Get This: It’s OK For Breast Cancer Patients to Drink Moderately

Posted on April 11, 2013 by admin

Check out the list of links that should be on your radar today:

If anyone deserves a glass of wine, it’s people who’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily, drinking moderately after being diagnosed doesn’t appear to affect survival odds, according to a new study. [NYT]

Even more incentive to hit the kettle bells: Pumping iron may help keep your blood sugar in check. [TIME]

Don Jon, the movie directed by, written by, and starring Joseph Gordon Levitt now has an official release date. Only 189 days until October 18! [Vulture]

If you weren’t afraid of flying before, you will be now: Earlier this week, a pilot and IT consultant demonstrated how easy it is to hack into air traffic control systems and remotely hijack a plane. [NPR]

A full 83 percent of Americans say their jobs stress them out—that’s up 10 percent from last year. [Huffington Post]

Lady Gaga’s Twitter throne was wrongly usurped: Nearly 18 million of Justin Bieber’s followers are fake, according to a new report (Gaga has 19 million legit followers). [BBC]

Taco Bell wants to beef up its menu’s nutritional profile—but not until 2020. [USA Today]

The latest trend in baby keepsakes: Jewelry made with processed breast milk. Whatever happened to bronzing the kid’s shoes and calling it a day? [CBS]

Otherwise health-conscious Gwyneth Paltrow says she smokes once a week. We expected better of the Goop guru. [USA Today]

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

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Giada: “Protect Yourself From Skin Cancer”

Posted on April 11, 2013 by admin

Food Network chef (and former Women’s Health cover star) Giada De Laurentiis has given plenty tips on how to make the perfect pasta and how to whip up a mean chicken Florentine. But now she’s suggesting something totally different: She wants you to protect yourself and your loved ones from skin cancer.

Today, De Laurentiis announced that she has teamed up with Stand Up 2 Cancer, the Melanoma Research Alliance, and the “Protect Your Skin” campaign to make a new television and radio public service announcement about how to stay safe and prevent skin cancer.

“I don’t really do PSAs very often,” says De Laurentiis. “The real reason I did this one is truly because my brother passed away nine years ago now of melanoma, and I was very, very heartbroken.”

De Laurentiis’ brother, Dino, never checked his skin and didn’t go to the doctor regularly. He only discovered his melanoma while working on a movie in Slovakia, when a coworker told him that his sweater looked bloody. A mole on his back had started bleeding, and it wouldn’t stop. He visited a hospital in Vienna—”honestly he only went because he couldn’t keep the bleeding from going all over his clothes,” says De Laurentiis—and was diagnosed with stage nine melanoma at the age of 29.

“He immediately went into surgery, and from there it was all downhill,” she says. Dino’s cancer spread, and he died of liver failure at the age of 31.

“That experience woke me up,” says De Laurentiis. “I realized we ‘re all at risk.”

She urges everyone to wear sunscreen daily, avoid tanning beds, and check out their skin regularly.

“If you see any changes in your moles, go to the doctor and get it checked out,” she says. “You can protect yourself from skin cancer, and you can survive if you get it.”

Check out the PSA:

photo: courtesy of Stand Up 2 Cancer and the Melanoma Research Alliance

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The Checklist That Slashes Your Cancer Risk

Posted on March 22, 2013 by admin

Checklists can help you tackle everything from grocery shopping to party planning to packing for your vacation—and now there’s one to help you seriously slash your cancer risk, too: People who follow six or more items on the American Heart Association’s list of seven heart-healthy guidelines lower their cancer risk by 51 percent, according to a new study.

So what’s on the checklist exactly? The American Heart Association calls these recommendations “The Simple 7”:

-Being physically active
-Keeping a healthy weight
-Eating a healthy diet
-Maintaining healthy cholesterol levels
-Keeping blood pressure down
-Regulating blood sugar levels
-Not smoking

Researchers looked at the health records of 13,253 men and women who took part in the Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (ARIC) study, which was conducted from 1987 to 2006. They also reviewed participants’ cancer registries and hospital records from those years and found that the more items from the checklist that the participants stuck to, the lower their risk for cancer. Compared to those who followed none of the recommendations, people who met three of the guidelines still had a 25 percent lower risk of cancer. Those who met six or seven had a 51 percent lower risk.

