20 Ways to Prevent Cancer Researchers from the University of Oxford in England analyzed cancer data collected from 47 studies of more than 100,000 women, and made some surprising discoveries. The first involves height. For women over 5 feet tall, every two inches of added height was shown to increase their risk for ovarian cancer by about 7 percent
And then there’s your weight. The study finds that every two and a half-point increase in body mass index (BMI) above 20 increases your risk for the cancer by 10 percent. (Check your body mass index with thisBMI calculator.) The researchers aren’t certain why body size plays a factor, but they say it could simply be a numbers game: The larger the body, the greater the number of cells at risk for developing cancer. Your body’s levels of certain growth hormones may also play a role. [sidebar] There’s no reliable screening test for ovarian cancer, says Karen Orloff Kaplan, CEO of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, but women can protect themselves by recognizing the symptoms. If you experience any of these ovarian cancer warning signs more than 12 times in a month, see your doctor:
BloatingNauseaIndigestionConstipation or diarrheaPelvic or abdominal painFeeling full quicklyMore frequent urinationAbnormal vaginal bleedingUnusual fatigueUnexplained weight changes
Learn more about ovarian cancer and how you can fight the disease with Prevention’s report How To Protect Yourself From Ovarian Cancer.
