National Cancer Survivors Day

Did you know that there are more than 15.5 million cancer survivors in the United States and 32 million around the world?

National Cancer Survivors Day is observed annually on the first Sunday in June to celebrate cancer survivors. All around the nation, communities come together to host charity events, races, galas, and more to honor cancer survivors. Whether you are a cancer survivor or know someone who is winning their battle with the disease, this is a time to celebrate and honor their resilient journey. Here is some information to get you connected and help you learn more about cancer survivorship.

Challenges That Can Affect Cancer Survivors and Their Families

  • Economic burdens from medical expenses, lost wages, and reduced productivity
  • Denial of health and life insurance coverage
  • Difficulty finding jobs
  • Schedules may be focused around treatments and appointments
  • Family members may have to become caregivers to provide emotional support, transportation, care coordination, manage finances, and help with decision making

Life After Cancer

  • Maintain regular follow-up screenings
  • Don’t smoke. If you smoke, talk to your healthcare provider about quitting
  • Maintain a whole-foods, balanced diet to keep your weight healthy and decrease your risk of a cancer recurrence
  • Stay active. Do yoga, walk, garden, or join a gym. Physical activity will be the key to help you keep unwanted weight off, manager stress, and prevent a cancer recurrence
  • Keep your emotional health in check. If you need to, talk to a counselor, psychologist, or join a support group
  • Improve the cancer experience for others through advocacy or volunteer work

Support Groups

Support groups can help many people, including loved ones, cope with the emotional burdens of cancer and survivorship. There are different types of support groups, such as:

  • Peer-led or self-help groups run by group members
  • Professional-led groups run by a trained counselor, social worker, or psychologist to lead the conversation among the members
  • Informational support groups led by a professional facilitator to provide cancer-related information and education. These groups will often invite speakers, such as doctors, who can provide expert advice
  • Online support groups that meet through chat rooms, webinars, or discussion groups
  • Telephone support groups where everyone dials into a phone line, like a conference call, and participants can share their experiences

The following links can help connect you with organizations that provide emotional, practical, and financial support services for people with cancer and their families:

https://supportorgs.cancer.gov/home.aspx?lang=1
https://www.cancer.org/treatment/support-programs-and-services.html

 Get Connected

If you are interested in getting involved or participating in local community events, visit these websites to find events near you.

https://www.cancer.org/involved/event-search.html
https://www.cancer.org/involved/volunteer.html
https://preventcancer.org/events/list/
https://ww5.komen.org/GetInvolved/Participate/FindanEvent/FindLocalEvents.html

More Helpful Resources

https://www.ncsd.org/
https://www.cancer.org/treatment/survivorship-during-and-after-treatment/be-healthy-after-treatment/life-after-cancer.html
https://www.cancer.org/treatment/caregivers.html

Resources:

https://www.ncsd.org/about-us

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/coping/adjusting-to-cancer/support-groups

https://www.cancer.org/treatment/survivorship-during-and-after-treatment

6 Preventive Tips to Help Lower Cancer Risk

Did you know that 96% of all Medicare spending is spent on chronic conditions that have lifestyle health risk factors?1 You have more control over your health than you realize!

Lower Your Risk

Here are a few tips to help lower your risk of most cancers and chronic conditions. Practice these habits to build lasting changes for your health and wellbeing journey.

1. Know Your Numbers

Excess body fat has been shown to increase the risk of the following cancers: colorectal, esophageal, kidney, breast (in postmenopausal women), uterine, stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, ovarian thyroid, meningioma and multiple myeloma. Also, there have been suggested links to prostate cancer, breast cancer in men and non-Hodgkin lymphoma with excess weight.2 

Extra fat around your belly may increase health risks more so than having extra fat around your hips and thighs. Getting to and staying at a healthy weight can help lower health risks, including cancers.

A BMI (body mass index) of 18.5 to 24.9 and a waist circumference of less than 40” for men and less than 35” for women will help lower your health risks. Calculate your BMI on the CDC website.

2. Eat Healthy and Exercise

Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight requires both physical activity and a healthy eating plan. Any extra physical activity and healthier food choices can make a difference in improving overall health! Always check with your physician first to confirm that a new exercise or activity will be safe for you.

Avoid packaged, processed and fast foods. If it comes in a package, look for whole food options. Examples include steel cut oats instead of packaged quick oats or homemade soup and salad for lunch. Eliminate the boxed macaroni and cheese and roast a variety of vegetables in the oven instead. For dessert try making a recipe from scratch rather than from a box or better yet choose fresh fruit instead of packaged treats.

3. Sleep Well

Insufficient sleep is linked to an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes and obesity. The light emitted from electronic devices tends to wake up the brain and decrease melatonin production. Our bodies have a great capacity to continually heal and repair cellular damage and most of this occurs at night while we are sleeping.

