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New Years Resolutions

January 2nd, 2013

NewYearsResolutionResizeAt this time of year, everyone is making their New Years Resolutions. But how many of you keep them. According to Forbes Just 8% of People Achieve Their New Year’s Resolutions. How do they do it. They Keep it simple!

Many people use the New Year as an opportunity to make large bucket lists or attempt extreme makeovers, whether personal or professional. The average person is being pulled in so many directions that this type of approach is doomed to failure. This year keep your resolution simple. Pick one and stick to it. Use social media to make you accountable. Post your goals on facebook or blog about it. Here are some great examples I found on the internet to get you started.

1. Get out of debt.
After a woman named Anna Newell Jones ran more than $23,600 into debt, she made a New Year’s resolution to work her way out of it–and publicly. As part of that effort, Newell Jones launched a blog, And Then We Saved, to chronicle her attempt to go from shopaholic to spendthrift; in less than a year and a half, she’d paid off her debt.

2. Get Fit
Kathy Johnson, 50, of Royal Oak, Mich., discovered that last year. Starting March 1, inspired by another friend, she decided to use Facebook not just as a tool for her marketing company, but as an informal support group for her fitness goals. Whenever she went to work out, she reported it as a status update.

The “You go, girl!” comments — usually two or three per update — buoyed her. And if she skipped a day or two, the questions about what was going on did too.

“I’d see people who I’m Facebook friends with,” Johnson said, “and if I hadn’t posted anything lately, they’d say, ‘Are you still working out?’ ”

It was those questions and support that especially kept her motivated and helped her drop two sizes to a 6.

3. Be more creative
Megan O’Neill used tumbler to keep her New Years resolution. In 2011 She planned to embark on one creative project per week and launched a Tumblr blog to keep track of her progress. Each time She completed a creative project She posted text, pictures, and/or video to the Tumblr and was overwhelmed by the positive feedback She got as a result.

“The fact that I was keeping track of my resolution publicly, and getting support from my friends via this public tracking, encouraged me to keep going. Although I only managed to complete 40 creative projects in 2011 I still felt very good about what I accomplished, and I’ll always have the record of my resolution to look back at on Tumblr.”

4. Quit Smoking
Many people prefer to quit on their own, but they’re looking for a bit more help and guidance. Tobacco Free Florida has an online program called the Web Coach® that has proven to work for many people.

This free online program helps you create a personalized web-based quit plan that you follow at your own pace and in private. Motivational and educational e-mails will be sent to you throughout your quit plan.

For more information about the program, visit:
www.quitnow.net

What ever your New Years resolution is, support is the key to accomplishing that goal. A friend of mine posted in facebook today that it had been a while since he made a New Years Resolution. Like most of us the laundry list was too large and he ultimately lost focus. He decided to keep it simple this year and resolve himself to one thing. Being Better. A better husband, father, friend, etc. He posted it on facebook to be accountable. As one of his friends I will help support him, and check in from time to time to see remind him of his goal.

Set a one goal this year. Let me know what it is so I can help support you in that goal. Happy New Years!

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Integrative Oncology

November 19th, 2012

Donna Karan and Keely Garfield
photo by Everett Meissner

Plato said, “The part can never be well unless the whole is well.” The team of doctors, technicians and staff at The Farber Center for Radiation Oncology take this maxim pretty seriously, and so not long ago they welcomed Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Integrative Therapy program (UZIT) into their midst, actualizing their faith in integrative medicine and the power of combined healthcare strategies towards optimal wellbeing. As the clinical coordinator for the UZIT program, I have witnessed the program’s astounding growth over these months. It continues to unfold and blossom in the perfectly tended soil of this medical oasis through the careful cultivation of everyone who has worked to give it life. This includes the UZIT volunteers and the patients themselves who have listened to their doctors’ urgings to try an UZIT session. For this, they are rewarded with a truly integrated healing experience in an environment of collaborative care.

What is an UZIT session? Generally scheduled right after radiation treatment, it provides one-on-one time with an integrative therapist and usually lasts approximately 30 to 45 minutes. Sessions combine gentle yoga, restorative yoga, breath awareness, meditation, aromatherapy, reiki and contemplative care to address a variety of symptoms including pain, anxiety, nausea, insomnia, constipation and exhaustion. Initially, most patients seek relief from stress and fatigue, wanting to feel more relaxed, and also have more energy. What they discover is a way to help themselves during and after cancer treatments as they go back to their lives with new and simple tools they can use daily. The techniques they learn help them to breath easier, deal with tension, and alleviate pain and discomfort. They begin to realize the importance of self-care and are empowered to make postive changes in their lifestyles beyond recovery. Indeed, they discover, as one great teacher put it, “The land of healing lies within, radiant with the happiness that is blindly sought in a thousand outer directions.”

