Newspaper Page Text
4 - The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, October 7, 2009
HEALTH AND COMMUNITY NEWS
Breast Cancer Prevention:
A Matter of Lifestyle
Evidence based studies
agree that the right eating
habits, exercising regularly,
along with caution in expo
sure to chemicals that pro
mote disease, can reduce
your risk of a diagnosis of
breast cancer.
Cancer is a disease that
develops over a period of
time. Time plus exposure to
chemicals, poor diet and the
sedentary lifestyle.
Sure, there are risks we
cannot control - age, gender,
family genes, and the larger
environment. However, there
are preventive steps we can
take for our healths’ sake.
These measures cannot
provide a guarantee that you
won't develop the disease,
but, they will give you a
great start toward breast can
cer prevention.
Lifestyle choices as
breast cancer prevention
strategies
The easiest thing for us to
control is our choices of
foods and drinks, and next is
our activity levels.
So, let’s look at some strate
gies to decrease the risk of
breast cancer:
Limit alcohol. A strong
link exists between alcohol
consumption and breast can
cer. The type of alcohol con-
Carolyn Gilford
sumed — wine, beer or
mixed drinks — seems to
make no difference. To help
protect against breast cancer,
skip alcohol completely, in
your day to life. Then permit
yourself one or two guilt-free
drinks during certain cele
brations, your birthday,
Thanksgiving, and New
Years Eve. (Say 2 drinks, 3
times a year.)
Sugar. Alcohol contains
large amounts of sugar,
refined carbohydrates,
snacks and desserts all con
tain great amounts of sugar
the body does not need, nor
can use. But, the most impor
tant thing to know about
sugar is that it feeds cancer
cells. Look at how much
sugar you are consuming.
Maintain a healthy weight.
There's a clear link between
obesity — being over
weight, especially if you
have gained the weight later
in life, after menopause.
Excess fat is a source of cir
culating estrogen. And breast
cancer risk is linked to how
much estrogen we're exposed
to during our lifetime. There
are also estrogens in the
environment we need to be
aware of, as well as estrogen
stimulants.
Stay physically active.
Regular exercise can help us
maintain healthy weight and,
also helps in lowering the
risk of breast cancer. Plan on
at least 45 minutes of exer
cise on most days of the
week. If you haven't been
particularly active in the
past, start your exercise pro
gram slowly and gradually
work up. Include weight
bearing exercises such as
walking, jogging or aerobics.
These help to also keep the
bones strong.
Limit the fat in your
diet. Results from the more
and more studies show a def
inite correlation between
dietary fat and breast cancer
risk. By reducing the
amount of animal fat and
chemicalized fats, such as
hydrogenated fats and trans
fats in our diet, we can
See Breast Cancer, pg.
Step Up Savannah to Hold Annual
Meeting
Mindy Hernandez, a
senior researcher at
Princeton University spe
cializing in Behavioral
Economics, will be the fea
tured speaker at Step Up’s
annual meeting on Oct. 20.
Learn more about
how individuals make deci
sions—from how much to
spend on a cup of coffee to
whether or not to save for
retirement.
We’re a lot more irra
tional, even impulsive than
we like to imagine, relying
THE SAVANNAH TRIBUNE
1805 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Savannah, Georgia 31401
Ph. (912) 233-6128 Fax (912) 233-6140
www.savannahtribune.com
Published By
Savannah Tribune, Inc.
Tanya Y. Milton
Vice President/Advertising Director
tanya@savannahtribune.com
Marius L. Davis
Managing Editor
sharon@savannahtribune.com
Horacio J. Allen
Graphic Designer
A. Camille James
Education Writer
Zyon D. Smiley
Staff Writer
Rachelle J. Gregory
Staff Writer
Frederick D.Gregory
Staff Writer
Walter Moore
Sports Writer
Deadlines for news releases and advertisements:
Fridays 4pm
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
One Year. $55.00
Mail your check or money order today!
The opinions expressed in this publication are
not necessarily those of the publisher.
Third class postage paid at Savannah, Georgia
Member:
National Newspaper Publishers Association
NNPA - Washington, D.C.
All rights are reserved. No part of this work may be repro
duced or copied in any form or by any means, graphic, elec
tronic or mechanical including photography, without writ
ten permission of the publisher.
on unconscious biases that
can drive our behaviors.
Whether you’re a busi
ness owner, corporate man
ager, work in a non profit,
or for government, join us
from 7:30 - 9:30 a.m. Oct.
20; take some time to think
about how to better under
stand and work with your
clients or customers. Just
two hours on this Tuesday
morning will captivate your
imagination.
Our agenda includes a
call to the community to
commit to take actions to
reduce poverty, a review of
Step Up’s accomplishments
over the last year, and pres
entation of our first-ever
Step Up Workplace
Innovator Awards, plus
recognition of the 2009
Alfred P. Sloan Award for
Business Excellence win
ners.
Sure it’s early but
breakfast will be served
thanks to our partners at the
Federal Reserve Bank of
Atlanta. You can’t afford to
miss this meeting.
Call Shawnte
Tyler, at (912) 232-6747, or
e-mail her at
styler@stepupsavannah.org
< by Oct. 13 to reserve a
place at the table.