If you have to choose one item to check off first, Neica Goldberg, MD, director of Women’s Heart Program at New York University’s Langone Medical Center, recommends you make it smoking. “That has a huge impact on decreasing cancer risk,” she says. That said, you’ll see the best results if you work toward checking off all of the items on the list. “They’re really pieces that work together,” says Goldberg.

Getting started
While the steps you can take to follow some of the items on the checklist are pretty straightforward (you know how to stay active, keep your weight healthy, and eat well), others aren’t as obvious (how do you even check your blood sugar levels?!).

To ensure you’re keeping your cholesterol in check, you have to know what it is: You should get your first cholesterol test in your 20s, says Goldberg. Your total cholesterol should be less than 200, your HDL, or “good” cholesterol, should be greater than 50, and your LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, should be less than 130, she says. After your initial test, you can wait another five years before your next one if you’re an otherwise healthy person and have good lifestyle habits, she says.

As for your blood pressure, be sure to get it checked out every time you see your primary care doctor. It should be less than or equal to 120 over 80.

A blood glucose test checks the level of sugar in your body and is used to screen for diabetes, according to the Cleveland Clinic. If you’re eating healthy and working out, you probably don’t need one—but your doctor can let you know if you have any warning signs that make it a good idea to get tested. Here’s what’s involved: You won’t eat for eight hours, and then a doctor will take a blood sample to determine your fasting blood glucose level. The number should be below 100. Any higher, and you’re in the pre-diabetes or diabetes range, in which case your doctor may prescribe you medications or insulin.

Possible saboteurs
Certain habits can undermine your efforts to check off every item on the list. Two big issues common among young women, says Goldberg: drinking too much and popping certain pills like Accutane. Boozing can actually weaken your heart muscle and enlarge it. Alcohol is also toxic to your ticker, says Goldberg. Her recommendation: Stick to one drink a day at most. As for the pills you’re taking, ask your doctor if a drug will raise your triglycerides or cholesterol level before he writes you a prescription (since this can put you at risk for heart disease).

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

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The New Skin Cancer Fighter

Posted on March 12, 2013 by admin

Headaches aren’t the only thing that over-the-counter pain meds can help crush: Regular aspirin use may help curb the risk of melanoma for women, according to an analysis of data from the Women’s Health Initiative. The study, published in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, was the largest ever to explore ways to reduce melanoma risk. The results suggest that the longer you take aspirin on a regular basis, the more you slash your risk.

For the study, researchers recruited nearly 60,000 Caucasian women aged 50 to 79 and followed them for 12 years, noting which developed skin cancer and which didn’t. They defined regular aspirin use as taking at least two a week. The women who fell into this category averaged a 21 percent lower risk of melanoma than those who didn’t pop the pills. Women who had been taking aspirin for one year saw an 11 percent risk reduction, while those who had been taking it for one to four years saw a 22 percent risk reduction, and those who had been taking it for five or more years saw a 30 percent risk reduction. Other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen, didn’t have the same effect, and neither did acetaminophen.

The study controlled for variations in skin pigmentation, tanning practices, sunscreen use, and other factors that may affect skin cancer risk.

What’s behind the risk reduction? Researchers think it may be aspirin’s anti-inflammatory properties since inflammation and cancer cell growth are linked. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can ditch your sunscreen and just start popping aspirin instead. The FDA warns that long-term aspirin use is linked to side effects such as, stomach bleeding, bleeding in the brain, kidney failure, and other kinds of strokes. A recent study also suggests that there may be a correlation between prolonged aspirin use and vision loss.

“These results are very interesting and provocative, but the type of study this is shows a strong correlation—it doesn’t prove causation,” says Jean Y. Tang, MD, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. “Because of the side effects, it would be foolish to recommend aspirin for everyone.”

If you’re at high risk for skin cancer—i.e., you’ve had a lot of sunburns in the past or may have even had skin cancer removed—it can’t hurt to see your doctor and assess whether you should add regular aspirin usage to your skin health arsenal. Regardless, it’s a good idea to stay diligent when it comes to using SPF, avoiding tanning beds, and limiting excessive sun exposure.

