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Knowing your body can save your life
October is breast awareness month. A time for women to learn how to take care of their most precious asset and understand the importance of early detection through monthly self-examination and regular medical check-ups, like having an annual mammogram after age forty.
Breast cancer is the number one cancer in women worldwide and is the second most common cancer amongst South African Women. Current statistics indicate that across all ethnic groups, one in every 31 women in this country is likely to get breast cancer. Asian women are more at risk (one in 13) and black women are least at risk (one in 57). Most women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are older than 40, however, this type of cancer is becoming more prevalent in younger women.
Breast cancer is a serious disease that can lead to the loss of a breast, or even death. The good news is that if it is detected early, it can be successfully removed.
All women are at risk of getting breast cancer, but you are more at risk if you are older than forty, have a mother or sister who has been diagnosed with the disease, started menstruating at a young age, have gone through menopause at a late stage, had children after the age of thirty, or not at all and drink more than two glasses of alcohol per day.
Healthy lifestyle choices like exercising regularly, eating a low-fat diet, high fibre diet, controlling your weight and not smoking, will reduce your risk of getting breast cancer.
Early warning signs of breast cancer include a lump in the breast or armpit, a puckering of the breast’s skin, an unusual increase in the size of the breast, a new dimpling of the nipple, an unusual enlargement of the glands, a change in the skin surrounding the nipple, an unusual swelling in the armpit and when one breast is unusually lower than the other, with nipples at different heights.
Homocysteine – Is an amino acid produced in the body, but when levels get too high is harmful and can lead to disease, including cancer. The healthy lifestyle choices advocated by CANSA can limit homocysteine production to safe levels. A blood test can determine homocysteine levels in the body.
Pagent’s Disease of the breast – This is an extremely rare form of breast cancer that usually occurs in women in their 50’s the skin of the nipple or areola becomes red and scaly, a burning or itchy sensation coupled with a discharge from the nipple may occur and there may, or may not be a lump in the breast. As other skin conditions may manifest similar symptoms, it is important that women consult a medical professional if they experience any of these symptoms, or have questions about this condition.
Women should get to know their bodies by doing regular monthly self-examination (BSE). It only takes 10 minutes once a month and could save your life. If you get to know the shape and feel of your breasts, you will detect any changes that could indicate the presence of Breast Cancer timeously. The best time to do breast self-examination is a week after your period and women, who no longer menstruate, should choose the same day every month.
If you find a lump in your breast, it does not necessarily mean that you have Breast Cancer, as many lumps are not cancerous. However, if you detect any abnormality, consult a medical professional as soon as possible. Women older than forty should have an annual mammogram. This is an X-ray that can detect Breast Cancer even before a lump manifests itself and is currently the best way of detecting the disease.
Don’t live with regret. A simple examination done in the privacy of your home can lead to early detection and successful treatment. Do it every month. It’s the smart thing to do.
Numerous people suffer to varying degrees with digestive problems. We want to share some helpful pointers on how to keep your tummy regular and yourself free from bowel distress.
It takes about three days for meats, fish, chicken etc. To pass from a perfectly clean bowel. These animal-based foods rot in the digestive tract much as they would if you put them in any other dark, warm place for that period of time or much longer in many cases. Unfortunately many people can’t control their taste buds to avoid eating these foods but all the same and not combining them in the same meal we facilitate good digestion.
Being a vegetarian doesn’t necessarily mean a healthy bowel either. Fruits take about two hours to digest and veggies about four hours. By understanding the difference between the two and not combining them in the same meal we facilitate good digestion.
Drink water half an hour before a meal and at least two hours after a meal and see what a difference it makes to those nasty bouts of indigestion and heartburn. Don’t drink while you’re eating and remember that beverages don’t qualify as water. Bind the liquid part of soup with rice milk or oat milk and enjoy your soup without heartburn. Guidelines for eating meat, fish and eggs
Eat red meat only once or twice a week, and certainly not every day (most certainly not at two or more meals a day) Replace red meat with white meat - eat chicken, turkey or ostrich instead of steak or chops.
Select the leanest cuts you can buy, e.g. purchase lean mince instead of standard mince and halve your fat intake.
Cut all visible fat from meat and don’t eat the skin of the chicken. Replace meat with fish as often as possible .
The SA Heart Foundation advises that anyone with cholesterol or heart problems should not eat more than four eggs a week.
Don't add fat when preparing foods, e.g. grill meat, discard dripping, steam and bake fish, boil and poach eggs.
Have meatless meals regularly, replacing meat with pasta or legumes (dry beans, peas and lentils, Toppers and textured vegetable protein dishes).
Avoid eating too much smoked, cured or charred meat, as these methods of preservation and preparation promote cancer.
Combine plant and animal protein foods to get the greatest benefit and avoid excessive saturated fat intake, e.g. add dry beans to stew, or stretch mince with cubed soy protein.
A Short History of Salt
As rocks go, it's not much to look at. But for much of history, dirty gray crystals of salt made the world go round, as a flavoring, as a preservative, as money: Roman legions were sometimes paid in chunks of the stuff.
We eat nearly twice the sodium we should, and we can do that without even touching the salt shaker. The sodium hides in processed foods, put there by food companies to preserve products that would otherwise go bad, or to make bland or bitter food taste better, or maybe just to appeal to our craving for the stuff.
Earlier this year, the Institute of Medicine, which helps set government nutrition recommendations, decided that people should try to take in about 1,500 milligrams (mg) of sodium daily, with an upper limit of 2,300 mg. Before, they recommended no more than 2,400 mg.
What, Me Worry? It's more than the risk of high blood pressure and subsequent heart disease and stroke that prompted Mom to hide the shaker from Dad 20 years ago. Excessive sodium is now linked to other illnesses, such as cancer and kidney stones.
American men eat more than 4,000 mg sodium a day, and it's easy to take in 7,000 without trying. You do need a little bit--about 200 mg a day--to keep fluids in balance. But all that excess sodium may...
Weakens Your Bones Too much sodium makes the body excrete calcium, threatening bone density and strength, says Pao-Hwa Lin, Ph.D., a researcher at Duke University medical center. "The more you limit sodium, the less calcium you excrete," she says.
Cause Stomach Cancer A report from Japan found that men with the highest salt intakes had double the risk of stomach cancer. The subjects ate lots of salted fish and pickled vegetables, not common in the United States. But Melanie Polk, director of nutrition education for the American Institute for Cancer Research, says the cancer connection may show up here as well.
Mess With Your DNA Researchers from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute found that as they increase salt levels in laboratory cells, DNA strands begin to break and cell-repair mechanisms shut down. When salt concentrations return to normal, the cells begin to repair DNA again. Re-searchers found the same DNA damage in the kidneys of mice. The next step is to see if these results hold true for human kidneys.
Cause Kidney Stones In a 5-year study, Italian researchers found that limiting protein and salt may be more effective in preventing the recurrence of calcium oxalate kidney stones than the more traditional calcium-restricted diet.
Blame Salt for Your High BP? Sure We know for certain that sodium raises blood pressure. Roughly 20 percent of American adults have higher-than-optimal BP. Reducing intake by just 300 mg (about two slices of Cheddar) drops systolic pressure (the first number) by 2 to 4 points, and diastolic by 1 to 2 points, a British study shows. Triple that reduction and you triple the benefit.
Follow these three simple steps to ensure a healthy body:
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