Prevention

Stop smoking

It is common knowledge that smoking is damaging to your health and represents an increased risk of lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks, strokes and other vascular conditions. What is not so well-known is that it is not only lung cancer that is caused by smoking but also bladder cancer, as well as cancer of the upper urinary system, including the ureter and the renal pelvis. Around half of all cases of bladder cancer are directly attributable to smoking or would have been avoidable had the patient not smoked. In addition, it has been proven that there is a connection between smoking and cancer of the kidney, and it has also been shown that in the case of prostate cancer, smokers are more likely to suffer a recurrence after treatment and more frequently die of the disease.

Avoid being overweight

Being severely overweight has a negative impact in the area of urological cancers. The risk of prostate cancer or kidney-cell cancer is higher among people who are considerably overweight than with those of normal weight.
Excess weight also has a negative impact in other areas. For example, overweight people have a higher risk of urinary stone conditions.

Maintain a healthy diet

Irrespective of its effect on bodyweight, the diet can also impact on the development of cancer. For example, it is known that animal fats favour the formation and metastasis of prostate cancer and that a fish-free diet also has a negative effect in this context.
The consumption of excess animal fat and protein and eating too much meat and sausage can also favour the development of urinary stones.

In general, it is advisable to abide by the recommendations published by the German Cancer Society:

• Eat plenty of cereals, pulses, fruit and vegetables.
• Drink no more than a small quantity of high-calorie, sugary drinks.
• Keep the proportion of processed meat, red meat and salty meals in your daily diet as low as possible.

To prevent urinary stones, you should also be sure to drink 2-2.5 litres of fluid per day.

Limit your alcohol consumption

High alcohol consumption promotes the formation of urinary stones as well as the growth of cancers in the area of the digestive tract. The German Nutrition Society recommends the consumption of no more than ten grams of alcohol for women and 20 grams of alcohol for men per day. Ten grams is the quantity of alcohol contained in a glass of beer, wine or spirit.

Take enough exercise

Physical activity and sport reduce the general risk of cancer and also play a role n maintaining body weight. Endurance sports that result in high energy consumption have a more favourable effect than power sports. The general rule of thumb is that it is better to do frequent short units of exercise than only occasional physical activities of long duration.