Additional reporting by Marygrace Taylor

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

More From Women’s Health:
What’s Your Skin Cancer Risk?
Skin Cancer at 26
Sunscreen Questions Answered

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Frightening News About Breast Cancer

Posted on February 28, 2013 by admin

If you’re too young for regular mammograms, that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear when it comes to breast cancer: The number of women ages 25 to 39 diagnosed with advanced breast cancer tripled over the last three decades, according to a new study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers analyzed data collected by Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER), run by the National Cancer Institute, between 1976 and 2009. Based on their data, which was pulled from a sample of the U.S. population, they estimated that 250 women under 40 were diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in the mid-1970s, compared to more than 800 who received the same diagnosis in 2009. More research is needed to determine why the increase happened, says Rebecca Johnson, MD, lead study author and medical director of the adolescent and young adult oncology program at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Don’t freak out. While these results are alarming, the rate is still pretty small: Only 2.9 young women in every 100,000 were diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in 2009, according to the findings. Plus, to truly confirm that a spike occurred (and ensure these results weren’t a fluke), more research is necessary, says Laura Kruper, MD, co-director of the Breast Oncology Program at the City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, CA.

Still, the findings are a wake-up call to be more proactive about your breast health. “I think the really big point to take away from this study is that younger women can be diagnosed with breast cancer,” Kruper says.

Use these tips to keep your breasts as healthy as possible:

Get handsy once a month
You’ve heard it before, but you’ve got to do self-exams. Here’s the thing: The key isn’t just doing them—you have to really get to know your breasts first. Once you have a good grasp on what’s normal for you (some women’s breasts are naturally denser), use your monthly self-exam as an opportunity to look for any deviations. Take the Touch-Yourself Challenge. If you notice anything unusual, get to your gyno, stat.

Check out your rack
Red flags you should be keeping an eye out for include new lumps, skin changes (such as redness or an orange peel-like texture), nipple discharge (especially if it’s bloody), and major size changes (like if one is suddenly way bigger than the other). “Basically, a woman should ask, ‘Is this normal?’” Kruper says. Notice any of these symptoms? Again, hightail it to your gyno.

Be a nag
If something seems off about your boobs but a doctor dismisses your concerns, don’t let it go. “As a breast cancer specialist, I see women who had a breast mass during breastfeeding and kept calling attention to it,” Kruper says. “Every doctor they saw kept saying, ‘It’s just because you’re breastfeeding. You’re too young to have breast cancer.’ Or, ‘Oh, you’re too young to have breast cancer. It’s just a cyst.’” Remember, it never hurts to get a second opinion—especially since you know your girls better than anyone else.

For more information on breast cancer, give some of these stories a read:

7 Ways to Keep Your Breasts Healthy

Mammograms: What’s Best for Your Breasts?

How to Help a Friend With Cancer

“I Am a Breast Cancer Survivor”

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

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Warning: Your Couch Might Give You Cancer

Posted on December 3, 2012 by admin

You already know that too much sitting can increase your risk of heart disease. Now it turns out that your couch might increase your risk of cancer, too. There’s a hazardous amount of flame-retardant chemicals in everyday household objects, including many chairs and sofas, according to two articles published online in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

In one study, researchers tested household dust for the presence of 49 different potentially hazardous flame-retardant chemicals. It was the first study to test such a broad range of the chemicals. The researchers discovered 44 out of 49 flame retardants in the homes they tested, and 36 were detected in at least half of the samples. They also found that most homes contained at least one such chemical at levels above federal health guidelines. Among major health concerns, these toxins have been linked to forms of cancer, hormone disruption, and learning disabilities.

Sadly, the chemicals aren’t easy to trace and oust–many items aren’t labeled, and it’s not easy to get your furniture tested for the presence of these chemicals. “Unfortunately, they’re not obvious,” says study author Robin Dodson, Sc.D, of the Silent Spring Institute (an organization that studies the health effects of environmental toxins). “They’re found in furniture, electronics and carpet padding. The sources are all around. The retardants’ effects are mostly associated with the thyroid system, and a particular concern for neurological and reproductive development in children.” The second study looked at the presence of these chemicals in couches.

Some of the chemicals have been banned in certain circumstances, but are still found in homes. Such is the case for the carcinogen TDBPP (brominated “Tris”), which is no longer used in children’s pajamas due to the health dangers—like harm to DNA, and mammary tumors that may cause breast cancer—but is still found in about 75 percent of households in other products.

Unfortunately, tossing all your furniture and rugs and starting over is impractical. However, there are a few practices can lower your exposure to flame retardants until you get a chance to replace your old stuff with new, safer stuff. Dodson recommends taking these steps:

Repair furniture rips
Flame retardants are often added to the polyurethane foam fillings in your couches and chairs. Ripped upholstery increases the likelihood that you or your kids will be exposed to the chemicals. Get any rips fixed stat to minimize exposure.

