of different types of cancers, including two of the most common types of cancer, which are breast and bowel cancers, and three of the hardest to treat which are pancreatic, gallbladder and oesophageal cancers. Obesity heightens the risk of cancer because fat tissues in the body produce hormones and growth factors that can affect the way our cells work. Other cancers related to obesity are cancers of the uterus, kidney, cervix, thyroid, liver, colon and ovary. Obesity also puts people at a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.

Food is good. We need it in order to survive. If we have too little our health will be in jeopardy, but too much food can also be the death of us.

cancer cells

The Sexual Cancers
The most common sexually transmitted infection is the human papillomavirus or HPV and nearly all sexually active men and women unknowingly get it at some point in their lives. HPV is contracted from an infected person during sexual activity. In majority of situations, people get HPV from having vaginal or anal sex, as well as oral and other sex play. There are several different types of HPV and it’s possible for someone to get more than just one type. Some types can cause serious health problems including genital warts, cervical cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, anal cancer, vulvar and vaginal cancer and penile cancer.

We had the chance to speak with a 22-year-old escort who prefers to remain anonymous from the Escorts Sydney website, and according to her, most escorts practice safe sex. In her line of work protection is on the top of the list and STIs and HPV are what she never hopes to acquire which is why even before she got active on doing escort work, she got an HPV vaccine to protect her from the threats associated with it. She also gets a routine screening for other sexually transmitted infections.

Too much or too little of anything can be harmful. If you think about it, I’m sure you’ll agree that there is a right amount of almost everything needed for a good life. Our health is our responsibility so, to live well, we also need to choose well.