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Posts with tag awareness
Posted Sep 14th 2007 2:31PM by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Filed under: Pancreatic Cancer, Politics
Luciano Pavarotti, possibly the most famous classical singer on earth,
received a final sendoff this past weekend in his hometown of Modena, Italy. Pavarotti died last week of pancreatic cancer. More than 100,000 people filed through the cathedral and plaza, more than 700 guests attended the funeral mass and millions watched the live broadcast on television.
Pavarotti underwent surgery for a malignant pancreatic mass in July 2006. A month later, after his surgery, Pavarotti
told the Italian newspaper
Corriere della Sera, "I was a fortunate and happy man. After that, this blow arrived. And now I am paying the penalty for this fortune and happiness."
One could not be surprised that Pavarotti felt this way. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers, with a five-year survival rate here in the U.S. of less than 5%, although surgery can improve survival greatly. Pancreatic cancer is also one of the most
underfunded research areas in cancer. For more information about what you can do to increase funding for pancreatic cancer research and raise awareness of this deadly disease, please see
PanCAN's action page.
Posted Aug 29th 2007 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: All Cancers, Diets, Obesity
As time flies by, more and more progress is made in the fight against cancer. Over the years, new and better screening methods have emerged, cutting-edge technologies have surfaced, successful treatments have saved lives that may have otherwise been lost, and awareness has been raised about all sorts of cancer-related issues. It's amazing really, because in so many areas, we are not making progress.
According to research published in the March/April 2007 issue of
WebMD: the Magazine, the per capita consumption of corn sweeteners in 2004 was 78.1 pounds in the United States -- up from 35.3 pounds in 1980. In 2005, the per capita consumption of candy by Americans was 25.7 pounds. We are pumping our bodies full of junk -- our rates of obesity in this country prove it.
When I think about our trend of over-eating and over-indulging, I gain a better appreciation of how far we've come medically. Not only have researchers, scientists, and medical experts made strides in the prevention and treatment of disease, they've done it against the odds. Just think how much more progress we'd make if we all did a little better at living healthy lives. Why not start now?
Posted Aug 27th 2007 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Cancer events
Like my blogger friend
Kristina Collins, I too just attended a
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer kick-off. Kristina's New Jersey event was a breakfast. My Florida event was a dinner. It wasn't the meal that mattered, though. What matters is the enthusiasm, the spirit, the inspiration that flows through the rooms where these gatherings take place.
My kick-off celebration featured a delicious and healthy meal, a slide show of the pink-shirted crowds that assembled for last year's 5K event, a mini lesson on the topic of breast cancer, a presentation from a 27-year old wife and mother of three who has survived breast cancer for one year, and a reminder that
now is the time to start raising funds for the big day -- October 20, here in Gainesville.
I went to this dinner with my husband, sat with two oncology nurses who form a fundraising and walking team each year, and choked back the emotion that wells up in me when I'm part of such a powerful group.
Continue reading Time to make strides against breast cancer
Posted Aug 22nd 2007 10:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Cancer by the Numbers
October 30, 2006 marked the launch of our series
Cancer by the Numbers. Our intention was to give individual attention to each and every cancer, to raise awareness of the multitude of cancerous diseases that seem to consume our population, to answer questions and pose questions, and to initiate discussion among readers. I think we are accomplishing what we set out to do. Still, we have a lot of ground to cover. Since that October day last year, we have featured 13 different cancers. That's a lot. And not a lot, when you consider how many different strains of one disease really exist.
I am writing today to reaffirm our commitment to
Cancer by the Numbers. These posts will appear at least twice per month -- so be on the lookout. Until the next one appears, though, take a look back at what we have to offer in one of our most comprehensive and researched
Cancer Blog series. Here they are:
Cancer by the Numbers: Basal Cell CarcinomaCancer by the Numbers: OsteosarcomaCancer by the Numbers: Hodgkin's DiseaseCancer by the Numbers: Gallbladder CancerCancer by the Numbers: Glioblastoma MultiformeCancer by the Numbers: MelanomaCancer by the Numbers: Mantle Cell LymphomaCancer by the Numbers: Liver CancerCancer by the Numbers: RhabdomyosarcomaCancer by the Numbers: Cervical CancerCancer by the Numbers: Pancreatic CancerCancer by the Numbers: Lung CancerCancer by the Numbers: Testicular CancerIf there's a cancer you'd like to see covered sooner rather than later, please leave us a comment and let us know.
