Cancer risk 'begins before conception' UK scientists claim

Professor Ricardo Uauy, a professor of public health nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that whether a mother-to-be smokes, drinks or is overweight all play a key role in their child’s risk of getting cancer,,nhl jerseys cheap , British newspaper The Observer reported.

"Someone's risk of developing cancer starts from before the time of conception. The risk factors are already operating in the mother's eggs before conception," said Prof Uauy, an adviser to the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

"Yes, cancer is a gLEDenetic disease, but your chances of getting cancer are affected by the environment in which you live.

"So it's not just about if you smoked from the age of 12. But did your mother smoke? What was the water like that she drank?

"Is she exposed to toxins such as dioxins, which are found in the environment, and did she pass them on to her baby through her breast milk?"

Parents seeking to reduce their baby's risk of cancer as an adult should eat less tinned food, reducing exposure to chemicals.

Women should stop drinking alcohol and stop smoking before they start trying to conceive, because that increases the chances of the child having a low birthweight, Prof Uauy said.

He also advised women to achieve a body mass index of between 18.5 and 25 before they conceive and said women who required it should take a daily iron tablet and ensure they get at least 400 micrograms of folate every day.

Girls born weighing more than 4kg, are at increased risk of breast cancer.,nhl authentic jerseys , For each 500 grams beyond that birthweight, the child has a six percent increased risk of the disease.

Obesity has been linked to various cancers, including colon, breast and kidney cancer.

"Mothers-to-be only need to consume an extra 150 calories a day during the nine months of pregnancy, and should not 'eat for two'," Professor Uauy stressed.