Lifestyle Choices

Here are some of the basic ingredients that need to be added to your daily diet if you want to boost and protect the performance of your immune system. Do remember that what is being aimed for here is a basic framework that can be adopted on a long-term basis in order to experience optimum health and vitality. The suggestions made are deliberately not extreme or drastic, but should be easy to stick to without feeling restricted or hard-pressed to know what to eat. (more…)

It is truly more dangerous now than even a few years ago to expose yourself to the sun! Scientists have noted a substantial decrease in the ozone layer above the earth’s atmosphere. This is the layer that acts as a protective filter to save us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

Measurements in the late fall, winter, and early spring showed a reduction of 5 percent as opposed to the previous decade. Calibrations initially focused on the seasonal “hole” in the ozone layer, (more…)

Women with newly diagnosed breast cancer are concerned about any possible risk to their daughters and sisters. If a woman does not appear to be in a family that has breast cancer in approximately half the women on one side, then she probably does not have either the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 gene. Gene positivity is associated with bilateral breast cancer, ovarian and breast cancer in the same family, and Ashkenazic Jewish ancestry. Women who are gene positive tend to develop breast cancer at a younger age than women with non-hereditary breast cancer. (more…)

Scientists have also discovered the next defective gene to contribute to an increase in breast cancer susceptibility, which they naturally called BRCA-2. The incidence of BRCA-2 appears to be slightly less than BRCA-1. BRCA-2 is autosomal dominant also and resides on the thirteenth chromosome. Initially, it was believed that the presence of the BRCA-2 gene defect did not appear to increase risk for ovarian cancer. (more…)

All cancer is genetic. That is to say, that in order for a normal cell to convert to a cancerous cell, a genetic mishap must occur. These genetic mishaps, or mutations, occur quite frequently and are usually of little consequence unless the event occurs at a critical location on one of the chromosomes. A single mutation does not lead to a cancer. Cancer results from two to three separate events over time. (more…)

However, if your cancer treatment is completed and you feel an unexplainable anxiety even though your trials are apparently over, read on.

These feelings are common and occur, in part, because the end has come to the frequent visits with your various doctors, which can serve to comfort—giving you the tangible evidence that someone is watching over you and your health. But, aside from that, you may be struggling with the fear of recurrence that many women experience at this time. Remember, during the treatment planning process, you want to develop a plan to optimize your chance of cure and to carry out that plan. When done, it is time for you to go on with your life. (more…)

I have only roundabout evidence regarding HRT in breast cancer survivors. For example, we know that younger women who have had breast cancer and then go on to become pregnant, with the associated high levels of estrogen and progesterone, do not have a worse prognosis or earlier relapse of breast cancer than women who do not experience a pregnancy. If estrogen can theoretically stimulate breast cancer growth, why do I see breast cancer appear in older postmenopausal women who are not on HRT? This is a fairly frequent occurrence, and most of these cancers are hormone receptor positive, yet they are growing in an estrogen-poor environment. This seems to counter what we know about the environment that is conducive to breast cancer, but this is just another reminder of how much we do not understand about this disease. (more…)

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a major area of concern among women with a history of breast cancer. If you are in the crisis of a recent breast cancer diagnosis, the issue of HRT may seem relatively unimportant. However, as you get farther along and finish your treatment and proceed with your life, questions regarding HRT will certainly arise.

Much has been written on the issue of HRT in general. Less is known specifically about HRT for breast cancer survivors because doctors have been concerned about prescribing anything for their patients that may increase the risk of recurrent disease. (more…)

I suggest you adopt an organized approach to collecting your medical information from the time you are diagnosed with breast cancer. Purchase a three-ring binder with dividers, and create the following categories:

1. Insurance/doctor directory. This section includes such personal information as your insurance policy number and the address and phone number of your insurance company, your date of birth and social security number as well as those of your spouse, work phone numbers, people to call in an emergency and their numbers, baby-sitters, and anyone whose phone numbers and addresses you may need in a pinch.

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Who is at risk? Everyone!

No one is safe from sun damage! You suffer an increased risk if your skin is Type I or II — that is if you are of Scottish, Irish, Scandinavian, or northern European descent and have fair skin that burns easily but does not tan. Especially at risk are people who have freckles, blond, red or light-brown hair, and blue, green or gray eyes. (more…)

Skin Photoallergies

A photoallergy is a specific immune reaction that occurs only in certain people after they have been exposed several times to the offending substance and then sunbathed or used a tanning bed. Even a small amount of the substance can cause a red, scaly or blistering eruption when the person sunbathes. The rash usuallybegins over 12 hours after exposure.

A photoallergic reaction is very individual. (more…)

Of all smokers who start smoking in adolescence and continue throughout their lives, half will succumb to a fatal tobacco-caused disease before the age of 70, losing, on average, 22 years of their life expectancy!

