Monday's health links

Welcome to 2011!

From Baldie's Blog.

1. A blood test for cancer. I know - right?! HOLY CRAP! Now, before we get too excited, I saw a doctor on TV this morning say that this is going to be most useful as a tool during treatment to assess how it is working. So, not necessarily something you can march into your doctor's office and request - but signs of important new developments in diagnosis and treatment.
2. Live Right Now - the CBC, our national broadcast company, wants us to get healthy. And to do this, they are encouraging us to start making small manageable changes that we are most likely to stick with. It's a great idea. Baby steps to help us start the journey. It's a very comprehensive initiative that combines an online community where members can get healthy living tips, recipes, health care advice, and physical activity challenges with a range of promotions suited to Canadians of all ages. Some of the highlights: the Million Pound Challenge where Canadians can pledge to lose a combined total of one million pounds; Village on a Diet, the television program highlighting Taylor, BC and its attempt to achieve smaller bodies and better health; and Run Run Revolution, a documentary that will follow a group of middle school kids as they prepare to run the youth section of the Boston Marathon. Click here to go to the official website. My favourite part is the Challenges section where you can sign up to participate in challenges.
3. Need more incentive to quit smoking? Do it in Ontario and you could win a car.
4. January is cervical health awareness month. Make it a priority this month if you have neglected it the rest of the year.  I am making an appointment to get a PAP smear this month.
5. Coming soon to the US, nutrition fact labels on meat products.

Happy New Year

Wow - I don't know about you but, for me, it feels absolutely fantastic to say those words. Happy New Year.

Pardon me if I sound a little self-involved, but I have to tell you if there is one thing I have learned it is that the passing of time is forever changed for people who have gone through life threatening illnesses, both for the patients and their loved ones. And still the world continues to turn. Life goes own, people heal, babies are born, people get sick, and people rally around in love to help.

And that is the gift of cancer...the opportunity to bear witness to the gift of compassion.

So in the spirit of this new year, I would like to return the gift and offer up love and appreciation for the people who have helped me this year. 

To my support team, whatever you are doing this fine evening...playing games with friends (hi Diana, Shaun, Tom, Laura, Niamh, Finn, Jack and Ella), celebrating in high style (hi Sandra, Haydn, Robin, Alex, Heather, Colette, Evan and friends), relaxing after a day in the sun (hi Christi, Fred, Owen and Willem), retiring early (hi Mom, Dad, Jim and Lillian, Judy and Carl) or finding your own way to ring in the New Year (hi Rich, Tricia, Zach, Sam, Jen, Sev, Gabriela, Marco, Karen, Parker, Quincy, Kirsten, Simon, Ian, Erik, Louise, Robert, Pat, Merit,Tina, Doug, Jeanne, wonderful cousins (first, second and third), Linda, Ray, Terryn, Pat, Alison, Lisa, Cathryn, Audrey, Pam, Caroline, Nancy, Johanne and all my other friends all over this fine world, Dr. Yun, Dr. Nguyen, Dr. Parsons, Martha, Ann, Brigitte, Nancy, Hershey, Toy, Glenda, Taruna, Roxy, and every other nurse, doctor, technician and health care professional with whom I have had the pleasure of meeting and working), I wish you many, many more days of laughter, sunshine, love and delight. May you find peace, be blessed, and rejoice in the warmth of loving and being loved.

all my best,
Cyn

Monday's health links - on Thursday

Sorry for the delay.

