The cause of leukemia isn’t clear in most cases. This makes it difficult to be able to effectively prevent leukemia, in both children and adults. Leukemia has grown to become a lot more rampant, more than 60,000 cases of leukemia are diagnosed in the United States each year.
However, there are steps that can be taken to reduce your risk. Reducing your risk doesn’t mean that it’s impossible for you to get leukemia, but it does make it less likely. Plus these methods will also contribute to your overall health.
In this article, we’ll discuss some tips that may make it less likely for you to get leukemia, as well as risk factors, causes, and more.
Tips for preventing leukemia
A very common claim is that certain foods, supplements, or other products can reduce your risk of cancer. You should know that most of those claims aren’t backed up by enough scientific research.
However, there are certain foods with some evidence that they might prevent some cancers. There’s no harm in adding these foods to your diet, since they are a healthy addition.
More research is needed to find out certain ways to prevent leukemia, for now the best method is to reduce the risk factors you can control.
There are a few lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your risk of leukemia. These steps can also reduce your risk of other types of cancer [1]. They include:
- Quit smoking: Smoking increases your risk of multiple types of cancer, including leukemia. Not smoking at all or quitting smoking will lower your risk of leukemia.
- Maintain a moderate weight: being obese is another risk for leukemia that you can control. Taking steps to keep a moderate weight can reduce your risk of leukemia. You can start by developing a balanced diet and making physical activity part of your everyday life.
- Avoid breathing in certain chemicals: Certain chemicals are toxic to one’s health and can increase your risk of developing leukemia. An example of such chemicals include benzene and formaldehyde. These chemicals can be found in some workplaces and buildings. Avoiding these chemicals can lower your risk of leukemia.
These prevention tips can be used to reduce your risk of both types of acute leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) [2] and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) [3]. Keep in mind that reducing your risk doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed not to get leukemia, but it does mean your chances are lowered.