Turn off all electronics 15 minutes earlier each night. Try reading a book rather than watching TV. Practice meditation, prayer, deep breathing or gentle stretching or yoga to help reduce stress and increase relaxation. Go to bed at the same time each night and rise at the same time each morning, aiming for a minimum of 7 hours of sleep each night.

4. Cut Down or Reduce Alcohol

Alcohol affects every organ in the body. The risk of cancers, along with other health problems can increase with the amount of alcohol consumed. Along with disrupting sleep, alcohol can result in weight gain, elevate blood glucose and increase triglyceride levels in the body. For most women, no more than one drink per day and for most men, no more than two drinks per day is recommended.3

Rather than meeting a friend for a drink, skip the alcohol and go for a walk together. If you typically have two glasses of wine with dinner, have only one. If you decide to have more than one alcoholic beverage at a sitting, sip on a full glass of water in between. Instead of alcohol, choose unflavored sparkling/seltzer water, add fresh berries or fruit slices and serve it in your favorite crystal or stem ware. And if alcohol helps you to unwind before bed, try replacing it with gentle stretching or yoga, listen to relaxing music, and enjoy a soothing cup of decaf chai tea.

5. Avoid Tobacco

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, and cigarette smoking causes almost all cases. “Compared to nonsmokers, current smokers are about 25 times more likely to die from lung cancer. Smoking causes about 80% to 90% of lung cancer deaths. Smoking also causes cancer of the mouth and throat, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, liver, pancreas, voicebox (larynx), trachea, bronchus, kidney and renal pelvis, urinary bladder, and cervix, and causes acute myeloid leukemia.”4

Visit smokefree.gov to learn how you can quit smoking.

6. Eliminate or Reduce Chemicals

Pesticides, industrial pollutants, cleaning supplies, cosmetics, and medications all contain chemical substances that can increase our risk of cancers and other health problems. The synthetic chemicals within these products can disrupt the normal functioning of our endocrine system resulting in reproductive and immune problems, obesity and increased inflammation throughout the body. Try to minimize or eliminate chemical products in your environment.

The “Dirty Dozen” & “Clean 15”

Use the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15 produce lists when shopping for fruits and vegetables.

  • Check the labels on your cosmetics, shampoos, and lotions for parabens, a chemical preservative commonly used in personal care products, that mimics the hormone estrogen and can result in a much stronger effect and more aggressive growth of some cancer cells.
  • Check out EWG’s Skin Deep website or download the app to find safer options for your favorite products.
  • Switch out plastic food storage containers for glass. And stop microwaving food in plastic. Pickle and spaghetti sauce jars work great for food storage, without any additional cost.
  • Break a sweat! Sweating through exercise or sitting in a dry sauna are great ways to remove toxins from the body. Always check with your physician first to confirm that a new exercise or activity is safe for you try.

References

  1. Partnership for Solutions, Chronic Conditions: Making the Case for Ongoing Care (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2004).
  2. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/867919?nlid=109048_2981&src=wnl_dne_160826_mscpedit&uac=259999BR&impID=1185765&faf=1
  3. http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/prevention.htm
  4. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/prevention/other.htm

Cervical Health Awareness & Cervical Cancer

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month, and there’s a lot people can do to prevent cervical cancer. HPV (human papillomavirus) is a very common infection that can cause cervical cancer.

About 79 million Americans currently have HPV, but many people with HPV don’t know they are infected. Each year, more than 11,000 women in the United States get cervical cancer.1

What Are the Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer?

Almost all cervical cancers are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus that can be passed from one person to another during sex. There are many types of HPV. Some HPV types can cause changes on a woman’s cervix that can lead to cervical cancer over time, while other types can cause genital or skin warts.

HPV is so common that most people contract it at some point in their lives. HPV usually causes no symptoms so it can be difficult to determine if you have it. For most women, HPV will go away on its own; however, if it does not, there is a chance that over time it may cause cervical cancer.2

Other things can increase risk of cervical cancer:
  • Having HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) or another condition that makes it hard for your body to fight off health problems.
  • Using birth control pills for a long time (five or more years).
  • Having given birth to three or more children.
  • Having several sexual partners.

The good news?

The HPV vaccine (shot) can prevent HPV. Cervical cancer can often be prevented with regular screening tests (called Pap tests) and follow-up care. A Pap test can help detect abnormal (changed) cells before they turn into cancer. Most deaths from cervical cancer can be prevented if women get regular Pap tests and follow-up care.

In support of National Cervical Health Awareness Month, National Cervical Cancer Coalition encourages:

  • Women to start getting regular Pap tests at age 21
  • Parents to make sure pre-teens get the HPV vaccine at age 11 or 12

It is recommended that teens and young adults get the HPV vaccine if they did not get vaccinated as pre-teens. Women up to age 26 and men up to age 21 can still get the vaccine. Visit www.nccc-online.org to learn more.

References:

  1. https://healthfinder.gov/NHO/PDFs/JanuaryNHOToolkit.pdf
  2. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/cervical/basic_info/risk_factors.htm