Studies show that up to 40% of cancers may be preventable. Yet for many people, prevention still comes down to a schedule of screenings and the hope that nothing turns up. For IMA Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Paul Marik, preventing cancer is probably as important as treating it.
In this clip from his IMA Academy lesson, he walks through the steps he considers most important. Addressing insulin resistance tops the list, followed by quitting smoking, limiting alcohol, and avoiding processed foods, sugary drinks, and even pure fruit juice. Vitamin D supplements and green tea (or the extract EGCG) round it out. He notes that almost all patients with cancer have vitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL. Simple interventions, he says, can reduce cancer risk significantly.
The full 51-minute lesson explores how clinicians can help patients lower their risk of developing cancer. Dr. Marik reviews where cancer incidence and mortality are heading in the US and worldwide, then separates the risk factors patients can change from the ones they can’t. He also introduces the ROOT framework, an approach to cancer prevention built around the underlying drivers of disease rather than screening alone.