1. Researchers find that most cases of breast cancer happen to those who do NOT have a family history of the disease. I thought we knew this. The article, published by Reuters, also states that, "studies have shown that more than 70 percent of primary care doctors ask women about their family histories, while less than half collect information on other known risk factors such as whether a woman's period began before age 12 - which raises risk - or whether she has given birth, which lowers risk." The researchers used  Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool  to go back in time and predict the odds that the women would develop invasive breast cancer over the subsequent five years. This tool uses age of first menstruation, current age, ethnicity, reproductive history, prior breast biopsies and family history to establish a score on a scale of zero to eight to represent a woman's five-year risk. They found that nearly all the women in their study with a family history of breast cancer (about one in ten) also fit into the high-risk category according to the tool. But, more than half of the women without a family history also fit into this category. I am heartened by the remarks of one of the researchers, Dr. Lawrence Wickerham of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP). He points to the Risk Assessment Tool as one of the methods that doctors should be using beyond asking about family history. "Such efforts can help better identify women at increased risk and can better focus screening and prevention strategies for them."
2. The Canadian government unveils our new cigarette packaging. Have you seen our smokes? They are covered in warnings and horrifying pictures of what cancer does to your body. Now, images are going to get even bigger. After previously covering half the pack's surface panel, images and text highlighting the dangers of cigarette smoke will take up three-quarters of the surface. Some of those images will feature Barb Tarbox, a fierce anti-smoking crusader who unfortunately succumbed to lung and brain cancers in 2003. She may also soon be featured on packages in the United States. This is a remarkable legacy for a remarkable person. We should thank her family for continuing her fight. Let's hope her work helps prevent more people from picking up this terrible habit. Although this initial story about response is more than a little depressing. We need to start taking more personal responsibility for our choices. Do you hear me immortal young hipsters?
3. Same topic. Lung cancer is the most deadly form of cancer; every year it kills more Americans than colon, breast and prostate cancers combined. And, for the most part, it's easily prevented. And this may be the reason why lung cancer gets less research dollars than the other major cancers. And still the tobacco companies pump them out and provide advertising support to rock concerts and sporting events. And we carry on like it's OK. It's not.
4. Making resolutions? The American Cancer Society would like you to look after yourself in 2011 by making your health your priority.
5. More evidence that a plant-based diet can be a life-saver - women who eat more olive oil and leafy vegetables are less likely to develop heart disease. This study comes from Italy, a place where they know a lot about the Mediterranean diet.

Be it resolved...

It is that time of year again - my pants are tight from too much turkey, beef and tarts and someone is going to ask me again if I have made any New Year resolutions... sigh.

Yes, this year, I resolve to lose weight. I would love to look cute in my clothes. I would love to look younger. I would love to be able to keep up better with my kids. But, mostly, I would love to not die. :-) Can I get an amen?

So after a bunch of reading, researching and ruminating, I have chosen The Pink Ribbon Diet as my guide book in this new endeavour. The Pink Ribbon Diet is the product of the work of research dietitian, Mary Flynn, PhD, RD, LDN, who set about exploring the link between diet and breast cancer. Turns out, she found that low-fat diets can increase the risk of cancer, but a plant-based one, similar to the Mediterranean diet, helps you shed pounds while gaining important nutrients beneficial to the fight against cancer.

To prepare this book, Flynn teamed with Nancy Verde Barr, a former culinary associate of Julia Child's.You can tell - there is a lot of passion in the recipe introductions and lots of sensible food wisdom. The book begins with a thorough explanation of the diet, the science behind it and stories from women who have tried it. The rest of the book is devoted to recipes, 150 of them, covering everything from breakfast foods, soups, sandwiches and salads through a range of main dishes, sides and desserts. The emphasis is on vegetables and healthy doses of olive oil for fat, with small portions of meats allowed. There are lots of notes on ways to customize or adapt recipes and they all look really, really doable.

As a bit of a foodie, I am often sceptical of diet books. The recipes often look boring and, well, uninspired. These ones are different. I actually want to try them. There are lots of fresh herbs used, you can use store-bought sauces for convenience and speed, and I can even see the occasional mention of cheese! Woo hoo! There are also a range of global influences and cooking methods, so you should find recipes that fit your own personal cooking styles.

The rumour has it, this is a diet you can live with, like, forever. I'm going to take it one day at a time. But I will report back here and in my recipe blog to share my results.

Good luck with your own resolutions! And now one last glass of eggnog before a workout session with our new Wii Just Dance game. Cheers!

Merry Christmas

This past year has made me more grateful than ever - for life, for family, for friends. And you are part of that circle. So thank you. Thank you to everyone who has read my blog, offered a voice and helped spread the word.

I send you warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday season, whether you celebrate it as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid, Yule or something else. May you spend it in good health with people you love and may you carry that love and good health forward into a long and happy life.

Big cyber hugs and a toast to your health, cheers!
Cyn

Good news on cancer survival for Canadians - let's spread the love

Note: the following article discusses cancer survival rates. In the throes of cancer treatment, the last thing this patient wanted to do was read about statistics. So, even though this is a good news story for people in this part of the world, you may want to proceed with caution. Fair warning. :-)

Last night, my mother-in-law (hi Lillian) phoned with good news she had heard on the radio - if you have breast cancer, there isn't a better place in the world to be than British Columbia (my home province). On Tuesday, members of the BC Cancer Agency presented the news that was published the same day in the Lancet - when compared to  five other regions (Australia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK), positive outcomes were highest for breast and ovarian cancer patients here in BC. News was also good for BC lung and colorectal cancer patients. The one-year survival rate for lung cancer patients jumped from 36.6%  in 1995-99 to 43% in 2005-07, and for colorectal cancer patients it went from 59.8% to 64%.

