Maintain a healthy weight throughout life.

• Balance calorie intake with physical activity.
• Avoid excessive weight gain throughout life.
• Achieve and maintain a healthy weight if currently overweight or obese.

Adopt a physically active lifestyle.

• Adults should engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, above usual activities, on 5 or more days of the week; 45 to 60 minutes of intentional physical activity is preferable.
• Children and adolescents should engage in at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity at least 5 days per week.

Eat a healthy diet, with an emphasis on plant sources.

• Choose foods and drinks in amounts that help achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
• Eat 5 or more servings of a variety of vegetables and fruits each day.
• Choose whole grains over processed (refined) grains.
• Limit intake of processed and red meats.

If you drink alcoholic beverages, limit your intake.

• Women should drink no more than 1 drink per day (or 2 per day for men).

If visions of spinach mounds and celery stalks make you cringe, try these tips to think outside the salad bowl!

1. Morning makeover: Top off your oatmeal or cereal with berries or sliced bananas. Making scrambled eggs? Sauté mushrooms with cancer-busting garlic for a veggie scramble.
2. Get saucy: Creamy pasta sauces can be loaded with fat, so use veggies and olive oil instead. Throw in tomatoes (lycopene), spinach (magnesium) and carrots (beta carotene).
3. Go Asian: Chock full of veggies, stir fries spice up a weeknight meal. Use a small amount of canola oil with snow peas, scallions and reduced sodium soy sauce. Substitute brown rice for fried rice.
4. Meatless Monday: Plant-based sources of protein, such as lentils, peas and beans provide nutrients, without the fat. Nuts supply protein too, but with higher fat, so be mindful of serving sizes. Keep red meat to a minimum, as it can contain more carcinogens when cooked.
5. Mix it up: Create a dried fruit mixture with ingredients such as apricots, apples, cherries, figs and dates. Sprinkle cinnamon or ginger for an afternoon pick-me-up.
6. Shred it: Carrots, apples and zucchinis can be grated and used in casseroles, pancakes, muffins and breads.
7. Blend a smoothie: Blend unsweetened fresh or frozen berries with lowfat milk or yogurt and ice. For extra protein, add a handful of chopped walnuts – don’t worry, they’ll blend right in!
8. Add flavor: Tempt your taste buds with antioxidant rich seasonings like rosemary, garlic, sage and olive oil. Roast vegetables with herbs and balsamic vinegar for a Mediterranean taste.

There are so many ways you can add fruits and vegetables to your diet. What are some of your favorites?? (comment below.)

Chinese researchers found those who ate the most of the healthy plant components were 11 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than women who ate the least.

Their findings don’t prove fiber itself lowers cancer risk, however, because women who consume a lot of it might be healthier overall than those who don’t.

The results “can identify associations but cannot tell us what will happen if people change their behavior,” said John Pierce, a cancer research at the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved in the work.

While earlier research has yielded mixed conclusions on the link between cancer and fiber, it would make scientific sense: According to the Chinese researchers, people who eat high-fiber diets have lower levels of estrogen, which is a risk factor for breast tumors.

So to get more clarity, the researchers combined 10 earlier studies that looked at women’s diets and followed them over seven to 18 years to see who developed cancer.

Of more than 710,000 women, 2.4 percent ended up with breast cancer. And those in the top fifth of fiber intake were 11 percent less likely to do so than women in the bottom fifth.

That was after accounting for differences in risk factors like alcohol drinking, weight, hormone replacement therapy and family members with the disease.

Still, it’s impossible to rule out that big fiber eaters had healthier habits overall that would cut their risk, Jia-Yi Dong of Soochow University in Suzhou and his colleagues write in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

And the potential effect was “very small,” Dr. Eleni Linos of Stanford University, who wasn’t involved in the research, told Reuters Health in an email.

About one in eight American women get breast cancer at some point, with less than a quarter of them dying from it.

Although the connection between breast cancer risk and fiber is a small one, fiber is “something that we know is healthy for you anyway,” said Christina Clarke, a research scientist at the Cancer Prevention Institute of California in Fremont.

Known benefits of a high-fiber diet include lower cholesterol and weight loss. If it turns out to cut cancer risk as well, that would be an extra bonus, Clarke said.

Fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains are all high in fiber.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines, most Americans don’t get enough fiber. The guidelines recommend that women eat 25 grams of fiber per day and men eat 38 grams, while the average Americans gets just 15 grams a day.

