Dr. Gloryanne Aidoo- Micah Mensah, a Ghanaian-born, UK-based medical practitioner has advised the youth in Ghana to be precautious of their eating habits.
Speaking on Y 97.9 FM, the medical practitioner mentioned that the causes of cancers are numerous and categorized them into lifestyle habits and eating habits. Dr. Mensah also added that ageing and genetic factors are also a cause of cancers in individuals.
“A lot of them have to do with lifestyle, we are eating badly these days and eating junk food.
It is a combination of both, it is hard to choose wisely because healthy food is expensive and junk food is cheap generally and in the UK anyway so people are making those choices. The other thing is we are living longer and cancer is a disease for old age. The more you live, the more damage it accumulates in the DNA and that increases the risk of having cancer and there are genetic factors as well,” she said to Chelsy Sey.
Dr. Mensah further explained that cancers were very broad and the form of cancer that affects most Ghanaians at a young age is Liver cancer compared to people living in the UK.
“Cancers are very broad, one of them that affect youngish people in Ghana is Liver cancer, it usually affects younger people in Ghana than in the UK, you expect people to be diagnosed with liver cancer at the ages of fifty, sixty and above as compared to people in West Africa, Ghana it affects people in their late forty’s and Hepatitis B is a big reason for that,” she added.
She further mentioned that the major cause of liver cancers was Hepatitis B which was endemic in Ghana and contributed to why younger people in Ghana were affected most by the disease.
“Hepatitis B is a viral infection that affects the liver and is very common in Ghana it is considered as an endemic which means that more than 8 percent of the population has it, which is quite scary because it increases your risks of liver cancer in the future if it is not treated,” she said.
Dr. Gloryanne Aidoo- Micah Mensah encouraged Ghanaians to be cautious of the foods they eat and undergo regular tests for Hepatitis B and other contractible diseases.
By: Caleb Asante Annor
