Recent studies suggest that having a healthy heart is very important to prevent cancer.
Although people know lifestyle factors like smoking could increase cancer risk, they often ignore the link between heart health and low cancer risk.
Bonnie Ky, MD, MSCE, an associate professor at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, suggest that people need to see the strong connections between heart health and cancer risk.
Previous studies have shown that heart disease and cancer are the two top causes of death in the United States.
About 616,000 Americans will die from heart disease in 2019, and it is estimated about 610,000 people died from cancer last year.
Each number represents about 1 in 4 people in the U.S. who diet in the last year. But there are a lot of overlaps.
Researchers also have found that cancer and heart disease share lots of risk factors.
For example, smoking is tied directly to multiple types of cancer, including lung and head and neck cancers. It is also a big risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
Obesity has been found linked to more than 10 cancers, and it could risk of heart disease, too.
The American Heart Association has a “Life’s Simple 7” list, which shows seven healthy lifestyle habits all adults should have to keep their heart healthy.
Many of the habits are also important to prevent cancer, such as eating a healthy diet, doing exercise regularly, sleeping well, quitting smoking, and losing weight.
Furthermore, recent studies have shown that treatment that helps cure cancer could affect heart health.
They show the pathways targeted by precision cancer therapies are the same pathways that are key to the cardiovascular system.
This means the way the drugs hitting the cancer cells could hurt the heart.
One recent study showed that treatments for breast cancer can increase the risk of heart disease.
Scientists are trying to identify patients with heart disease risk before, during and after cancer therapy to reduce the side effects.
The researcher suggests the best choice is to lower the risk of getting cancer and heart disease in the first place.
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