What are the methods to prevent liver cancer? Keep in mind the three-word principle of preventing liver cancer

In recent years, medical experts have conducted intensive research and proposed a seven-word guideline for preventing liver cancer: control water and food to prevent hepatitis.

1. Water management

According to experts, in areas of my country with a high incidence of liver cancer, the liver cancer mortality rate is highest among residents who drink ditch and pond water, followed by those who drink river water, and the lowest among those who drink deep well water. It is obvious that drinking water pollution is related to the mortality rate of liver cancer.

Due to the advancement of water quality analysis technology, more than 100 kinds of organic substances in water have been found to be carcinogenic, cancer-promoting and mutagenic. At present, it has been confirmed in animal experiments that adding the following compounds to drinking water: such as carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethane, etc. can cause liver cancer. In addition, some freshwater algae toxins, such as blue-green algae, have been found to have obvious liver cancer-promoting effects.

Although the real carcinogens or promoters in water have not yet been identified, water improvement has brought about clear signs of a reduction in liver cancer mortality. In rural areas, drinking water improvement can include turning "stagnant water" into living water, that is, changing from drinking pond water or house ditch water (stagnant water in ponds around houses) to drinking well water, deep well water, or building small water plants. In cities, measures are taken to use less polluted water sources as tap water, prevent pollution of drinking water sources, and use water purifiers.

2. Grain Management

Moldy food contains aflatoxin, which can induce liver cancer. It is reported that aflatoxin is produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Under suitable temperature and humidity conditions, this mold will multiply and produce toxins. Generally speaking, this mold is easy to contaminate crops such as peanuts and corn. There are many components of aflatoxin, among which aflatoxin B1 has the strongest carcinogenic effect. Aflatoxin B1 will form more toxic oxidative intermediates after being metabolized by the liver in the body. The latter will combine with the important genetic material DNA in the human body and change the structure of DNA. During the replication of DNA and cell division, liver cells are prone to malignant transformation and form cancer cells.

In daily life, people often encounter some foods that smell musty and are accompanied by yellow or blue spots or fine hairs, which are the characteristics of food mold. Moldy foods not only have reduced nutritional value, but also often contain mycotoxins, which are not afraid of high temperatures and cannot be destroyed by common food processing methods such as frying, stir-frying, boiling, steaming, and deep-frying. The main measure to prevent food mold in the home is to keep the food below the safe moisture line as much as possible. Grains should be placed in a cool, ventilated and dry place, and should not be placed on the floor or against the wall to avoid moisture and mold. In case of moisture and mold, rice and flour should be discarded.

3. Prevent hepatitis

There are three types of viral hepatitis related to liver cancer, namely, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and hepatitis D. About 90% of liver cancer patients in my country have a background of hepatitis B (HBV). Among the liver cancer patients hospitalized in Zhongshan Hospital of Shanghai Medical University alone, the positive rate of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is 69.1%. There are currently 120 million HBsAg carriers in my country (those with positive HBsAg blood test but no hepatitis symptoms). Every year, about 1 million newborns are infected with HBV because their mothers are carriers. Some of them develop chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, and eventually liver cancer, so hepatitis should be actively prevented and treated. Experts point out that it should start with vaccinating infants with hepatitis B vaccine to prevent hepatitis B and reduce the chance of hepatitis. Hepatitis should be actively treated to prevent it from developing into chronic hepatitis. If you have chronic hepatitis, you should treat it reasonably, avoid using drugs that are harmful to the liver, and quit drinking at the same time to reduce the chance of cirrhosis and liver cancer.