Go natural
When choosing new furniture, avoid polyurethane foam, a common filler in couches, chairs, and rugs that often comes treated with flame retardant. Instead, select pieces made from natural materials like wool, wood, and down products–it’s significantly less likely that these pieces have been doused in the flame-retardant chemicals.

Check labels
Labeling requirements are in place for some flame retardants, so you can check garments, upholstery and furniture for big, yellow tags that indicate they are not flame resistant and not treated with the chemicals. If an item has a yellow tag, that means it’s safe from the chemicals in question. (That said, you’re not going to want to light candles anywhere nearby).

Declare war on dust
The chemicals are mostly transmitted from furniture to human via dust, and crawling kids are extremely susceptible to exposure. Since dust is the key source of retardants, clean countertops and surfaces often. Vacuum, especially where children crawl, to keep dust at bay.

Wash up
Always wash your hands after cleaning, and try to cleanse after touching common surfaces or the floor, as well. Remind children to soap up, and wipe the hands of toddlers and babies who spend a lot of time on carpeting. They are particularly at risk for the developmental issues that may result from the chemicals.

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

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How to Spot (and Prevent) Thyroid Cancer

Posted on November 14, 2012 by admin

Last week, Dancing with the Stars co-host Brooke Burke-Charvet, 41, revealed that she has thyroid cancer. While 41 seems particularly young for a cancer diagnosis, it turns out that thyroid disorders, and especially thyroid cancers, are on the rise in younger women.

The rapid rise in thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer has been well documented over the past several years. Surprisingly, especially with thyroid cancer, sufferers are most commonly women of childbearing age, much younger than the average cancer patient. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 45,000 new cases of thyroid cancer were diagnosed in 2010, with women comprising 75 percent of the group. Burke-Charvet’s admission underlines the disease’s propensity to strike an atypical demographic.

“We’re not yet sure why thyroid cancer affects more young women than men, but thyroid disorders themselves are more common among women,” says endocrinologist Scott Isaacs, MD, clinical instructor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. “Thyroid cancer just moved up the list of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in women, and now sits at fifth.”

Family history, genetic factors and other thyroid disorders all increase your risk of cancer. Hypothyroidism, for instance, results in high levels of Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH). When TSH levels are high, the body prompts an underactive thyroid to create more thyroid hormone, which can also stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Knowing these risk factors, and keeping disorders in check, can be helpful—but a larger culprit still looms.

“The big reason for the increase in cases has to do with the accumulation of radiation in the environment,” Dr. Isaacs says. If you live near a nuclear power plant, have been treated for past cancers or have had numerous imaging tests with high levels of radiation, like CT scans, your risk goes up.

The good news is that you can take steps to reduce your risk of thyroid cancer, and take steps to ensure that you catch it early.

Avoid Radiation
Radiation is cumulative, so every bit counts. Ask your dentist for a lead shield to cover your neck when you get dental x-rays. If your GP orders a CT scan for any reason, you should always see if another imaging method, like MRI, can be used for evaluation instead, because CT scans pack about 500 times the radiation of x-rays.

React in Emergencies
If a rare nuclear emergency happens near you, like last year’s reactor leak in Japan, listen to instructions from local officials about avoiding the damaging effects of radiation on the thyroid in particular, which will quickly seep up the iodine you breathe in or consume in the food and water supply. “The government often keeps iodine tablets (potassium iodide) on hand for these events,” Dr. Isaacs says. “Flooding the body with non-radioactive iodine will prevent the gland from taking in the harmful radioactive iodine.” One dose protects for about 24 hours, and is usually enough to halt the uptake of radiation. Never take more than instructed.

Know the Symptoms
Beware the common symptoms of thyroid disorders—like fatigue, muscle weakness, weight gain, and cold sensitivity—and tell your doctor if you notice any.

Get Tested
Have your GP check for nodules and test TSH levels every few years if you have risk factors for cancer.

Check Yourself
Feel for any lumps in the front of the neck, just like you might with a breast self-exam. If you locate a lump, find that you have difficulty swallowing or experience unusual hoarseness in your voice, mention it to your doctor. He can check your neck and order an ultrasound.

Early detection of nodules is the best form of cancer prevention. But even if you do feel a lump, don’t panic. “Only about five percent of nodules end up being cancer,” Dr. Isaacs says. “The biggest thing for people to understand is that it’s not a death sentence. The vast majority of thyroid cancers are very treatable.”

photo: Medioimages/Photodisc/Thinkstock

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Drink THIS to Cut Your Cancer Risk

Posted on November 1, 2012 by admin

Jonesing for a caffeine fix? Reach for some tea. A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that sipping tea regularly could slash your risk of certain digestive system cancers by up to 29%.

