Mind, Body & Soul: A Health Guide for African Americans

Mind, Body & Soul: A Health Guide for African-Americans

The Facts About Breast Cancer .... Diabetes .... Cardiovascular Disease .... Your Guide to Healthy Eating
Facts about Prostate Cancer and African-American Men .... Facts on Lung Cancer .... Stress Reducers .... Uterine Cancer

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for African American women. Every day in Louisiana, eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer and two women will die from it.

What Is It?
Cancer is an abnormal growth of cells. With cancer, cells grow out of control, divide more than they should, and form masses known as tumors. Benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body, but may interfere with body functions and require removal. Malignant or Cancerous tumors not only invade or destroy normal tissue, but these cells break away from the original tumor and migrate to other parts of the body.

The breasts are made up mostly of fat tissue and glands, and the size of the breasts depends on the amount of fat. Breasts change as women age. They may undergo changes, developing lumps composed of fibrous tissue and small fluid-filled cysts. These lumps usually feel different than cancerous lumps and, unlike breast tumors, tend to disappear after the menstrual cycle is over, only to reappear when the next cycle begins.

Risk Factors
Several factors can increase your chances of developing breast cancer:

	Being a woman, in and of itself, is a large risk factor
	Older than age 40, and especially women over age 50
	Personal history of breast cancer (already have had cancer in one breast)
	Family history of breast cancer
	Never giving birth, or birth after age 30
	Long menstrual history (menstrual periods started early and ended late in life)

How Will I Know?
The most common sign of breast cancer is a lump or thickening, especially a lump that does not go away and does not seem to change in the way it feels. The nipple may become drawn into the chest, change shape or become crusty. Although early breast cancers are usually painless, any pain or tenderness that lasts throughout the menstrual cycle should be reported to a physician.

Early Detection
Over 90% of women whose breast cancer is found and treated early (before it has spread beyond the breast) will survive and go on to lead normal, productive lives. Early detection can also mean less surgery and can often save the breast itself.

Methods of Early Detection

	Monthly Self Breast Self-Examination
	Clinical Breast Examination
	Mammography

Hope for the Future
The survival rates for breast cancer patients depends on the size of the tumor when first diagnosed and whether it has spread outside the breast. The real hope for the futures lies in early detection. The best way to keep breast cancer from becoming life-threatening is to practice breast selfexamination every month, have an annual examination by your physician and get a mammogram, if appropriate.

You may remember hearing Grandma say she had "sugar", which was her way of saying she had diabetes.

What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not properly convert sugar from food into energy. Insulin, produced in the pancreas, helps the cells use sugar for energy to store it for later use. However in people with diabetes, the body either doesn't produce insulin or does not use it effectively.

There are two forms of diabetes, Type I or insulin- dependent occurs most often in children and young adults, and Type 11 or non-insulin dependent diabetes typically affects adults over 40.

Doctors still don't know why diabetes affects minorities more than any other groups, but they have found that there is more insulin resistance in African Americans.

What are the Symptoms?
It's important to know the possible warning signs: frequent urination, thirstiness and sudden weight loss.

According to the the American Diabetes Association, if you don't get it under control, diabetes can cause blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes, foot and leg amputation and even early death. Many people don't know that excess weight, especially around the abdomen, increases the risk of diabetes.

But just remember, if grandma had "sugar", the whole family is at risk. So the best thing to do is to be tested.

Grandma, and Grandpa lived to a ripe old age. Aunt Edna wasn't sick a day in her life, and they all ate whatever they wanted - fried chicken, fried catfish, jambalaya, red beans and rice - so why be concerned about cardiovascular disease?

We should all be concerned, because contrary to public opinion, cancer is not the number one killer in the United States... it's Cardiovascular Disease.

More than 2,600 Americans die each day from cardiovascular diseases. That's an average of one death every 33 seconds.

Where Do We Stand?
African American females and males are much more likely to die from heart disease than any other group, especially in this state.

In fact, Louisiana has the third highest number of cardiovascular deaths in the country, behind the District of Columbia and Mississippi.

When most people think of cardiovascular disease they think of heart disease, but that's just one component of it. There's also stroke, high blood pressure and rheumatic heart disease.

African Americans are much more likely to develop diseases that affect the heart, arteries and veins. Lipo-proteins transport cholesterol and fats that are absorbed from our gastrointestinal tract to the liver and the cells that need them. When we take in too many of these substances from our foods, then the excess can coat our arteries.

