Colorectal cancer could be prevented if people followed these five reconmendations

A new study says that as many as 23% of colorectal cancer cases could be prevented if people regularly followed five healthy lifestyle recommendations.

A team of researchers, led by Helene Kirkegaard at the Institute for Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen, Denmark, evaluated data on 55,487 men and women aged 50 to 64 who had not been diagnosed with cancer. The patients were followed for approximately ten years up to 2006. During the study period, 678 people were diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

The research team created a healthy lifestyle index using internationally-accepted public health recommendations from the World Health Organisation, World Cancer Research Fund and the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations.

The recommendations included:

* No smoking
* Being physically active for at least 30 minutes a day
* Having no more than seven drinks a week for women and 14 drinks a week for men
* Having a waist circumference below 88 cm for women and 102 cm for men
* Consuming a healthy diet that includes dietary fibre, at least 600 grams (3 cups) of fruit and vegetables a day, and no more than 500 grams (about half a pound) of red and processed meat a week, and less than 30 per cent of total calories derived from fat.

The researchers noted that following just one of the rules could cut the bowel cancer risk by 13%.

Previous research have found 14 gene variations that each increase the chance of getting colorectal cancer by between 1.5 and 2 times, and a study published last month found how a single variant in a person’s genetic code can lead to the development of the disease.

Any cancerous growth, lump or tumor of the colon and rectum is a form of colorectal cancer, also known as bowel cancer. Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer death in men and women, she said.