What Are The Risk Factors For Bladder Cancer?

A urinary bladder is an organ where your urine is stored that your kidneys produce. Sometimes, the cells of the urinary bladder may replicate uncontrollably, resulting in a condition called bladder cancer. It can affect anyone. But some people who are exposed to certain chemicals are at increased risk of developing bladder cancer.

If you have any symptoms of bladder cancer, you must visit the healthcare provider soon. The common symptoms of bladder cancer are:

• Frequent need to urinate
• Painful urination
• Blood in urine
• Back pain

Here in this article, we will tell you about the factors that can increase the risk of bladder cancer. If you are diagnosed with bladder cancer, you should attend all visits with your healthcare provider. To get an expert opinion, you can consult the Best Oncologist in Lahore.

What Are The Risk Factors For Bladder Cancer?

Some factors that can increase the risk of bladder cancer are:

Smoking

The most common and the biggest risk factor for bladder cancer is smoking. When you smoke cigarettes, you inhale their toxins. Your kidneys work to filter those toxins. They are present in your urine to be excreted out and stored in the urinary bladder for a long time. Therefore, the exposure to toxins is increased with the urinary bladder. It can eventually result in bladder cancer.

The longer you smoke cigarettes, the more the risk of bladder cancer is. However, no matter how long you have been smoking. It is never too late to quit. Therefore if you smoke cigarettes a lot, try cutting them and quit them as soon as possible.

Quitting smoking abruptly may not be possible. Therefore it is better to do that slowly. Moreover, you can also seek professional help for it. A healthcare provider can help you in quitting smoking. They may prescribe nicotine gum to help stop smoking.

Frequent Exposure To Chemicals

Frequent exposure to toxic chemicals can increase the risk of bladder cancer. It often happens with people who work in factories of dye, leather, rubber, paint, and printing.

Often bladder cancer is common among people with professions such as truck drivers, mechanists, and hairdressers. Moreover, in places where arsenic is high in the groundwater, people are at increased risk of bladder cancer. These places include Chile, Taiwan, and Argentina mainly.

Family History Of Bladder Cancer

The risk of bladder cancer for you can increase if anyone close to your family has it. It can be your father, mother, children, or siblings. Sometimes it can be due to the genetic tendency in which it is difficult for your body to eliminate toxins out from your body. When the toxins remain in your body for a long time, the risk of bladder cancer is increased. However, this list is not exhaustive.

Moreover, a colorectal disease called Lynch syndrome can also increase the risk of developing bladder cancer.

Age

People above the age of 70 are at an increased risk of developing bladder cancer. But it is not a parameter all the time. And it does not mean that young people would not develop it.

Prior Chemotherapy

You can be at increased risk of developing bladder cancer if you have received prior chemotherapy. It can happen due to cyclophosphamide- a chemotherapeutic drug that can lead to bladder irritation and the development of bladder cancer.

Your healthcare providers prescribe you cyclophosphamide only when the benefit outweighs the risk. They also prescribe a cytoprotectant such as Mesna that helps lower the risk of bladder cancer.

Diabetes Medication

A diabetes medication called Pioglitazone can increase the risk of bladder cancer. Your healthcare providers only prescribe it when the benefit is more than the risk. However, there are other medications too for diabetes that can help keep your blood glucose levels under control.

The Bottom Line

We have concluded some risks of bladder cancer. However, this list is not exhaustive. Therefore there may be other factors for it too.

Now you know many factors that can increase the risk of bladder cancer. Try to quit the modifiable risk factors. The most common is smoking cigarettes. If you smoke, try quitting it as soon as possible.

If you are diagnosed with bladder cancer, you can visit the Best Oncologist in Karachi.