The Shanghai Women’s Health Study tracked the tea consumption and cancer rates of more than 69,000 non-drinking, non-smoking, middle-aged and older Japanese women during an 11-year span. Regular tea consumption, defined as at least three times a week for more than six months, was associated with a 17% reduced risk of all digestive cancers combined. “We can conclude that women who drink tea regularly may have a lower risk of developing some digestive system cancers, particularly colorectal and stomach/esophageal cancer,” says lead study author Sarah Nechuta, Ph.D., MPH, assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University.

Better yet: The study found that drinking more tea contributed to an even lower risk. Women who sipped two to three cups a day had a 21% lower risk of digestive system cancers overall. And those who drank tea regularly for 20 years or more were 27% percent less likely to develop any digestive system cancer, and 29% less likely to develop colorectal cancer, in particular. “We observed the strongest reduction among long-term tea drinkers,” says Nechuta.

And while this study was observational (i.e., lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise were not controlled), and researchers didn’t investigate tea temperature, strength, or whether food or supplements containing tea extracts would have similar effects, the study did have implications for the most effective type of cancer-fighting tea, according to Nechuta. “As most women in our study drank green tea, our results suggest drinking green tea is associated with reduced risk of digestive system cancers,” she says.

So drink more green tea, but don’t stop there. Here are 12 more ways to reduce your cancer risk.

photo: Hemera/Thinkstock

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Take THIS to Cut Your Ovarian Cancer Risk

Posted on October 12, 2012 by admin

Sure, most OTC painkillers can effectively knock out your cramps, headache, and many other pesky aches. But there may be an even better reason to pop those pills—and make sure they contain aspirin: new research shows that regularly taking an aspirin-based pain reliever may reduce your risk of the fifth-leading cause of cancer deaths among women—ovarian cancer.

The recent Danish study of 2,320 women between the ages of 35 and 79 (including 756 with ovarian cancer of varying severity) found that women who took aspirin two or more times per week for longer than a month were less likely to develop ovarian cancer than those who typically took non-aspirin pain relievers, or none at all.

Aspirin’s cancer-fighting power comes from its anti-inflammatory effects, which reduce the chronic inflammation suspected to play a role in the development of cancer, says study author Susanne Krüger Kjær, M.D., of the Danish Cancer Society Research Center and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Copenhagen University Hospital, both in Copenhagen, Denmark. So why were non-aspirin pain relievers—which may also reduce inflammation—found to be less effective at curbing cancer? “This may reflect differences in the way these drugs induce their effect on inflammation,” says Kjær.

The medicine cabinet staple boasts even more beyond-the-label benefits. While the OTC drug won’t necessarily shield women from heart disease, it could help reduce men’s risk of heart attack. And for women ages 55 to 79, the U.S. Preventive Task Force recommends taking regular doses of the aspirin to stave off strokes. (Younger than 55? Strokes are more common than ever among younger women. Here’s how to reduce your stroke risk.)

So are the virtues of aspirin reason enough to start popping pills as if they’re candy? Kjær says the protective effects should be balanced against possible adverse effects, such as risk of bleeding and peptic ulcers.

Want to slash your ovarian cancer risk the safe way? Begin with these tips.

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Ask the Expert: Should Breast Cancer Survivors Avoid Soy-Based Beauty Products?

Posted on October 10, 2012 by admin

Q. Do breast cancer survivors need to be careful about the soy found in skin care and other beauty products?
A. …
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Athens Java Hut

Serving Jittery Joe's Coffee, Cecilia Villaveces, Cakes and Italian Gelato

Tag Archives: Cancer

Get This: It’s OK For Breast Cancer Patients to Drink Moderately

Giada: “Protect Yourself From Skin Cancer”

The Checklist That Slashes Your Cancer Risk

The New Skin Cancer Fighter

Frightening News About Breast Cancer

Warning: Your Couch Might Give You Cancer

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

How to Spot (and Prevent) Thyroid Cancer

Drink THIS to Cut Your Cancer Risk

Take THIS to Cut Your Ovarian Cancer Risk

Ask the Expert: Should Breast Cancer Survivors Avoid Soy-Based Beauty Products?