Featured Awareness Articles

November 2012
Featured Article:
"Does Being Overweight Cause Breast Cancer? The Relationship between Weight and Breast Cancer"

“Reports from both the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the World Cancer Research Fund conclude that there is convincing evidence that being obese or overweight causes breast cancer after menopause. And a 2006 study from the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study-II found that gaining weight as an adult was an even more important risk factor than current weight for post-menopausal breast cancer.”
Source: Cancer.org

Did You Know:
“Smokers who cut back from roughly 20 cigarettes per day to 10 or less per day do appear to lower their relative risk of lung cancer by 27 percent, compared with continued heavy smoking.”

“Clearly, smoking cessation is a person’s best chance for reducing the risk of lung cancer.Health benefits begin within 20 minutes of quitting, with improvements continuing for years. Along with a reduced risk of lung cancer, quitting lowers the risk of heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes emphysema.”

Source: Quitsmoking.About.com

Alzheimer’s Disease:
“Alzheimer's disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.”

• “5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease. “
• “One in eight older Americans has Alzheimer's disease. “
• “Alzheimer's disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. “
• “More than 15 million Americans provide unpaid care valued at $210 billion for persons with Alzheimer's and other dementias. “
• “Payments for care are estimated to be $200 billion in the United States in 2012. “

Source: Alzheimer's.org

Lung Cancer:
“Lung cancer is the second-most commonly diagnosed cancer in both men and women. However it is still the most common cause of cancer death.”

” Although some progress has been made in the treatment of lung cancer, it is still the most common cause of cancer death. In 2010, more than 222,000 new cases were expected to be diagnosed and about 157,000 Americans were expected to die from lung cancer.

Source: Lung.org

Diabetes:
“25.8 million children and adults in the United States—8.3% of the population—have diabetes.”

• Under 20 years of age
  • 215,000, or 0.26% of all people in this age group have diabetes
  • About 1 in every 400 children and adolescents has diabetes
• Age 20 years or older
  • 25.6 million, or 11.3% of all people in this age group have diabetes
• Age 65 years or older
  • 10.9 million, or 26.9% of all people in this age group have diabetes"

Epilepsy:
“In about seven out of ten people with epilepsy, no cause can be found. Among the rest, the cause may be any one of a number of things that can make a difference in the way the brain works.”

“Other causes include brain tumors, genetic conditions (such as tuberous sclerosis), lead poisoning, problems in development of the brain before birth, and infections like meningitis or encephalitis. Epilepsy is often thought of as a condition of childhood, but it can develop at any time of life. About 30 percent of the 200,000 new cases every year begin in childhood, particularly in early childhood and around the time of adolescence. Another period of relatively high incidence is in people over the age of 65.”

Source: Epilepsy Foundation.org

Carcinoid Cancer:
“Carcinoid cancer and related neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are small, slow growing tumors found mostly in the gastrointestinal system, but can be in other parts of the body such as the pancreas and the lung.”

“Carcinoid tumors and other NETs usually originate in ">hormone-producing cells that line the small intestine or other cells of the digestive tract. They can also occur in the pancreas, testes, ovaries, or lungs. Carcinoid tumors can produce an excess of hormonelike substances, such as serotonin, bradykinin, histamine, and prostaglandins. Excess levels of these substances can sometimes result in a diverse set of symptoms called carcinoid syndrome.”

Source: Carcinoid.org

Pancreatic Cancer:
“Pancreatic cancer is 2 times more likely to occur in people who have diabetes than in people who do not have diabetes.”

“If a person’s mother, father, sibling, or child had pancreatic cancer, then that person’s risk for developing the disease increases by 2-3 times. The risk increases if a greater number of family members are affected. Also, the risk of pancreatic cancer increases if there is a history of familial breast or colon cancer, familial melanoma, or hereditary pancreatitis.”

Source: Pancreatic Cancer.org

Stomach Cancer:
“The risk of a person getting stomach cancer in their lifetime is about 1 in 114, but it is slightly higher for men than for women.”

• About 21,320 new cases of stomach cancer
• About 10,540 deaths from stomach cancer

Source: Cancer.org