Top 10 Ways To Prevent Breast Cancer

1) Keep your BMI (body mass index) under 25: Breast cancer is often detected in later stages in obese women who more often than not, do not have as strong immune systems to help fight off the disease. Grab a partner and hit the gym this weekend!

2) Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week: Doing physical activities such as brisk walking can reduce your risk of breast cancer by 15-25%.

3) Avoid alcohol at ALL costs!: In 2000, the National Institutes of Health actually listed alcohol as a human carcinogen! One drink a day can raise your risk of breast cancer.

4) Diet from the past: Eat like our ancestors used to! Fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, no sugared drinks or refined carbohydrates.

5) No hot flashes? No need for hormones!: Hormone therapy may increase your risk of breast cancer. Although it is OK to use hormone therapy at menopause to assist with those unworldly symptoms, however, it is probably a good idea to take them no longer than 5 years.

6) Consider estrogen-blocking medicine: If you are over the age of 60 and breast cancer runs in your family, you may want to consider certain types of drugs that can actually help you block estrogen from your breast cells!

7) No Smoking!: We all know smoking leads to lung cancer, but did you know it can lead to breast cancer too? Active smokers and exposure to second hand smoke can increase the risk in premenopausal women by 20% or more!

8) Put the baby formula away: Breast feeding your baby plays a significant role in the risk of developing breast cancer. Your body produces more of the hormone prolactin which in turns lowers the amount of estrogen in your breasts. In countries where breast feeding is done for longer periods of time, the number of women that develop breast cancer is much lower than that of the United States. The longer you can breast feed, the more protected you are.

9) Become a lab rat: Taking part in ongoing research is a great way to learn about new and improving ways to lower your risk of breast cancer while helping other women find answers too.

10) Show your support: Joining the fight against breast cancer by attending a charity event, walking for a cure, or making any donation can all help raise money for breast cancer research.

Read the full article here...

Exercise and Cancer

Someone asked me what was the point of working out, since I ended up getting cancer anyway? While its true exercise did not prevent my getting cancer, it did help prepare me for the fight of my life and it can help you too.  

Cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation are specifically designed to break down your body’s cells. Exercise and physical activity are the best forms of treatment for rebuilding them! In fact, the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ASCM) are urging doctors to encourage their patients to be as physically active as possible before, during and after cancer treatment. 

So where do you start? First, check in with your doctors to see what is and is not appropriate for you. Once you get the go ahead, try to include the following fitness components into your routine.

Aerobic (cardio) exercises are designed to strengthen your heart and lungs. They help lower your stress and anxiety, which have undoubtedly increased since your diagnosis. A strong cardiovascular system helps:

·        Clear toxins from your body quicker

·        Speed up recovery times

·         Lessen treatment induced fatigue

·        Increase your stamina

Cardio also helps keep your weight down, which in turn can lower your chances of a recurrence by 30- 50%.  Simply brisk walking for 30 minutes, 5 days a week will do the trick.

Surgery often affects your range of motion, posture and strength, especially for patients who have under gone a mastectomy.  Exercises like gentle yoga and tai chi are a great way to regain your flexibility and relieve symptoms of lymphedema which may result from having lymph nodes removed or radiated.

The stronger you are, the easier it is to get around and do daily tasks, making resistance training an important part of your routine. Resistance training exercises help:

·         Increase bone density, lessening your risks for developing osteoporosis,

·         Keep muscles from wasting away

·         Improve blood circulation and lymphatic flow

They can be performed 2-3 days a week, with rest days in between. Words of caution however; do not start weight training if your cancer has metastasized to your bones.

Don’t forget to throw some balance exercises into your routine.  

Surgery or reactions to certain medications may cause nerve damage known as neuropathy which can affect your balance, placing you at greater risk for falls and broken bones. Simply standing on one leg for 10 seconds, then switching sides is a great way to start.

No matter where you are in your journey, exercise can play a vital role in your treatment plan.  Go slowly, gradually building up over time and keep checking in with your doctors. The good news is it appears that any exercise, in any amount is beneficial!

Cara Novy-Bennewitz

Cancer Exercise Specialist

Author – Diagnosis: Breast Cancer –The Best action Plan for Navigating Your Journey

www.workingoutcancer.com

Milk and Cancer

Dear Dr. Bone,

Is it true that there is a difference in the risk for cancer if you drink whole milk instead of skim or 2%? My friends and I were discussing it at lunch. I thought the benefits of lower fat were all related to heart disease, but they say that whole milk also contributes to cancer. Who is right?

D.L.

Dear D.L.

The relationship between milk and cancer is complex. Countries whose inhabitants do not consume much milk seem to have lower incidences of certain cancers. For example, in Japan and Mongolia there is less breast cancer than in the United States. One of the reasons posited for this phenomenon is the presence of hormones in milk. In order for cows to produce more milk they are kept pregnant for prolonged periods of time. Milk from pregnant cows naturally has a higher estrogen content. Farmers also inject the cows with hormones. One in particular, recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), results in milk that contains higher amounts of Insulin-like Growth Factor, known as IGF-1. IGF-1 can be absorbed from the milk and stimulate cancer cells. Since hormones in milk are fat soluble, it would seem safer to drink low fat milk. On the other hand, conjugated linoleic acid, a natural anti-cancer molecule, is found at its highest concentration in whole milk as is calcium, a necessary building block for our bones.

