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American Medicine

Oral and throat cancers are serious and life-threatening, and adequate treatment often produces disfiguring scarring, loss of teeth (due to radiation side effects), and dramatic reduction in quality of life.

Prevention of these terrible conditions is effective. Since the disease is caused by smoking and excess drinking, as well as HPV (human papilloma virus, the same virus that causes cervix cancer, vaginal cancer and penis cancer), you can reduce your risk of these serious cancers. Stop smoking, reduce excess smoking, and have both sons and daughter get HPV vaccinations between ages 10 and 20.

Another way to prevent these cancers has just been discovered ( http://bit.ly/TGcsRC ). Researchers at the American Cancer Society used donations to perform CPSII, a large  study of nearly 1 million Americans who were tracked since 1982 to determine the relationships between lifestyle habits and cancers. This study has just shown that drinking more than 2 cups of coffee (not tea) can reduce oral cancers by 40%.

My tips for you to reduce oral and throat cancers are:

• If you smoke, talk to your doctor about smoking reduction.
• If you drink excessively, discuss how much you drink with your doctor and get recommendations for reducing alcohol intake.
• Discuss with your pediatrician vaccination with HPV for both boys and girls.
• Consider drinking coffee daily.
• Remember the American Cancer Society (ACS) for charitable donations. Studies like this can have a beneficial impact on our lives. Bravo to the ACS.

For more tips on how to prevent illness and discuss prevention with your doctor, see Chapter 9 “Preventing Illness” in my book “Surviving American Medicine” available at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, iUniverse.com and booksellers across America.