What's the Answer?
Use the new lipid-lowering medicines, which can lower cholesterol by as much as 30%, change eating habits and get that high blood pressure and diabetes under control. Because after all, the cardiovascular system is absolutely vital to our health and well-being.

Let's face it, our eating habits are not what they should be. Living a New Orleans lifestyle does not always include following a sensible diet plan. With shrimp po-boys, bread pudding and fried chicken on every corner, how can one concentrate on eating right? Too often we eat foods that are high in calories, saturated fats and cholesterol. In addition, we don't always include foods that are rich in nutrients and vitamins. Sometimes we skimp on the very same foods that can help protect our health and prevent disease.

Approximately one-third of all adults in the United States are overweight, as are one-fifth of our children. Excess body weight is a serious health problem among people of all ages, genders and races. A variety of health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and certain forms of cancer, are more likely to develop in overweight people than in those who are at an appropriate body weight.

So What Do You Do?
It may help you to know that nutrition is an evolving science. For each new discovery made, it builds upon a previous discovery until enough is known to make safe and effective dietary recommendations for the general public.

Among the many diet and health messages, there are four that have withstood the tests of time and science. They are:

	Achieve and maintain appropriate body weight
	Limit fats in your diet
	Aim for "balance, variety, and moderation"
	Engage in physical activity

Food Guide Pyramid
A Guide to Daily Food Choices
food pyramid

Facts about Prostate Cancer and African-American Men

In Louisiana alone, eleven men are diagnosed everyday with prostate cancer and two will die from it. Listed below are a few quick facts about prostate cancer that each African American man should know:
Who
Most men who get prostate cancer are 65 years of age or older, and the risk increases with age. Also, incidence rates are higher among African American men, and men with a family history of prostate cancer.

What
Cancer of the prostate usually involves enlargement of the gland. The prostate is a gland just below the bladder in the male genital tract. While this enlargement should be investigated by your physicians, it does no in itself mean cancer. Some enlargement does occur in about 50% or more of U.S. males. Any prostate enlargement can lead to a variety of urinary problems, such as difficulty in urinating or controlling urination, the need to urinate frequently, painful or burning urination or blood in the urine.

Why
The answer is simple, early detection and an annual checkup can increase your chances of survival. While statistics are discouraging, men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer have a 5-year survival rate of 92%. However, it is important that this form of cancer is discovered early. Cancer specialists are now working to improve methods for early detection and to develop more effective combinations of treatments.

How
Every man 40 and over should include a digital rectal exam in his annual health checkup. A blood test, should be performed every year on men 50 and over and a new technique, prostate ultrasound, can reveal cancers too small to be detected by physical examination.

Remember, early detection and an annual checkup could save your life.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and most lung cancer is caused by cigarette smoking. The longer a person smokes, the more likely they are to die of lung cancer. The risk of lung cancer is cut in half after ten years of quitting smoking. The best safeguard against lung cancer is never to start to smoke, or to stop -immediately!

Exposure to industrial substances, such as arsenic, certain organic substances and asbestos, has also contributed to high lung cancer rates, though to a far lesser degree than smoking.

In recent years, the number of African American men and women who smoke has decreased. However, the mortality rate for lung cancer has increased, since many African American men and women tend to choose cigarettes with a higher tar and nicotine content. In fact, lung cancer is the leading cause of death for African American women.

The Healthy Lung
The air we inhale enters the lungs through tubes called bronchi. These branch into the smaller bronchioles and finally into tiny air sacs, called alveoli. To some extent our breathing apparatus can clean itself. Unfamiliar materials (i.e., mucus) are swept out of the lungs, toward the throat, with the help of cilia, tiny hair-like structures. This material can either be coughed out or carried away by the blood and lymph systems.

The Smoke-damaged Lung
The constant assault of cigarette smoking can cause enlargement of cells within the bronchi and increase the production of mucus. The passageway becomes worn and unable to sweep foreign particles out of the throat. This is what is known as "smoker's cough."

If the smoker quits at the time of these early changes, the inner surface of the bronchi can return to normal. If the smoker continues to smoke, further damage can be expected. Smoking beyond this stage can cause the lung cells to form abnormal growth patterns that can eventually lead to lung cancer.