How does it work? Essentially, our nervous systems are working overtime and the body cannot tell the difference between “good” stress and “bad” stress. Reacting to this or that, the body ratchets up the load of sugars, fats, and hormones such as cortisol we need to take action. We never get a chance to truly rest and recover. Most of us don’t get enough sleep and even when we do, true relaxation can be illusive. Integrative therapy is an invitation to practice active relaxation, amplifying the body’s own ability to repair and renew. Another outcome is the sense of power to be found in regaining control over our lives as we begin to see ourselves as participants in our healing journeys, cure or no.

On a typical day at Farber I can be found working with patients perhaps leading a chair-yoga sequence to boost energy, offering reiki to restore balance, using essential oils such as grapefruit or peppermint to assuage nausea or dizziness, meticulously folding blankets to create a restorative pose that will ease back pain, teaching someone how to stand in tree pose to help focus the mind, guiding another through a body-scan meditation or practicing simply for the joy of it! Being with my patients and holding the space for whatever needs to arise or fall away is vital.

A decade ago, I lived near-by The Farber Center and was caught up in the terrible events of 9/11 that ultimately precipitated my own journey back to life. To be on this turf again, now sharing all of the potent therapeutics that have helped me and that I so passionately believe in, feels like a miracle. My patients share my gratitude and awe for this work, and together we acknowledge the The Farber Center for Radiation Oncology for its leadership, compassion, and vision in creating a home for Urban Zen Integrative Therapy.

Many Bows,
Keely Garfield

Keely Garfield is a certified E-RYT 500 and an Urban Zen Integrative Therapist (UZIT). Having acquired her clinical training at Beth Israel Medical Center, Keely is currently the clinical coordinator for the UZIT program at The Farber Center for Radiation Oncology where she is also an UZIT therapist. Additionally, Keely holds a BA and an MFA in choreography,and her path has been shaped by her work as an acclaimed choreographer and dancer. Keely is also blessed by being the mother of two beautiful beings.

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Posted in Bladder Cancer, Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Head and Neck Cancer, Lung Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Parotid Cysts, Prostate Cancer, Skin Cancer, Uncategorized

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What does Pinktober mean?

October 24th, 2012

Some say that Pinktober ignores breast cancer patients who can’t be cured. Some feel that Pinktober is the barrage of pink-themed promotions, events and activities that seem to highlight early detection — and stress that cancer detected early is almost certainly curable.

But are those facts really true? According to the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network, 155,000 women and men in the United States have metastatic breast cancer, or cancer that spreads, and some 40,000 die each year. Up to 30 percent of women who survive early-stage breast cancer will eventually find it in their lungs, brain, liver or bones. Some are diagnosed with metastatic cancer from the start.

The focus on the pink ribbon seems to be on those who have beaten the disease. What about those who are living with this disease, who have no cure? Who is going to raise awareness for them?

The Metastatic Breast Cancer network is trying to change that. MBCN is a national, independent, nonprofit, patient advocacy group dedicated to the unique concerns of the women and men living with metastatic breast cancer . They strive to help those living with stage IV breast cancer be their own best advocate through providing education and information on treatments and coping with the disease. Their mission is to raise awareness of metastatic breast cancer by putting a public face on the metastatic experience. They give those living with stage IV disease a greater voice and visibility in the breast cancer community, the medical community, the research community, and with the public-at-large.

Please click here to get the patient/advocate kit: Patient/Advocate Awareness Kit! you can click here to download 13 facts about metastatic breast cancer 13_Facts_About_Metastatic_Breast_Cancer

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Marijuana linked to testicular cancer

September 10th, 2012

Scientists at the University of Southern California say they’ve detected a link between recreational marijuana use and a greater chance among young males of contracting a particularly dangerous form of testicular cancer called non-seminoma tumors, according to a small study published this month online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Victoria Cortessis, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC in Los Angeles and her colleagues analyzed the self-reported recreational drug use of 163 young men who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer. Among those patients who acknowledged indulging in pot, just over half (51 percent) told medical researchers they puffed or ingested cannabis more than once per week.