In the United States, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable, premature death. As more and more women smoke, so their incidence of heart disease and lung cancer has increased — their death rate from lung cancer has increased by a factor of almost seven from 1950 until 1990 (with the death rate from breast cancer showing little change over the same period). Whatever its pleasures, smoking’s consequences are most unpleasant: chronic cough, hoarseness, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer, cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus and bladder (all of which can be fatal), and increased risk of heart attack and stroke! (more…)

Moles(nevi) are collections of nevus cells derived from the pigment- producing melanocytes. Almost everyone has at least one nevus, which can be flesh-colored, brown or bluish-black. Some are flat (Junctional), some slightly elevated (compound), and some dome-shaped (dermal). Nevi occur in about one percent of all newborn babies; the number of nevi increases in childhood. The size and pigmentation may increase throughout life, especially during puberty, pregnancy, with oral estrogens such as the Pill, and after sun exposure. Although some women such as Elizabeth Taylor are known for their distinctive “beauty marks”, many moles are unattractive or irritating, and others may change in appearance. These should be removed for microscopic examination. (more…)

Skin cancers

Skin cancer is already a common disease but we are seeing it more and more. There may be several reasons for this but an important one is that more fair-skinned people are being exposed to sunlight, either on holiday or having emigrated to a hot country. The problem is so great in subtropical Australia that almost every adult has at least one skin cancer in their life. Much more will be said about the damaging effect of sunlight on skin but it is such an important subject that there is no harm in mentioning it twice. (more…)

Long-term effects of UV

These can be divided into photoaging, potentially malignant and frankly malignant tumors. The changes result from a cumulative dose of UVB over many years. At present the worst affected are fair-skinned Britons who have been brought up in tropical or subtropical climates, e.g. Northern Australia or the southern states of the USA. Other groups include men who spent years in the desert in World War Two. The victims of the future are today’s young men and women who roast themselves on sunny beaches every summer and who then try to maintain the tan by using sunbeds through the winter months. (more…)

Most people who are plump are jolly and good natured. They are pleasant and easy going and not at all hard to get along with—until perhaps they take it into their heads to begin to reduce! Most of them are full of alibis and reasons for their extra weight. Except in rare cases there is only one reason why any of them are plump and well padded. They just love to eat!

“What’s the use?” they wail. “Everything I eat turns to fat. I just can’t lose weight.” This is probably true, partly because of the way they are going about it.

Going on a reducing diet is no new experience for most of these people. Usually they have tried all kinds of diets, liberal and otherwise. For a time they succeed, but in the end they often find themselves back at the same old level, far above the average for their height and age. Sometimes they are the butt of unfortunate jokes among their friends. In desperation they determine once and for all to lose weight. They are invariably in a hurry to do this. Some abandon food altogether for a time, only to return to their former eating habits with a vengeance and perhaps add a few more pounds. This is not a sensible way to lose weight. (more…)

Fear of cancer is widespread. And, unfortunately, the bulk of information about breast cancer disseminated to women concentrates only on the detection aspects how to examine yourself to check for signs of tumors— rather than on how it might possibly he prevented in the first place.

There is increasing evidence that cancer may be caused by a high fat diet. Deaths from cancer and from coronary heart disease among women are highest of all in areas where the diet is high in fat and low in fresh vegetables and fruits. High consumption of meat may be implicated too. Studies show that groups of people who eat a low meat, low saturated- fat diet tend to have a low incidence of cancer. (more…)

Discuss with your doctor whether or not to take hormones to relieve your symptoms, weighing your risks against any possible benefits. Pay careful attention to the many options currently available to you that do not involve taking hormones. If you have a uterus and decide to take estrogen, you must also take progesterone to prevent endometrial cancer (cancer of the lining of the uterus). If you do not have a uterus, progesterone is not necessary.

HRT is excellent for treating and eliminating menopausal symptoms and also protects your bones from osteporosis and has always been thought to provide a cardioprotective effect. (more…)

Osteoporosis is a common condition in South African women. It is a progressive disease in which the bones gradually become weaker, and is associated with loss of bone density and thinning bone tissue. It is a silent and painless disease, primarily affecting women after menopause when the hormone oestrogen begins to decline. The lack of oestrogen triggers an increase in bone resorption, i.e. bone loss. The average woman begins to lose bone mass from about age 35; those who have been physically active are far less prone to osteoporosis.

1. The risk factors for osteoporosis include a thin body frame, women who smoke and drink alcohol, and lack of exercise. While osteoporosis causes no specific symptoms until it is advanced, some early warning signs include a gradual loss of height and a stooping of shoulders. Eventually the bones will fracture, causing significant problems in many areas from the spine to the wrists.
2. Did you know that osteoporosis is almost entirely preventable? But don’t only start thinking about it at 45! The earlier you think about it, the better. Eat calcium-rich foods and engage in regular weight-bearing exercise.
3. For good self-care, especially while you are younger, make sure you are taking sufficient calcium, exercising regularly and eating a well- balanced diet. It is best to take calcium in a formulation, together with magnesium in a dosage of at least 800 micrograms of calcium daily. and eat good quality low-fat dairy products. Cut back on coffee and alcohol. They both leech calcium from your bones.

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