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Cancer

7 strategies to prevent cancer

August 1, 2021

By Kelly Bilodeau, Former Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch

Lifestyle changes could prevent more than 40% of malignancies.

Even if you have a family history of cancer, you’re not powerless against the disease. Roughly 40% of cancers are preventable through lifestyle changes, says Dr. JoAnn Manson, the Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School.

"Heredity is usually not destiny," she says.

In fact, there are several approaches that can decrease your cancer risk over the course of your lifetime. Some of them are easy, such as getting recommended health screenings. Others may be a little more challenging—for example, maintaining a healthy body weight, squeezing in regular workouts, or changing your diet. But even making small inroads on the strategies below can help protect your health over the long term.

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About the Author

Kelly Bilodeau, Former Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch

Kelly Bilodeau is the former executive editor of Harvard Women’s Health Watch. She began her career as a newspaper reporter and later went on to become a managing editor at HCPro, a Boston-area healthcare publishing company, … See Full Bio

View all posts by Kelly Bilodeau

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