The Globe and Mail discusses the report from a national perspective and the news is very good for all Canadians. The research examined survival rates for lung, breast, colorectal and ovarian cancer between 1995 and 2007 in these six countries whose common link is their universal health-care systems. The study found that survival rates have increased for all four cancers in all the countries during this time period, but the disparities indicate that there is a significant number of avoidable deaths.

Read the article for more specifics. But now let's talk about what we do with this information. My husband's aunt (hi Judy) has been very involved in cancer care in Washington State and it, too, is a remarkable hot bed of talent and teamwork. When my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he opted to head to Seattle for faster treatment than he would get here in BC. We feel very fortunate in this neck of the woods to have access to so many smart people all working together to share and build on common knowledge in pursuit of better prevention, more accurate diagnosis and more effective treatment. But it isn't good enough to sit and glow in our own successes; we need to find new and better ways to share it with health care teams across the world.

I had an interesting moment with my oncologist in September. We were discussing the things I would be doing to help prevent a recurrence and I was asking questions about bone loss and inflammation and the few other things my sleepy post-chemo brain had held onto. And he said a neat thing to me - "We'll see in December. I'll have more news for you after the conference I'm going to in December." As a patient, I take a great deal of comfort from that kind of interaction. I have a doctor actively seeking new information on advances in cancer treatment and care and doing it with an eye to how it affects his patients. And I wish that for every other patient in the world.

One final note: as the year closes and some of us consider making donations to charitable foundations before 2011, could I ask you to consider groups working on childhood cancers. Many thanks.

Monday's health link

Just one link today: Can depression influence breast cancer survival?

As mentioned in an earlier post, I am going through a blue phase. Christmas is a hard time of year for many of us, though normally not for me. Yes, I get stressed and find it hard to do everything and see everyone I want to; but I am generally quite happy throughout the season. This year, however, I feel sad and am having trouble shaking it. 

But I want to. I really, really, really want to. So I am reading about, talking and, most importantly I think, acknowledging depression. My hope is that shining a light on it will take away some of its hold. And if I feel like its getting worse or not going away, I'm going to seek professional help. 

Now a study out of the University of Calgary here in Canada has given me extra incentive to fight harder for my happy. Turns out, women who suffer from depression following a breast cancer diagnosis have a harder time fighting this disease. While they don't know exactly what is behind this, they do know that depression can put stresses on the body in many ways  that are linked to cancer progression, from decreasing immune function to increasing inflammation. According to lead researcher Janine Giese-Davis,"When these physiological changes become chronic, we believe that they may deplete the resources of the body, making it more difficult for patients to recover." 

Researchers have found that more than half of cancer patients go through some form of depression, and around 38 percent develop major depression. In this study, the researchers focused on more than 100 women who had recently received a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer, cancer that has begun spreading to other parts of the body. Half the patients underwent weekly group therapy and all received education materials. Participants reported their depression symptoms at four, eight and 12 months. The researchers found that half of those whose depression symptoms decreased over the first year lived at least another four and a half years, compared to just over two years for half of those with worsening symptoms. Reduction in depression also raised the chances of longer-term survival, in this case more than 14 years, by as much as 68 percent. There didn't seem to be a connection between the severity of the depression and later survival, or between the method used to deal with depression, i.e. therapy or medication. The only thing that seemed to matter was the decrease over time in the symptoms of depression.

The ultimate finding for researchers? Doctors, patients and their families need to be aware that chronic depression can have an impact on survival. Giese-Davis says that while it is normal for patients to feel anger, sadness and fear, talking openly about those feelings could be helpful, and that overcoming depression will "improve your quality of life, your social relationships, healthy behaviors, and your ability to follow through on your doctor's recommendations." 

So what am I doing about this? Today I am baking cookies with my boys, going on an adventure, singing  Christmas carols and getting some exercise. And if you call me to see how I am doing, I will probably tell you that I am feeling a little sad. Bear with me. :-)


Question: How do you deal with depression?