Cancer touches everyone. This is a sobering fact. Canadian statistics reveal that you have 45% chance of getting cancer in your lifetime (male), 39% if you are female. These are the latest stats from the Canadian Cancer Society.
The odds are certainly against us; all the more reason to fight back. Last weekend, my wife did just that as she joined thousands across BC in the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. It was a fund raising event to benefit cancer research and also a way to remember loved ones lost to cancer. My wife lost her dad to esophageal cancer about two years ago. Another reason for the relay was to celebrate cancer survivors. They came in yellow t-shirts and ran ahead of the relay held at Bear Creek Park, a stone’s throw away from our house. They are living proof that cancer can be beaten.
Living a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle will go a long way to ward off cancer and a host of other maladies. More recently, taking vitamin D supplements has been found to reduce the risk of many types of cancer. Regular exposure to the sun enables the body to produce vitamin D naturally. However, in places where you see more clouds than sun, it is recommended to take 1,000 IU of Vitamin D. This simple, inexpensive pill surprised researchers when it reduced the risk of cancer in half for one trial group comprised of 1,000 women.
So, there you have it. Support your local cancer organization, live a healthy lifestyle, and take your vitamin D pills. (If you’re like me, you may have to take your Ginkgo pills first so you won’t forget about taking your vitamins. Now, where was I? Oh yes.) That’s how you fight back against cancer.