The team then compared the illegal drug histories of 163 men ages 18 to 35 who were diagnosed with testicular cancer between 1986 and 1991 with the lifestyle habits of 292 healthy men of the same age and ethnicity. Inside the data, they saw that men who had used marijuana recreationally were twice as likely to develop mixed-germ-cell tumors, including the deadlier non-seminona tumors.

It’s not clear how marijuana may increase testicular cancer risk. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, binds to cannabinoid receptors in the body, which are present in the brain as well as the gonads. THC may impair testicular health by disrupting the signals of the compounds that normally bind to cannbinoid receptors, the researchers said.

There are those that disagree with the findings pointing out that the rates of testicular cancer in California didn’t increase in the 1960s and 1970s when pot use went up. Also arguing that If there was a true cause and effect relationship you would see a increase in testicular cancer rates associated with greater use of cannabis.

This study is in contrast to a recenter study that showed marijuana helped with cancer. Clearly more research needs to be done. Madrid Study

The recommendation is that if you are using marijuana medicinally, you should understand all the risks and benefits. Talk to your doctor.

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Posted in Prostate Cancer, Uncategorized

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How To Prevent Cancer

August 15th, 2012

The data out there is that as many as 70% of known causes of cancers are avoidable and related to lifestyle. Of course, your first line of defense is to avoid tobacco products. But here are a few more tips that you might not know about.

1. Lose 10 lbs. Acccording to the American Cancer Society, being overweight or obese accounts for 20% of all cancer deaths among women and 14% among men. Did you know that even if you’re not technically overweight, gaining just 10 pounds after the age of 30 increases your risk of developing breast, pancreatic, and cervical, among other cancers.

2. Marinate your meat. Processed, charred, and well-done meats can contain cancer-causing heterocyclic amines, which form when meat is seared at high temperatures, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which get into food when it’s charcoal broiled. If you do grill, add rosemary and thyme to your favorite marinade and soak meat for at least an hour before cooking. The antioxidant-rich spices can cut HCAs by as much as 87%, according to research at Kansas State University.

3. Walk it off. Moderate exercise such as brisk walking 2 hours a week cuts risk of breast cancer 18%. Regular workouts may lower your risks by helping you burn fat, which otherwise produces its own estrogen, a known contributor to breast cancer.

4. Get immunized. Cancer prevention includes protection from certain viral infections. Talk to your doctor about immunization against: Hepatitis B. Hepatitis B can increase the risk of developing liver cancer. The hepatitis B vaccine is routinely given to infants. It’s also recommended for certain high-risk adults — such as adults who are sexually active but not in a mutually monogamous relationship, men who have sex with men, and health care or public safety workers who might be exposed to infected blood or body fluids.
Human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that can lead to cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine is available to both men and women age 26 or younger who didn’t have the vaccine as an adolescent.

5. Avoid carcinogens in cosmetics. Use EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database to find products free of chemicals known or suspected to cause cancer. When you’re shopping, don’t buy products that list ingredients with “PEG” or “-eth” in their name (chemicals often tainted with contaminants linked to cancer).

6. Eat a plant based diet. The best diet for preventing or fighting cancer is a predominantly plant-based diet that includes a variety of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. A plant-based diet means eating mostly foods that come from plants: vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, and beans.

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Posted in Bladder Cancer, Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Head and Neck Cancer, Lung Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Parotid Cysts, Prostate Cancer, Skin Cancer, Uncategorized

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Is Your Sunscreen Safe

May 16th, 2012

Twenty-five percent of 800 tested sunscreens are effective at protecting your skin without the use of potentially harmful ingredients, according to the 2012 Sunscreen Guide released Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group.

To make the watchdog group’s safe list, sunscreens must be free of oxybenzone, retinyl palmitate (a type of vitamin A), not have SPF above 50 and protect against UVA and UVB sunrays. Although The American Academy of Dermatology says oxybenzone is safe. “Oxybenzone is one of the few FDA-approved ingredients that provides effective broad spectrum protection from UV radiation, and has been approved for use since 1978,” said Dr. Daniel M. Siegel, president of the academy. The Environmental Working Group and other toxicology experts believe that oxybenzone is linked to hormone disruption and potentially to cell damage that may lead to skin cancer. The Environmental Working Group says 56% of beach and sport sunscreens contain the chemical oxybenzone. The primary function of oxybenzone is to absorb ultraviolet light, but some research shows oxybenzone can be absorbed through the skin. The Environmental Working Group also warns consumers to avoid retinyl palminate. Government-funded studies have found that this particular type of vitamin A may increase risk of skin cancer when used on sun-exposed skin. However, these reports have been in mice and evidence has been inconclusive for humans.