“Increasing dietary fiber intake in the general public is of great public health significance,” the Chinese team concludes.

SOURCE: bit.ly/qKtsU2 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, online July 20, 2011.

New York City, July 27, 2011 –

An expert panel issued a white paper examining new evidence that shows early detection and intervention hold the greatest promise for reducing breast cancer-related lymphedema, which affects up to one-third of the 180,000 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients annually and 2.3 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. The Avon Foundation for Women, in partnership with the Lymphatic Research Foundation and the National Lymphedema Network, convened a group of leading scientists, clinicians and advocates in April 2011 to discuss recent advances in the early detection and early intervention of upper extremity lymphedema. The expert panel produced several recommendations, which are shared in a white paper released today, Recent Advances in Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema Detection and Treatment.

Breast cancer-related lymphedema is a chronic, debilitating disorder that may occur following surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy that causes limb swelling and chronic inflammation. According to the white paper, monitoring for lymphedema onset in breast cancer patients is essential—and medically necessary—and should include capturing baseline arm volume measurements prior to treatment and follow-up measurements at regular intervals once breast cancer treatment is completed.  By the time lymphedema is visually detectable, it has already progressed to advanced stages. Regular surveillance, using tools such as perometry or bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS), in the years following breast cancer treatment can reduce the development of irreversible lymphedema and improve quality of life.

“Lymphedema can have devastating physical and emotional consequences for breast cancer survivors,” said Marc Hurlbert, executive director of the Avon Foundation for Women Breast Cancer Crusade. “The expert panel’s recommendations for lymphedema care can dramatically change the lives of breast cancer patients. Early detection of lymphedema can identify sub-clinical lymphedema at a time when simple, cost-effective interventions can be used to prevent it from evolving into advanced stages of lymphedema and reduce the condition’s severity.”

The white paper recommends that breast cancer survivors be closely monitored for the development of lymphedema and learn how to reduce their risk of developing the disorder, such as by recognizing the physical triggers (e.g. cuts or burns on the fingers) that may transform the disease from latent to active and by maintaining meticulous skin care hygiene and a healthy body weight. Recent studies in weight lifting, exercise and weight loss also have demonstrated a benefit in preventing lymphedema: stretching, aerobics and arm and leg weight lifting resulted in fewer flare-ups among patients with lymphedema and reduced the chance of developing the condition among at-risk patients by 70%. 

“The Lymphatic Research Foundation (LRF) and our National Lymphatic Disease and Lymphedema Registry (NLDLR) were pleased to partner with the Avon Foundation for Women in co-sponsoring this important conference,” said Jacqueline Reinhard, executive director of the Lymphatic Research Foundation.  “Publication of the resulting White Paper – Recent Advances in Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema Detection and Treatment – provides a much-needed resource for the many patients living with lymphedema, as well as the researchers and treatment professionals involved in this field.”

At the Avon Foundation symposium, the National Lymphedema Network (NLN) also shared its recent position paper on lymphedema screening and treatment. The NLN’s position paper recommends all breast cancer patients receive pre- and post-treatment measurements on both arms, as well as consistent measurements throughout their treatment, and use bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) or infrared perometry as alternatives to a tape measure. These precautions have proven to reduce the occurrence of false negative and false positive results which could be obtained by using a tape measure.

For more information about lymphedema or to download Recent Advances in Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema Detection and Treatment or the National Lymphedema Network’s recent white paper, please visit www.avonfoundation.org/programs-and-events/lymphedema-information.html.

Telethermographic, ‘infrared’ devices not approved for primary cancer screening

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration h aswarned women not to substitute breast thermography for mammography to screen for breast cancer.

Unlike mammography, in which an X-ray of the breast is taken, thermography produces an infrared image that shows the patterns of heat and blood flow on or near the surface of the body. Some health care providers claim thermography is superior to mammography as a screening method for breast cancer because it does not require radiation exposure or breast compression.

However, the FDA is unaware of any valid scientific evidence showing that thermography, when used alone, is effective in screening for breast cancer. To date, the FDA has not approved a thermography device (also referred to as a telethermographic device) for use as a stand-alone to screen or diagnose breast cancer. The FDA has cleared thermography devices for use only as an additional diagnostic tool for breast cancer screening and diagnosis. Therefore, FDA says, thermography devices should not be used as a stand-alone method for breast cancer screening or diagnosis.

