‘Irregular sleep hours, changing lifestyles and irregular working hours are some of the main factors’.
NEW DELHI
Every month, a 46-year-old woman (who doesn’t want to reveal her name) has to travel from Gorakhpur, UP, to Delhi, in order to get her treatment done, and her 15-year-old daughter has to take care of the house. In 2020, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer two years after chemo and other treatment, she thought that life would get back on track, but God had some other plans. Her cancer spread to her vital organs, and now she is taking treatment for her lungs, kidneys, and liver.
Another patient, who comes from a working-class family, said, “If a working-class family like us gets a disease like cancer, then one can’t do anything apart from treatment as it took months for our number to come.” She also added, “Your entire day is gone if you come to the hospital even for small paperwork, and most of the time there is no place to sit. It becomes so stuffy on days like Friday that most of us have to stand for hours.” The National Cancer Registry Programme, has predicted a rise in cancer cases by 12.8% in 2025 compared to 2020 in India, where one in nine persons is expected to suffer cancer in their lifetime. However, there are not enough beds to accommodate this growth.
The Sunday Guardian talked Dr Neerja Bhatla Professor & Head, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology | Head, Gynaecologic Oncology National Cancer Institute, Jhajjar AIIMS, to understand the condition of cancer in the country and the precautions one can take.
Impact of lifestyle
Changing lifestyles play a substantial role, and it’s also been shown that when a person has irregular working hours, as they do nowadays in call centres and other professions, and they’re exposed to light at night and don’t have the same diurnal rhythms, that is also a factor, Dr Neerja Bhatla said. Irregular sleeping hours are also a factor. Maybe for short periods of time, it may not be important, but on a sustained level, it is important.
Why breast cancer is so common
Breast cancer is the number-one cancer among women nowadays and is showing an increasing trend, and there may be many reasons for it. The major is sociodemographic changes—which may well be contributing because women are getting married late and having late pregnancies. Having pregnancy early is a protective factor. So, when they have their pregnancies late, and especially when they have their first pregnancy after the age of 30, they definitely increase their risk for breast cancer. “When you have more pregnancies and you breastfeed the babies, that is also protective,” Dr Neerja Bhatla said.
Cancer treatment
Cancer is one word and one diagnosis, but each cancer is different and has different factors. So, if you have cervical cancer now that has a vaccine because it’s caused by a virus, it’s caused by the human papillomavirus, commonly called HPV. “Cervical cancer vaccine is now recommended for all girls starting at the age of nine. It can be given, and while it can be given all the way up to 26 years or even up to 45 years, it depends on the vaccine concerned. But it is really most effective when it is given to children under the age of 15,” Dr Neerja Bhatla said. HPV should be taken seriously by all girls; it’s also licenced for boys, but girls are the main sufferers of these problems, and Indian vaccines are far more affordable options present in the market.
Precautions
Adapting a healthy lifestyle and avoiding substances like tobacco and alcohol, which have been shown to be carcinogenic, are necessary, according to Dr Neerja Bhatla. “The second thing is that good exercise and sleep should be prioritised because exercise has a very important role when you do aerobic exercise to ensure that every part of your body is activated and oxygenated,” he said. So good nutrition, good sleep, regular hours of sleep, and even maybe adequate relaxation for the mind like meditation are highly recommended. “Sleep has to be regular. So even if one sleeps during the day, it should be kept to regular hours, and a system should be maintained so that the room is completely dark when you sleep,” Dr Neerja Bhatla said.