Many of us, having experienced the heartache the diagnosis of cancer brings in family, friends, co-workers, or even ourselves, want to do all we can to prevent cancer.  With blips from the media soon forgotten, if not replaced with contradictory studies, and the internet spanning the spectrum from helpful hints to hype and hoax, how do we find reliable information?

This first entry discussing questions we were asked on our recent book tour, discusses this very important question. What can we add to, or avoid in our lives, to make a difference in our risk of developing cancer?  This question is what led us to write and publish our book "Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time."  We found that the reliable sources we searched for information frequently failed to go to the depth we desired --  we know that smoking causes cancer -- and eating healthy is a good idea. On the other hand many questionable sources --that did go deeper, cited everything from moonlight to eating vegetables as a possible evil.

A few excellent Websites are available that discuss the basics of cancer prevention, and some of these dig deeper into recent controversial issues.

- Our favorite is the National Cancer Institute at www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/prevention-genetics-causes/prevention .  This site provides general information on cancer prevention as well as tips for prevention of specific cancers.

- For those interested in their individual risk of developing specific cancers, check out the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention at www.yourdiseaserisk.harvard.edu/

- The recent Silent Spring Study raised concern about the 60 plus breast cancer carcinogens present in common household products.  Two resources can provide further information for those reading labels in their cupboards.

 1.  The Household Products Database at www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/products.htm.  The Website lists household products from auto supplies to lawn products, with information about carcinogenicity (the ability to cause cancer), as well as other medical concerns.

 2.  The Environmental Working Group's site, www.safecosmetics.org   has listed information on thousands of personal care products, with grades of 1 to 10 ranking the safety and carcinogenicity of each product.

For those who want to pursue certain aspects of cancer prevention at a deeper level, Pubmed (www.pubmed.com) provides a way to search the multitude of medical journals for studies on their subject.  Many articles have abstracts that can be viewed free.

Also, check out our Website at www.avoidcancernow.com for further resources and information.