“Mammography is still the most effective screening method for detecting breast cancer in its early, most treatable stages,” said Helen Barr, M.D., director of the Division of Mammography Quality and Radiation Programs in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “Women should not rely solely on thermography for the screening or diagnosis of breast cancer.”

The FDA has issued warning letters to some health care providers who have been promoting the inappropriate use of breast thermography. The letters instructed the providers to cease making claims that thermography devices, when used alone, are an effective means of detecting breast cancer. Claims have, for instance, appeared on some providers’ websites.

The FDA encourages women to:

• Have regular mammograms according to screening guidelines or as recommended by their health care provider;
• Follow their health care provider’s recommendations for additional breast diagnostic procedures, such as various mammographic views, clinical breast exam, breast ultrasound, MRI or biopsy; additional procedures could include thermography;
• Remember that thermography is not a substitute for mammography and should not be used by itself for breast cancer screening or diagnosis.

“While there is plenty of evidence that mammography is effective in breast cancer detection, there is simply no evidence that thermography can take its place,” said Barr.

DO’s

• Replace plastic water bottles, cups, cutting boards and food containers with glass, bamboo, cloth, wooden, ceramic and stainless steel products
• Eat and cook with fresh foods rather than canned foods
• Especially limit your use of plastics if you are pregnant and/or have young children who are at a greater risk since they are still developing
• Find a food store where you can get your fresh produce and meat wrapped in paper, rather than plastic
• Use aluminum foil to wrap food rather than plastic cling wrap
• Bring your own bags whenever you shop, not just for the supermarket. By bringing your own bag, you alone can save between 400 and 600 plastic bags per year.
• Check out the Hot or Not List when looking for more tips on how to reduce your plastic use for good

DON’Ts

• Use plastic containers or bottles with the recycling numbers 3 (Polyvinyl Chloride, PVC), 6 (Polystyrene, PS), and 7 (Other), which can be found on the bottom of the containers
• Microwave plastic containers
• Wash plastic containers in the dishwasher. If plastics are being used, wash by hand with warm water.
• Use harsh chemical detergents on plastic products
• Use plastics that are old, worn, and scratched
• Forget children and adults can ingest small amounts of BPA when drinking/eating from cups or containers with the chemical

Breast cancer

• Yearly mammograms are recommended starting at age 40 and continuing for as long as a woman is in good health
• Clinical breast exam (CBE) about every 3 years for women in their 20s and 30s and every year for women 40 and over
• Women should know how their breasts normally look and feel and report any breast change promptly to their health care provider. Breast self-exam (BSE) is an option for women starting in their 20s.

The American Cancer Society recommends that some women — because of their family history, a genetic tendency, or certain other factors — be screened with MRI in addition to mammograms. (The number of women who fall into this category is small: less than 2% of all the women in the US.) Talk with your doctor about your history and whether you should have additional tests at an earlier age.

Poorer wellbeing linked to a 65% raised risk of death from any cause in study patients

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) — Poor overall health seems to be associated with worse outcomes for breast cancer survivors, according to the results of a new study.

Researchers analyzed data from almost 9,400 early stage breast cancer survivors participating in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project. The patients completed a health assessment survey shortly after diagnosis, and follow-up occurred an average of seven years after diagnosis.

The survey results showed that about half the women were in poor physical health. Higher body mass index (a measurement that takes into account a person’s height and weight) was strongly associated with low physical health scores, said the team at the University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

Women with poor physical health scores had a 27 percent increased risk of experiencing either a recurrence of their breast cancer or a new breast cancer, and a 65 percent increased risk of death from any cause, the researchers said.

The researchers also found that breast cancer survivors with low health scores were less physically active, more likely to have sleep problems, had 50 percent higher rates of high blood pressure and diabetes, and were twice as likely to have arthritis.

The study was slated for presentation Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), in Orlando, Fla. Experts note that research presented at meetings has not been subjected to the same type of rigorous scrutiny given to research published in peer-reviewed medical journals.

Taking care of health problems in breast cancer survivors can improve their well-being and help them avoid associated breast cancer risks, said John P. Pierce, a professor of cancer prevention and associate director for population sciences at Moores Cancer Center.

“Instead of looking at breast cancer survivors as a whole, we need to focus on the women with low physical health scores, those most at risk,” he said in an AACR news release. “An increase of 5 percent in their physical health scores can reduce their risk. We can empower them to take charge of their health and thereby improve their chance of survival as well as their quality of life.”

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer.