Potential Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer Part 4

The last thing to watch for is pressure or pain. Sometimes this is very subtle, but if you are experiencing any kind of discomfort in the stomach or pelvic areas, you should be checked out. Especially if you have any of the other symptoms I've talked about over the last 4 days.

While these symptoms can relate to many problems which are easily treatable, discovering ovarian cancer early is essential in terms of optimal treatment.

If you're not sure, see you health care provider and let them evaluate what is going on.

Potential Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer Part 3

The third thing to watch for is a sense of urinary urgency. Now this is also related to a urinary tract infection, so it is definitely something to get checked out. As we age, women have less of the traditional signs and symptoms of a urinary tract infection as they did at younger ages.

If you don't have a urinary tract infection, someone needs to be checking for why you are feeling the urinary urgency. An ovarian tumor as it grows puts pressure on the bladder and causes that sense of urgency.

Potential Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer Part 2

The next symptom to watch for is similar to bloating, but is really an unusual feeling of fullness. This usually occurs during meals that you have a sense of feeling full faster than usual.

Be aware of this and get it checked out.

Potential Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer

Sometimes I think I need to make you aware of subtle symptoms that may indicate that you have a problem. Over the next few days I'll be giving you some symptoms that you should be aware of and see medical attention should they occur.

First of all is bloating. It is easy to write this off to something you ate, but if it happens more often than not, get checked for an ovarian problem. Fluid from ovarian tumors can start to build and a sensation of bloating occurs. Many women can write this off to a few pounds of weight gain, but listen to what your body is saying and get it checked out.

Melanoma Risk Part 7

Lastly, keep your immune system strong. A weakened immune system is not always able to protect you from melanoma. Remember that the immune system helps ward off cancers and is killing cancer cells every day of our lives so that they can take hold in our bodies.

Melanoma Risk Part 6

While I talked about different climates yesterday, you need to keep in mind that some of the northern climates like areas in Canada have increased risk because the ozone layers have developed holes. So sunburn increases the risk. A high intensity sun burn that causes blisters really increases your risk of melanoma significantly.

Melanoma Risk Part 5

Where you live also plays a part in the risk for melanoma. Those who live in sunnier climates are more likely to develop a melanoma. Places like Floriday or Arizona tend to increase your risk just because of the amount of sun each day. If you live in Michigan, or Pennsylvania your risk is decreased.

Melanoma Risk Part 4

The next risk factor has to do with your complexion. If you have fair skin, you are more likely to develop a melanoma than someone with darker or olive skin. The melanin in darker skin helps protect you from the sun.

Melanoma Risk Part 2

The next risk factor for melanoma is freckles or moles. If you have lots of moles or freckles, you may have an increased risk of developing melanoma. This is particularly true if the moles or freckles are large.

Are You at Risk for Melanoma?

Are you even worried if you are at risk? First you should know that melanoma is the most deadly of skin cancers. It's not as common as basal cell or squamous cells cancers, but melanoma is the one to fear the most.

I'll be going over some of the risk factors over the next several days.

First is history. If you have ever been diagnosed with a skin cancer - any skin cancer you are at increased risk for melanoma. Additionally, if a parent or sibling has had a melanoma, your risk increases even more.

Summer & Tanning

Now that summer is really here and heating up, I need to do my annual word of caution about tans. Some of you may think that you will get a jump on it by using a tanning bed. In a word don't do it.

There is now more evidence that using a tanning bed before age 30 increases the risk of melanoma - a potentially lethal type of cancer - by 75%. In the same study, there was consistent evidence that linked melanoma of the eye. So here's the fact you can go blind and have cancer and a death that is most unpleasant.

Be cautious of UV light which the skin absorbs. This can come from tanning beds, sun lamps and the good old sun. Wear sun screen!

Lung Cancer and Greens

I just read a study about lung cancer and eating leafy green vegetables. Before I read the study, I was fairly certain what it would show, since leafy greens are rich in antioxidants which can help prevent cancer.

Indeed, the findings were that eating leafy greens and taking multivitamin supplements demonstrated fewer changes in the cells of lungs from smokers and ex-smokers. While we know that it takes at least seven years of not smoking for lungs to at least recover somewhat from smoking, this seems to indicate that lots of antioxidants could help, certainly during the recovery phase once smoking has ceased.

Best leafy greens to eat are spinach, bok choy and kale.

Tumeric

I've talked about tumeric before, but it bears being mentioned again. You will see this spice used in Asian cooking and in curry dishes. The greatest thing about tumeric is that it is a very potent anti-inflammatory agent.

As I mentioned a few days ago, the heart disease and cholesterol piece is more related to inflammation than cholesterol. There are a plethora of diseases that tumeric may help prevent and help. Some of these are disease such as Alzheimer's, pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, Parkinson's, arthritis, and psoriasis. Studies out of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have shown that tumeric affects gene activity in cancer cells. Tumeric actually starves and kills cancer cells. Multiple studies and Universities are now testing tumeric to determine it's affect in various types of cancer.

More Good Foods to Eat

You may have noticed that my list here of healthy foods, with the exception of the first one, sardines, the rest have all been vegetables. Well they are the healthiest foods. Beside today, I have one more vegetable to talk about. Today I'm going to talk about brussel sprouts. You know, those tiny little cabbages.

Growing up my mother did what most people do to brussel sprouts. They cook them into oblivion! They should be tender, but not mushy!

Brussel sprouts contain a compound called glucosinolate which has cancer fighting properties. In fact brussel sprouts contain the highest amount of this compound. Additionally, they contian Vitamin A, B1, B6, C, and K, and folate.

Hint, when you cook them, try tossing them in some olive oil, garlic and salt and then bake them. The less water involved in the cooking the better.

More Healthy Foods

My food for today is broccoli. Yes, I know we have had presidents who don't like it. But the fact is that broccoli contains lots of antioxidants and is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. Broccoli has anti-cancer properties and contains Vitamins A, C, & K as well as folate and fiber. It is a great source of fiber.

Additionally, broccoli has properties that kill Helicobacter pylori (H pylori). H pylori plays a role in stomach ulcers and stomach cancer.

Eating it raw is great because all of the nutrients are there. But you can also cook it, steam it, or add it to casseroles, chili, sloppy joes and soups.

A word about the Vitamin K. If you eat broccoli on a regular basis say 2-3 times per week and you are pu on coumadin or warfarin, continue to eat the broccoli just as you have. While it will interfer with the coumadin, your dose will be adjusted by the doctor according to blood tests. It is far better to continue eating the broccoli that to stop it because of coumadin. Just be consistant with how much you eat each week.

Sucralose

I was talking about sucralose yesterday and I want to give you more information about this artificial sweetener. I mentioned the problem with chlorine yesterday, but there are other problems with this product. One of the most significant findings in the research is the shrinking of the thymus gland as well as shrinking of the lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus. This is all part of your immune system. So what is happening here is that sucralose affects your immune system decreasing it's abilit to function properly.

Is this important? Yes, by all means! Without a strong immune system your body is not only unable to fight off disease, but it also cannot win the fight against cancer cells which are in our bodies every day of our lives. The reason that most of us don't get cancer is because of our immune system.

Sucralose also affects the liver and kidneys, which in turn affect our ability to produce red cells to carry oxygen around our bodies. It can also affect pregnancy and your unborn child.

Lastly, sucralose can result in diarrhea. Not a lethal problem, but certainly an unpleasant one.

One last thought here for the diabetics out there. Sucralose is not the answer for you. Studies have shown that the hemaglobin A1C actually rises. This blood test is an indicator of glycemic control and we know that as it rises so does the number complications for diabetics.

Sugars and Sugar Substitutes

There is a lot of controversy over what to use, a sugar substitute or real sugar. I was asked this recently and so I want to give you my thoughts. First, let's talk about the big three substitutes, saccharin, aspartame and sucralose. The first of these to hit the market was saccharin back in 1957, so it has been around a long time. There is lots of research out there and most of it says the saccharin increases the risk of cancer.

Aspartame was introduced as being superior to saccharin, however, it too has been shown in research studies to increase the risk of cancer. About 17 years after aspartame came sucralose, which is not the safest substitute out there by any means.

Sucralose is manufactured by chlorinating sugar. Now my first problem here is that we don't need more chlorine in our bodies competing with our thyroid gland. I'll talk more about this tomorrow.

Red Meat - the Cons

Because of the saturated fats found in many cuts of red meat, the medical community as cautioned us against eating it. Saying that it will increase the LDL cholesterol and triglycerides and in turn increasing your chance of heart disease. While I follow their logic here, I do not agree that cholesterol is the issue. I believe the issue is inflammation not the cholesterol.

The medical community also states that red meat consumption is associated with higher rates of colon cancer, gallstones, and gout. The interesting thing here is that gout is an inflammation caused by uric acid crystals in a joint.

I would not and do not feel guilty about eating red meat. If some of the things above are concerning to you, then buy lean cuts of meat like sirloin. You could also eat venison, ostrich or buffalo. Game meats tend to have much lower fat content and also less calories.

Soy

You may not have grown up eating soy, but there are lots of products in the stores these days made from soy. And as usual there is controversy over whether soy is good or bad. So today I will go over some of the positive things about soy and tomorrow I will hit some of the bad things about soy.

Probably the best thing about soy is that it is an excellent low fat protein source. But this is just one of it's features. Soy also contains minerals like iron, zinc and calcium. The true health benefit of soy is in the isoflavons it contains. Isoflavons are similar in chemical structure to our own estrogen.

Isoflavons help women combat the symptoms of memopause, as well as improve bone health, decrease heart disease risk, reduce cancer risk, and protect against prostate problems.

Decreasing Your Cancer Risk

We all have cancer cells in our bodies every day. However, our immune system recognizes them as not normally part of us and destroys them. So keeping the immune system absolutely as strong as you can is the most important thing you can do.

There are some other things you can do to decrease your exposure or risk from cancer causing chemicals. Some of the chemicals to avoid are sodium nitrite found in processed meats (hot dogs, bacon, sausage, etc.) and artificial chemical sweeteners. You should also be aware of the chemicals found in personal care items like shampoo, soaps and lotions. You will absorb these chemicals through the skin and they can be just as harmful as those that you ingest.

The World Cancer Research Fund promotes healthy foods and exercise as a way of decreasing the risk of cancer.