The popular book called The China Study looks into the relationship between diet and cancer. I have many friends who became vegan after reading it because they were convinced that dairy consumption can be dangerous, not just for cancer, but for heart disease and other ailments too. A moderate by nature, I suggest that each person find their comfort level after assessing the data. It is unlikely that an occasional glass of milk or ice cream will cause cancer, but dietary modifications along with exercise, decreasing alcohol consumption, and controlling stress, should results in a longer, healthier life.

~ Dr. Bone

Elective Second Mastectomy

Dear Dr. Bone,

I just celebrated 5 years out from my breast cancer. I had a mastectomy and implant reconstruction with a matching augmentation implant to the other side for symmetry. This week I had a suspicious mammogram on my remaining real breast. I am a wreck waiting for the biopsy. I don’t think I can go through it all again. Do you think the surgeon would be wiling to remove my breast regardless of the biopsy result? I think it will be the only way I will sleep peacefully.

Anxiously waiting,
Jupiter

Dear Anxious,

If only I had a penny for every patient in your shoes...Your situation is not unusual. There is no question that the prospect of having another cancer is almost unthinkable. The good news is that statistically it should not be a cancer. My advice is to take it one day at a time and not try to predict your reaction ahead of time. If you wish to have a mastectomy regardless of the biopsy results, you should discuss it with the surgeon. As I have mentioned many times, I have never heard a woman regret that she had bilateral mastectomies, only that she didn’t! If your insurance company does not feel that it is a procedure they want to pay for, you will need to address that issue. The cost-benefit analysis would seem to fall in favor of the surgery over years of imaging with follow-up extra views, sonograms, MRIs, and even biopsies. Should you get a second cancer, it would then be very costly for your insurer to pay for surgery, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. Having said all that, it can be tough to convince some insurance companies that they should pay for the prophylactic surgery.

Good luck.
Dr. Bone                                

Weirdest Cancer Ever

Dear Dr. Bone,

My cousin and I were trying to figure out what type of cancer is the weirdest. Is there really cancer of the fingernail? The hair?

J&J

Cousins

Dear J&J,

Yes, you can get cancer of the fingernail. While it is rare, it does happen. Fungal infections of the nail are very common and cause deformities that have been misdiagnosed as cancer. Traumatic injuries to the nail also cause a discoloration that can be confused with cancer. The most common cancer of the nail is melanoma. It looks like a change in the color of the nail, usually tan to black. Unfortunately it can be misdiagnosed as a nail injury and overlooked. A good rule of thumb (get it!) is to wait until the nail grows. If the lesion does not go away with the nail growth, get it checked out. I suggest seeing a dermatologist.

Hair does not get cancer, but the hair follicle from which the hair grows is susceptible to cancer. Remember, in order to get cancer, there needs to be live cells that divide and a blood supply to the area. Hair has neither of these.

Keep sending more questions.

Dr. Bone

Paps and Cancer

Dear Dr. Bone,

My gynecologist wants me to have a pap smear. I had a partial hysterectomy 3 years ago and no longer have a cervix. Do I really need a Pap smear to screen for cervical cancer if I don’t have a cervix?

A.M.

Dear  A.M.,

What a smart patient you are! The pap does screen for cervical cancer. If you don’t have a cervix, you probably do not need a pap smear. If your hysterectomy was done for pre-cancer or cancer of the cervix, then I would continue to screen you with pap smears. In my residency many years ago, we were taught to do yearly paps on everyone without a cervix to find vaginal cancer. I have never seen a case. We now know that the HPV virus is the cause of cervix cancer and warts. If you are in a stable, monogamous sexual relationship or are not sexually active, then I would no longer do a pap smear. On the other hand, if you have a new partner or there is a question about your spouse’s fidelity, then I would screen you with a pap and HPV every three years (unless one or the other are abnormal). I refer you to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists website for more information (www.acog.org).

~Dr. Bone.

Prevention

Dear Dr. Bone,

With all the time, money and effort spent on finding cures and treatments for cancer, why is there not the same done to prevent? If we never got cancer in the first place, we wouldn’t have to cure it! You really don’t need to reply.

Reader

Dear Reader,

That is the million-dollar question. I hope to devote an entire column to it soon. Suffice to say that cancer is not just one disease. The causes are numerous. Each person’s body deals with cancer cells differently so each person would probably require a different prevention strategy. Lastly, there are already a lot of medical and charitable dollars spent on prevention. Open the paper and you will read about the dangers of excess alcohol consumption and cancer. Still, a large percentage of the population drinks too much. I don’t even need to discuss the risks of smoking. Yet we are not a smoke-free nation. The challenge for public health experts is to get America to adopt more healthy lifestyles that would not only decrease cancer, but heart disease, lung disease, diabetes and a host of life-threatening ailments.

Dr. Bone