Cobalt encourage people to embrace healthy lifestyle for World Cancer Day
Sunday 4 February 2018 marks World Cancer Day, a campaign helping to raise awareness and educate us about cancer. We will be spreading the message that everyone can play a crucial role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing and potentially reduce their risk – by being more active, limiting alcohol consumption, avoiding smoking and having a healthy diet. We’re supporting the World Cancer Day by raising awareness how we can make lifestyle changes.
Sue White, Cancer Prevention Coordinator, Cobalt said “Around 40% of cancers are preventable through lifestyle changes, such as increasing physical activity and leading a less sedentary lifestyle. A large number of people also find exercise to be of great benefit to their wellbeing either during or after treatment. We will be using the ‘We can. I can’ campaign, to spread the message”.
In less than two decades, cancer will directly affect up to 21.7 million people per year. Aside from prevention, a growing body of evidence 1 shows that physical activity significantly helps cancer patients, not only to manage the life-altering side-effects of treatment such as fatigue, depression and heart damage, but also in reducing the risk of the disease worsening or recurring. Research shows, for example, that a breast cancer patient’s risk of recurrence and of dying from the disease can be reduced by around 40 per cent by doing the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week.
Charities such as Cobalt often use challenge events to fundraise and through training and participation individuals often naturally start making healthy choices. Our Cancer Prevention Team visit local schools, companies and organisations delivering free cancer prevention and health education talks.
We also work with the NHS to improve cancer care through both access to state-of-the art scanning technology and the provision of free scans for cancer patients. This facilitates the early detection of cancer and also the patient’s response to treatment. Free training and education courses on a local, national and international basis are run by us for doctors and healthcare professionals, ensuring experience and findings from research work is widely shared.
For more information visit: www.worldcancerday.org