Understanding SPF:
SPF is a measure of a sunscreen’s ability to prevent UVB from damaging the skin. Here’s how it works: If it takes 20 minutes for your unprotected skin to start turning red, using an SPF 15 sunscreen theoretically prevents reddening 15 times longer — about five hours. Studies show that sunscreen with SPF 15 can block about 93% of all incoming UVB rays. SPF 30 blocks 97%. SPF 50 blocks 98%. A product with SPF 100+ blocks about 99.1 percent of the UVB rays. The Environmental Working Group said consumers should not purchase sunscreens with SPF greater than 50. SPF (sun protection factor) works by absorbing, reflecting or scattering the sun’s rays on the skin.

You can go to the site and see if your sunscreen is listed or to find a sunscreen that is safe and will work for you EWG list

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Skin Cancer Awareness Month

May 2nd, 2012

Did you know that skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States? More than 3.5 million skin cancers in over two million people are diagnosed annually. Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common form of skin cancer. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common form of skin cancer, followed by Melanoma, which is the most common form of cancer for young adults 25-29 years old and the second most common form of cancer for young people 15-29 years old. Facts to know about tanning:

  • Frequent tanners using new high-pressure sunlamps may receive as much as 12 times the annual UVA dose compared to the dose they receive from sun exposure. 1
  • Ten minutes in a sunbed matches the cancer-causing effects of 10 minutes in the Mediterranean summer sun. 2
  • Indoor ultraviolet (UV) tanners are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those who have never tanned indoors. 3
  • People who use tanning beds are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma. 4

What can you do to prevent skin cancer:

  • Do not burn
  • Avoid tanning and UV tanning booths
  • Use a broad spectrum (UVA/UVB) sunscreen
  • Examine your skin
Check out our previous post on skin cancer treatment: click HERE

1. Report on Carcinogens, Eleventh Edition; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Link. Accessed January 24, 2011.

2. World Health Organization. Sunbeds. World Health Organization. 2010. Link. Accessed October 25, 2010.
3. Lazovich D, Vogel RI, Berwick M, Weinstock MA, Anderson KE, Warshaw EM. Indoor tanning and risk of melanoma: a case-control study in a highly-exposed population. Cancer Epidem Biomar Prev 2010 June; 19(6):1557-1568.
4. Karagas MR, Stannard VA, Mott LA, Slattery MJ, Spencer SK, and Weinstock MA. Use of tanning devices and risk of basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers. J Natl Cancer Inst 2002; 94:224; doi:10.1093/jnci/94.3.224.

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FACTS about HPV

April 20th, 2012

HPV virus

HPVs, also called human papillomaviruses, are a group of more than 150 related viruses. More than 40 of these viruses can be easily spread through direct skin-to-skin contact during vaginal, anal, and oral sex. Some types of HPV can cause genital warts. Other types can cause cancers of the penis, anus, or oropharynx (back of the throat, including base of the tongue and tonsils.) HPV types 6 and 11 cause 90 percent of all genital warts.

Did you know that virtually all cervical cancers are caused by HPV infections? Types 16 and 18 are responsible for about 70 percent of all cases of cervical cancer (1). HPV also causes anal cancer. 85 percent of all anal cases are caused by HPV-16. Close to half of vaginal, vulvar, and penile cancers are caused by HPV types 16 and 18(2). Its only recently, HPV infections have been found to cause cancer of the oropharynx, which is the middle part of the throat including the soft palate, the base of the tongue, and the tonsils.

In the United States, more than half of the cancers diagnosed in the oropharynx are linked to HPV-16 (3). Oral HPV infection is more common among men than women, explaining why men are more prone than women to develop an HPV related head and neck cancer.

To understand the factors associated with infection, data was collected from 5,579 men and women who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 2009 and 2010. It was found that 7 percent of the U.S. population between ages 14 and 69 had an oral HPV infection, with the infection being three times more common in men than women, 10.1 percent vs. 3.6 percent, respectively.

