Reduce Your Cancer Risk: Twelve Steps to a Healthier Life

by Michael Stefanek, Barbara Boughton, Dr. Michael Stefanek PhD

Develop your anticancer strategy

Knowledge is power. Knowing your cancer risk is your best weapon against cancer. Co-published with the American Cancer Society, Reduce Your Cancer Risk: Twelve Steps to a Healthier Life will help you assess your risk based on your family history, genetics, and environment, and help you make a comprehensive action plan to lower your chances of getting cancer. With an anticancer strategy in place,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932603921
• ISBN13: 9781932603927
• Release Date: March 2010
• Publisher: Demos Medical Publishing
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

An unbiased, practical approach to reducing cancer risks

When I received this book, I couldn't wait to start it. I have been active in Relay for Life for years, and seeing the American Cancer Society logo on the bottom of the front cover gave me confidence that the information I would find inside would be accurate and nonbiased. This turned out to be very true. I am very impressed with the way the information is presented in this book - there are no hidden agendas or anyone trying to make money on the information. Right off the bat, I learned that I had been interpreting data wrong and that it wasn't necessarily my fault. The authors explain carefully how to interpret statements, especially those involving percentages, so we can be better informed about the research that is out there. Along the same lines, guidelines are given to help you decide which Internet sites are trustworthy ones from which to get your information on cancer. Common carcinogens are discussed in-depth, in many cases relieving fears that I may have had about certain substances. I feel like the information presented is the truth, not a hyped-up media version, and anxiety levels have been reduced for me at least! Many tips are given to help you determine your real cancer risks and whether there are any preventive measures that you can take if it is determined that you might be at a higher risk of getting some form of the disease. The book ends with a section for cancer survivors and a discussion of life after cancer. There's a good chapter on reducing stress, because even if it hasn't been conclusively linked to cancer, it's a fact of life for many people, and the tips offered are good for anyone, whether a cancer survivor or not. Also included are some excellent ways to change behaviors, especially those that might increase cancer risks. I definitely recommend this book to anyone. It includes a lot of up-to-date material that is realistic and well-presented. There are no magic bullets to avoid cancer, but there sure are some things we can all do to help lessen the chances that we will have to face that battle.

Much Better Than I Expected

"Reduce Your Cancer Risk" has to be one of the best books I've read on the topic in many years. It exceeded my expectations in so many areas, I don't know where to begin. I had expected the authors to either bore me with endless statistics that would eventually make my eyes glaze over, or, I expected to be condescended with sentences and vocabulary aimed to the lowest common denominator of reading skill. But instead, I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligent yet common sense tone of the text mixed with a good balance of supporting documentation and facts. Even though I have considered myself well versed on the topics of health and nutrition, especially for someone not in the medical profession, I learned something new with nearly every page in the book. (I must confess that I skimmed two chapters that did not apply to me: tobacco and 'when you've already had cancer.'). If you read with a highlighter or ink pen, bring more than one, because you'll definite use them up as you read this. I've recommended and shown this to friends, although I won't loan it out for fear of not getting it back. This is worth owning, reading, and referring to time and time again. The information packed within will have you re-examining and evaluating your lifestyle choices and the impacts those choices have on your long-term health. The only beef I have with this wonderful book is: first, the stance of support for censoring Hollywood to remove smoking from its films, which I believe is naïve; and second, no mention that I noticed about the connection between general oral health and the link to increased risks of other types of cancer. The only other concern I have is in the Obesity and Cancer chapter in which the author passively supports fad diets as a way of initiating weight loss, i.e., Atkins, South Beach, etc. Those short term solutions never have the lasting effect that straight forward exercise and diet-control have, and in some cases have the opposite effect. All in all, this book belongs on every bookshelf in every home in the country.

A choice addition to any health collections

Stopping cancer can start any time. "Reduce Your Cancer Risk" is a guide for cancer prevention, seeking to arm readers with the knowledge they need to better reduce their cancer risks, especially if one has been living a high cancer risk lifestyle already. A change now can make all the difference in the world for one's long term health. "Reduce Your Cancer Risk" is a choice addition to any health collections.

highly recommended

"Reduce Your Cancer Risks: Twelve Steps to a Healthier Life" is an excellent book to read if you have had one or more close relatives with cancer or are concerned about your risk. The book is well put together, easy to read and has references if you want to explore the subject further. The best part for me was where the authors boil down statistics to their simplest terms, and the scam spotting techniques they detail. I would definitely recommend this book, there are a lot of people who could benefit from having a few cancer myths debunked.

Solid science, up-to-date research, professional, approachable authors, and *links that actually wor

I was as hesitant about this book as I was hopeful; I wasn't in the mood for a cliche-filled self-help handbook featuring dubious statistics. I was happily surprised to immediately discover that the book's authors were scrupulously dedicated to providing facts based on the scientific method, with considerable fealty to the way in which studies are presented to the public. The book was a fast, informative, relevant primer on cancer, with tons of useful and trenchant website links for those who want additional info. As with anything, results are what matter, and this handbook produced those: I talked my 65-year-old mother into getting her first colonoscopy (she's gloriously clean!), and have scheduled myself for an MRI. Thanks to all involved for this unflinching but laid-back and positive primer on the bane of cancer; you made it just a little less terrible.