Posted Aug 5th 2007 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Breast Cancer, Celebrity spokesperson
Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon has been chosen as Avon's first-ever global ambassador. Serving as honorary chairman of the
Avon Foundation, the 31-year-old will focus on issues of breast cancer, domestic violence, and emergency relief.
"I'm very excited about working with the Avon Foundation, with many different aspects of it," Witherspoon says. "First and foremost, breast cancer research and awareness, programs that they're working on. Someone very close to me is a breast-cancer survivor. It's a cause that's very close to my heart."
Witherspoon will also represent Avon Products Inc.'s beauty brands and sales representatives.
Posted Jul 29th 2007 2:57PM by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Filed under: Childhood Cancers
Unnur Valdimarsdottir and team, from the Karokinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, recently published a
study in
Lancet Oncology reporting on how the length of the time parents were aware of a child's impending death affected their future mental health risk.
The team gave about 450 parents who had lost a child to cancer a questionaire, which included questions on how long before their children's death they became emotionally and intellectually aware of the impending death.
One quarter of the parents said that their intellectual awareness of their child's impending death came less than 24 hours before the death. 45 percent said that emotional awareness came also came less than 24 hours before the death.
The risk of future mental health issues was increased if the intellectual awareness time was very short. Such mental health issues include depression, missing work and taking drugs for psychological problems in the future.
The authors advise that healthcare providers should work to provide information and encourage discussion about a child's impending death from cancer, well in advance of the death.
Posted Jul 25th 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Breast Cancer, Celebrity news, Cancer Survivors
I wrote recently about
The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck and the inner strength she says she acquired from helping care for her mother during a battle with breast cancer. I ended my post with this statement:
It seems a common thread -- the fact that cancer makes us all stronger in one way or another. It's one of the silver linings, I think. Cancer can be a gift. We just have to regard it as one and look hard for its hidden treasures. Two readers have since left comments indicating I must be crazy for thinking of cancer as a gift. One reader wrote:
I'm certainly glad that Elisabeth was able to take something positive away from her mother's bout with breast cancer, but I'm not sure that I can buy into the "gift" part.Continue reading On cancer as a gift
Posted Jul 6th 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Kidney Cancer, Exercise, Sports
More than 90 Penn State football players will compete on July 13 in an event where they plan to tackle kidney cancer. Well, maybe they won't literally tackle kidney cancer -- wouldn't that be nice -- but by raising awareness and funding, they'll surely make a difference.
The strength and conditioning event, called
Lift For Life, will benefit the
Kidney Cancer Association for the fifth year in a row. In past years, it's generated more than $148,000. In the 2005-06 year alone, $60,000 was raised for this rare disease.
Lift For Life challenges the mental and physical endurance of student-athletes and consists of 11 exercises. Think traditional bench and leg presses and the less conventional giant tire flip and iron cross and you've got an idea of what will take place in just one week.
Continue reading Penn State football players tackle kidney cancer
Posted May 30th 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Skin Cancer, Prevention, Daily news
That's Fit blogger Jonathon Morgan wrote on May 25 about
five sunscreen myths. In the spirit of
Skin Cancer Awareness Month, it seems appropriate to mention this thought-provoking news here on this site.
I just heard a radio commercial about a certain sunscreen, claiming the product is so good consumers need only apply the lotion one time during an eight-hour time frame. It seems, according to the following list of myths, this is not exactly true.
Myth #1: Sunscreens protect all day.
Fact: Regardless of the SPF or what the label says, sunscreens must be reapplied every two hours because active ingredients in most products break down when exposed to the sun.
Continue reading Lather on some of this sunscreen truth
Posted May 29th 2007 8:30AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Skin Cancer, Cancer Survivors
I have a rough patch of skin on the bridge of my nose. It's been there for some time -- how much time, I really don't know -- and I am aware of it every day when I look in the mirror. I wash it, coat make-up on top of it, and sometimes pick at it and watch the flaky skin disappear. It always comes back, and then I study it, wash it, cover it all over again.
It's
Skin Cancer Awareness Month and so I've been thinking more about this spot than usual, wondering if it could be more than just a spot. I even went so far as mentioning it to a medical student I saw a week ago during a breast cancer follow-up visit. But the inquiry never made it to my doctor and I've since let it drop.