Memorial Health Earns Award for
Excellence in Women’s Care
Memorial Health
received a 2009/2010
Women's Health Excellence
award from HealthGrades,
the leading independent
healthcare ratings organiza
tion.
Only 169 hospitals
received the award nation
wide. According to
HealthGrades, this places
Memorial University
Medical Center among the
top 5 percent nationally for
women's health.
Only two other hospi
tals in the entire state of
Georgia received the award -
- Northeast Georgia Medical
Center in Gainesville, and
Piedmont Hospital in
Atlanta.
The award is based on
patient outcomes in three
major categories of women's
health:
1. Women's Medicine,
including treatment for heart
attack, congestive heart fail
ure, pneumonia, chronic
obstructive pulmonary dis
ease, and stroke.
2. Women's
Cardiovascular Procedures,
including coronary artery
bypass surgery, peripheral
vascular bypass, coronary
interventional procedures,
resection/replacement of
abdominal aortic aneurysm,
carotid surgery, and valve
replacement surgery.
3. Women's Bone and
Joint Health, including total
knee and hip replacement,
spinal surgery, and hip frac
ture repair.
“So often, people think
of women's health as only
involving maternity care and
childbirth. But at MUMC,
we're proud to provide the
highest levels of care for all
aspects of a woman's health,
and throughout all phases of
her life,” said Ramon
Meguiar, M.D., senior vice
president and chief medical
officer at Memorial Health.
To read the full report
and methodology, visit
www.healthgrades. com.
Memorial University
Medical Center (MUMC) is
a two-state healthcare organ
ization serving a 35-county
area in southeast Georgia
and southern South Carolina.
The system includes its
flagship hospital, a 530-bed
academic medical center;
Memorial primary and spe
cialty care physician net
works; a major medical edu
cation program; business and
industry services; and
NurseOne, a 24-hour call
center. Visit our Web site at
www.memorialhealth.com.
Five Things Young African American
Women Can Do To Cope with
Breast Cancer
Learning that you have
breast cancer can be one of
the most shocking and life
altering moments of your
entire life. The initial diag
nosis can bring on feelings of
not only worry, but life's
fragility. Your time becomes
precious and your sense of
purpose kicks into overdrive.
Breast cancer is affecting
more young African
American women each year
and the ages continue to get
younger. But the diagnosis,
the treatment, and the recov
ery do not have to be a grim
experience.
What is more
important than the initial
shock and the treatment and
even surgery, is the mental
state of the woman after she
learns that she has breast
cancer.
For every woman who
has recently been diagnosed
and for every woman who
knows another who has been
diagnosed there are five rales
that we must all follow in
order to ensure that our lives
and the lives of our loved
ones will be fulfilled while
we take this journey.
1) Focus on getting better.
Spend very little time think
ing about the disease itself,
rather, spend time thinking
about your life after you get
better. A nurse admitted to
me that people get sicker
when they spend too much
time worrying about their ill
ness.
2) Avoid morbid, pes
simistic people. Even people
that you love and who love
you can become a drain on
your spirit when they treat
you like your diagnosis is an
automatic death sentence.
Many people recover from
cancer and go on to lead
happy, healthy, and fulfilling
Zekita
lives.
3) Change your diet.
Don't accept any of the soda,
sweets, and other junk foods
offered to you at your treat
ment center or anywhere
else. A low/no dairy, low/no
sugar, no alcohol, and junk
free diet will help your body
to fight against the tumor.
Drink plenty of water, eat
extra servings of fresh veg
etables, and add extra fiber to
your diet to cleanse your
body.
4) Keep doing what you.
The initial diagnosis will be
a serious blow and the
chemotherapy treatments
and surgery will knock you
off your feet for a while, but
keep your eyes on the prize.
Staying focused on your
family life (esp. your chil
dren) helps you to maintain a
positive and healthy mental
state and will help your body
to fight against the cancer
and to recuperate from the
toxicity of chemotherapy.
The entire time that I have
been going through treat
ments, I have been a single
mother, a sociology student,
and freelance writer and
author. I never missed a beat
(except when I was ill from
the chemotherapy). I chose
to continue living and thriv
ing.
5) Pray, meditate, chant,
or whatever it is that you do.
Your mind needs to be
cleansed when going through
a battle with breast cancer.
Your spirit should always be
nurtured so that you may
receive divine guidance.
Spend little time sobbing and
more time focused on what
you want your outcome to
be. Have faith that your will
heal and trust that things will
work out as they should.
As a breast cancer patient
and self proclaimed 'sur
vivor' of the disease, I know
exactly what a woman goes
through after she gets that
call from her doctor. Some
women choose to join sup
port groups. There are other
women who decide that the
best way to deal with the dis
ease and the forthcoming
recovery, is to cope in soli
tude and in silence. As a
breast cancer patient endur
ing the most toxic of
chemotherapy treatments
along with naturopathic
treatments, I have learned
that my immediate state of
mind and well being con
tribute greatly to the way that
my body has responded to
the treatments and how well
I am doing physically while
on the road to recovery.
Zekita is a freelance writer
and the author of
'YourStory Book One'. Her
articles have been published
by many national and inter
national publications and
she has been featured by
ABC World News and the
Roland S. Martin radio
show. To learn more please
visit www.zeniampublica-
tions.com.
STEVE HARVEY MORNINGS