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6 stomach cancer risk factors you can control

While genetics play a role in one’s risk, eating the right foods, exercising and avoiding smoking can help lower your odds for this type of cancer.

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Back in the 1930s, stomach (or gastric) cancer affected more people in the United States than any other type of cancer. Today, stomach cancer is way down the list of the country’s most common cancer diagnoses, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). What’s behind the decline?

Certain lifestyle changes have helped prevent more people from developing this type ofShow More

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Prevention is Key

Patients have the best chance of recovering from stomach cancer when it’s caught early. But according to the National Cancer Institute, the disease is often diagnosed at an advanced stage when it still may be treated but is difficult to cure. That’s why it’s important to know about risk factorsShow More

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Eat Fewer Smoked, Salted and Pickled Foods

Food preservation methods have changed significantly in the past century and that has helped reduce the incidence of stomach cancer. “We are not using salt to preserve foods the way we used to, and salt has been implicated as a risk factor,” says DeBenedet. “We are eating much fresher foods now.”

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Add More Produce to Your Plate

Here’s another reason to load up on fresh fruits and vegetables:

“The vitamin C we get in citrus fruits and vegetables—such as green and red peppers—is believed to be protective against nitrites and nitrates breaking down into carcinogens in the stomach,” says DeBenedet.

Eating as many fresh fruitsShow More

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Maintain a Healthy Weight

Being overweight or obese is believed to be a possible cause of cancers of the upper part of the stomach nearest the esophagus, also known as the cardia, although the strength of that link has not yet been fully established.

DeBenedet, meanwhile, notes that obesity has been associated not just withShow More

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Stay Active

Daily or near-daily exercise can help with weight control, and “is important for longevity,” says DeBenedet. An article published in August 2016 in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that less body fat led to lower rates of different types of cancer, including gastric cardia cancer.

HowShow More

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Quit Smoking

“Smoking is clearly a risk factor” in developing stomach or any kind of cancer, says DeBenedet. The ACS reports that smoking particularly increases risk for those cancers of the upper portion of the stomach near the esophagus. Smokers, in fact, have roughly double the risk of stomach cancer as non-Show More

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Treat H. pylori Aggressively

Helicobacter pylori (or H. pylori) is a kind of bacteria that may enter the body through unclean food or water or via contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids. It can infect the stomach lining and cause inflammation, which may lead to stomach cancer.

People with an H. pylori infectionShow More

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