I'm never sure just how to handle medical issues like these. Typically, I'm hyper-sensitive and worry about all that could be going wrong with my body. Sometimes, I am able to cope normally, realizing most everything is probably nothing. That' the route I took this time. Yet now, now that I've talked to my mom who had a basal cell skin cancer removed from her face years ago -- the kind that flakes away and then comes back -- I'm becoming convinced, pretty sure anyway, that this could be worse than I've imagined it to be.
Continue reading Sensing something is not quite right
Posted May 23rd 2007 10:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Skin Cancer, Prevention, Research, Daily news
As
Skin Cancer Awareness Month winds down, I find myself hoping you have learned a thing or two about a disease that is far more common than we tend to believe, a diseases that in some cases is downright deadly.
The month of May will soon drift away. Skin cancer will not -- unless of course we make huge, swift strides in prevention. Until this happens, though, the best we can do is be vigilant about early detection. I have an idea. Well, an idea I'm borrowing from
The Archives of Dermatology.The idea: photography. Studies show patients who use photographs of their own skin for reference are better able to detect skin changes while conducting self-examinations.
Continue reading Photography aids in early skin cancer detection
Posted May 11th 2007 6:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Skin Cancer, Prevention, Research, Daily news, Thought for the Day
We're not even 11 days into Skin Cancer Awareness Month, and already my awareness about the disease has been raised several times.
Today, I learned that measuring the amount of melanin in a strand of hair can predict a person's risk for melanoma. It's all detailed in the May 15 issue of the
American Journal of Epidemiology. And the study leading to this new conclusion -- that the amount of melanin in hair indicates an individual's skin type -- is quite interesting.
Think about this:
Researchers involved in a large skin cancer trial measured 2,3,5-pyrroletricarboxylic acid (PTCA) levels of 98 subjects with melanoma and 98 subjects without melanoma. They found the subjects with a PTCA concentration below 85ng/mg had more than four times the risk of developing melanoma.
Continue reading Thought for the Day: Cancer risk measured by strand of hair
Posted May 6th 2007 9:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Skin Cancer, Prevention, Thought for the Day
It's May. Summer is upon us. So is the hot sun. What a perfect time for an awareness month.
May is
Skin Cancer Awareness Month. So now is the time to learn a thing or two about a disease that is largely preventable, extremely deadly, and almost 100 percent curable when caught early.
Think about this:
Someone dies of melanoma -- the deadliest form of skin cancer -- every 65 minutes. Women ages 20-29 are most at risk, with melanoma ranking as the second most common cancer in this age group. But anyone, regardless of skin color or age, can develop skin cancer.
More than one million Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year -- shocking considering the cause of the disease is no secret: skin cancer is caused mostly by too much sun exposure.
OK, how about some good news?
Continue reading Thought for the Day: May skin cancer awareness soar
Posted Apr 5th 2007 2:00PM by Kristina Collins
Filed under: Breast Cancer, Fundraisers, Cancer Caregivers, Cancer Survivors
Visit Our Heroes website to contribute to the fight against breast cancer and domestic violence.
On the website you can create your own Avon Breast Cancer Crusade Tribute Fund or a Speak Against Domestic Violence Tribute Fund.
The Our Heroes website explains why a Tribute Fund is a great idea:
- It is an easy way to honor someone dear to you and at the same time contributes to a great cause.
- It allows you to tell your story about the Honoree and why you are supporting this cause.
- It allows you to raise awareness of the importance of fighting against breast cancer or domestic violence.
Go to the Our Heroes website to learn how you can get your own Tribute Fund started!
Posted Apr 5th 2007 10:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: All Cancers, Uterine Cancer, Politics, Services, Daily news, Celebrity news, Cancer Survivors
Cancer Schmancer is what actress and cancer survivor Fran Drescher titled her
2003 novel. Now, thanks to this spunky gal, there's a whole
Cancer Schmancer movement taking place, a movement that will culminate this June with the launch of a non-profit organization with the name of -- you guessed it --
Cancer Schmancer.
Drescher says
Cancer Schmancer is all about the politics of cancer education and funding, screening tests, early detection, the removal of carcinogens from women's products, and the often-dismissed truth that young women do get cancer.
Drescher, who for two years fought with doctors who persisted she was too young for uterine cancer -- she wasn't -- says her organization will raise awareness and change health policy to better promote diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of womens' cancers.
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