Risk Factors

	Cigarette smoking
	Pipe and Cigar Smoking
	Involuntary Smoking (i.e., secondhand smoke)
	Industrial Hazards

Signs & Symptoms

	Involuntary Smoking (i.e., secondhand smoke)
	Coughing or wheezing
	A persistent cough
	Blood in the sputum
	Repeated bouts of pneumonia fever
	Chest pain or shortness of breath
	Continued hoarseness
	Difficulty in swallowing
	Swollen lymph nodes in the neck
	Shoulder or arm pain
	Weakness or weight loss

The Best Protection
Don't smoke! The 5-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with lung cancer, regardless of the stage at diagnosis, is only 13 percent. Risks for lung cancer decrease gradually once a smoker stops the use of tobacco.

Life is hectic. The kids need to be driven to their activities, things are getting busier than ever at work and your head is beginning to pound just thinking about it.

Well, before stressing yourself out and setting yourself up for more serious physical, mental and emotional problems, try some relaxation techniques.

A proper balance of diet, exercise and relaxation can keep stress at bay, or at the very least control it. Dr. Barry Schwartz, Director of the Stress Management Clinic at Tulane, offers the following ways to de-stress:

	Get up 15 minutes earlier in the morning. Morning mishaps will be less stressful.
	Stand up and stretch periodically, if your job requires that you sit for extended periods.
	Don't do anything that makes you lie.
	Eliminate (or cut) the caffeine in your diet.
	Pollyanna-Power! For every one thing that goes wrong, there are probably 10 or 50 or 100 blessings, Count 'em!
	Plan ahead. Don't let the gas tank get below one quarter full; keep a well-stocked "emergency shelf" of home staples; don't wait until you're down to your last bus token or postage stamp to buy more; etc.
	Make friends with nonworriers. Nothing can get you into the habit of worrying faster than associating with chronic worry warts.
	Unplug your phone. Want to take a long bath, meditate, pray, sleep or read without interruptions. Drum up the courage to temporarily disconnect.
	Procrastination is stressful. Whatever you want to do tomorrow, do today; whatever you do today do now.
	Turn "needs" into preferences. Our basic needs translate in food, water and keeping warm. Everything else is a preference. Don't get attached to preferences.

African American women are three times more likely to develop uterine cancer and more than twice as likely to die from it than Caucasian women.

What Is It?
There are two forms of uterine cancer, cervical and endometrial. Both forms, however, can be cured. Cervical cancer develops in the neck of the uterus. Although it is most common in women over 25, it can occur in younger women. Endometrial cancer develops in the tissue lining the uterus. It is most common in older women, usually after age 50.

Cervical Cancer
It is important to know that cervical cancer is almost I 00% curable. Your best protection against cervical cancer is the Pap test. It helps your doctor detect this cancer at its earliest stage. The Pap test is an examination of cells normally shed from the body of the uterus and cervix.

All women who are, or who have been, sexually active, or have reached age 1 8, should have a annual Pap test and pelvic examination. After a woman has had three or more consecutive satisfactory, normal annual examinations, the test may be performed less frequently at the discretion of her physician.

Signs & Symptoms
If you have a warning signal like irregular bleeding or unusual vaginal discharge, you should see your doctor right away. It may not mean you have cervical cancer, but you'll want to have an examination to be sure.

Risk Factors
Higher risk groups include:

	Women who began having sexual intercourse at an early age
	Women who have had multiple partners
	Women who have been infected with the human papillomavirus (a virus transmitted from the male during sexual intercourse that causes genital warts)

Endometrial Cancer
About 94% of endometrial cancer cases detected early can be cured. The test for endometrial cancer, called an endometrial biopsy, includes taking a sample of endometrial tissue to check for cell changes.

Women age 40 and over should have a pelvic exam every year as part of a cancer-related checkup. The Pap test should be done at least every three years after the three initial negative tests, one year apart.

Signs & Symptoms
If you have a warning signal like bleeding between periods, excessive bleeding during periods and, most especially, bleeding after your regular periods have stopped, you should see a doctor right away.

Risk Factors
Higher risk groups include:

	Women who have infertility problems
	Women who have been told they have ovulation failure
	Women with obesity problems
	Women who have had or who are having estrogen therapy for more than two years without taking progesterone
	Women with a family history of endometrial cancer

This page is http://www.som.tulane.edu/cancer/mindbodysoul.html
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