According to British experts, more than 4 in 10 cancers could be prevented if people led healthier lives.
Latest figures from Cancer Research UK show smoking is the biggest avoidable risk factor, followed by unhealthy diets.
The charity is urging people to consider their health when making New Year resolutions.
Limiting alcohol intake and doing regular exercise is also good advice.
According to the figures spanning five years from 2007 to 2011, more than 300,000 cases of cancer recorded were linked to smoking.
A further 145,000 were linked to unhealthy diets containing too much processed food.
Obesity contributed to 88,000 cases and alcohol to 62,200.
Sun damage to the skin and physical inactivity were also contributing factors.
Prof Max Parkin, a Cancer Research UK statistician based at Queen Mary University of London, said: “There’s now little doubt that certain lifestyle choices can have a big impact on cancer risk, with research around the world all pointing to the same key risk factors.
“Of course everyone enjoys some extra treats during the Christmas holidays so we don’t want to ban mince pies and wine but it’s a good time to think about taking up some healthy habits for 2015.
“Leading a healthy lifestyle can’t guarantee someone won’t get cancer but we can stack the odds in our favor by taking positive steps now that will help decrease our cancer risk in future.”
Public Health England says a healthy lifestyle can play a vital role in reducing cancer risk.
New reports claim that OJ Simpson has only three months to live as a result of his extreme case of diabetes and unhealthy lifestyle behind bars.
The combination of high blood pressure, a vastly expanding waistline and a lack of physical activity as he serves a 33-year prison sentence have doctors concerned about his health.
The first warning flags were raised when OJ Simpson appeared at a hearing in May when the former running-back looked much heavier than he ever had before.
Now The National Enquirer claims that he weighs 300 pounds and prison doctors have encouraged him to exercise and eat more healthfully to combat the high blood pressure and diabetes.
Instead, OJ Simpson is listlessly passing the days by laying in bed in his prison cell and only getting up to get sugar-filled snacks.
“OJ’s doctors have told him he could be dead in as little as three months because of his out-of-control blood sugar and blood pressure,” an unidentified prison friend told The Enquirer.
“But OJ doesn’t care. He knows he’s never going to get out of prison, so he refuses to take care of himself.”
The combination of high blood pressure, a vastly expanding waistline and a lack of physical activity as he serves a 33-year prison sentence have doctors concerned about OJ Simpson’s health
The 33-years OJ Simpson faces following a 2008 robbery are not helping motivate Simpson, as he is now making plans for his death.
He allegedly confessed to murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994 and told a prison friend that he will write a confession letter that will be sent- and then publicly shared- after he dies.
OJ Simpson’s lawyer, Ozzie Fumo, countered this claim, saying that in his months of interactions with Simpson he has “never once disparaged the Goldmans”.
“In his mind, they’re creditors along with his children Sydney and Justin,” Ozzie Fumo said.
The friends cited by The Enquirer said the double slaying came in a moment of rage that he regrets to this day because he still loves Nicole Brown.
OJ Simpson also reportedly tasked his few close friends with finding ways to hide his remaining $2 million in off-shore accounts so that his son and daughter can access it after his death.
In doing so, OJ Simpson would be in direct violation with the 1997 court ruling that said he owes Ron Goldman’s relatives $21 million after he was found at fault in a wrongful death civil suit.
He has become even more withdrawn and oddly behaved – reportedly singing The Wizard of Oz’s If I Only Had a Brain to himself – since the retrial hearing in May.
“He ignores people when they talk to him and often wanders around in a glassy-eyed trance. His family is being supportive but he’s not paying attention to them either,” one of OJ Simpson’s friends told The Enquirer.
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