About 1 percent of the population had an HPV 16 infection, with it being five times more common in men than women, correlating with the higher incidence of HPV-related cancer in men than women. Researchers do not yet know why the infection is more common in men than women. Patients infected with oral HPV type 16 have a 14 times greater risk of developing one of these cancers.

How can people learn more about HPVs and HPV infections?

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1–800–CDC–INFO (1–800–232–4636)
1–800–877–8339 (TTY)
English- and Spanish-speaking specialists are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
cdc.gov/hpv

1) Schiffman M, Castle PE, Jeronimo J, Rodriguez AC, Wacholder S. Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer. Lancet 2007; 370(9590):890–907.
2) Watson M, Saraiya M, Ahmed F, et al. Using population-based cancer registry data to assess the burden of human papillomavirus-associated cancers in the United States: overview of methods. Cancer 2008; 113(10 Suppl):2841–2854.
3) Jayaprakash V, Reid M, Hatton E, et al. Human papillomavirus types 16 and 18 in epithelial dysplasia of oral cavity and oropharynx: a meta-analysis, 1985–2010. Oral Oncology 2011; 47(11):1048–1054.

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Posted in Head and Neck Cancer, Uncategorized

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Oral Head and Neck Cancer

April 3rd, 2012

April is Oral Head and Neck Cancer Awareness. The Farber Center for Radiation Oncology will be offering free screenings on April 26th by appointment only. Please reach out to Vivian at 212 300-0663 if you would like to schedule an appointment.

Over the past decade, an increasing number of young, non-smokers have developed mouth and throat cancer. Recent research could explain the increase of oral cancer incidence in young adults, a group traditionally at low risk. This phenomenon has been at least partly attributed to the rise of the human-papillomavirus (HPV), a cancer-causing virus that can be transmitted through oral sex. Though oral cancers associated with the papilloma virus are still relatively rare, they typically are found near the base of the tonsils and the back of the tongue, areas that are often difficult to see during visual screenings until the cancer is in a late stage. An early indication of oral and throat cancer is one or more changes in the way the soft tissues of your mouth usually look or feel.

Signs and symptoms may include:
A sore in your mouth that doesn’t heal or increases in size
Persistent pain in your mouth
Lumps or white, red or dark patches inside your mouth
Thickening of your cheek
Difficulty chewing or swallowing or moving your tongue
Difficulty moving your jaw, or swelling or pain in your jaw
Soreness in your throat or feeling that something is caught in your throat
Pain around your teeth, or loosening of your teeth
Numbness of your tongue or elsewhere in your mouth
Changes in your voice
A lump in your neck
Bad breath
Most oral cancers arise on the lips, tongue or on the floor of the mouth. They also may occur inside your cheeks, on your gums or on the roof of your mouth.

Peter Tork formally of the monkeys talks about his battle with cancer and promotes OHANCAW® 2012.

Read the Good Morning America piece on the HPV oral cancer link

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Posted in Head and Neck Cancer, Uncategorized

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Evidence Links Meat to Higher Risk for Colon Cancer

March 14th, 2012

The World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) along with the Continuous Update Project (CUP), examined the relation between the risk for colorectal cancer and diet, physical activity, and weight. The result was a report that has confirmed that red and processed meat increases the risk for colorectal cancer.

What they found in these studies is that 45% of colorectal cancer cases could be prevented if people consumed more fiber-rich plant foods, consumed less meat and alcohol, became more physically active, and maintained a healthy weight. That would prevent more than 64,000 cases in the United States every year.

The World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research recommend that the consumption of red meat be limited to 500 g/week, which is roughly the equivalent of 5 or 6 medium portions of beef, lamb, or pork. They also recommend that processed meat be avoided.

According to their data, if 3.5 ounces of red meat are consumed every day (24.5 ounces per week), the risk for colorectal cancer will be 17% higher than if no red meat is consumed. If the amount of red meat consumed is doubled (7.0 ounces every day; 49 ounces per week), the risk is 34% higher. However, the evidence found that there was very little increase in risk for individuals who ate less than 18 ounces of red meat per week.

The cancer risk associated with processed meat, which includes ham, bacon, pastrami, hot dogs, and sausages, was much higher. Consuming 3.5 ounces every day (24.5 ounces per week) was associated with a risk that is 36% higher than the risk of consuming no processed meat. As with red meat, the higher the rate of consumption, the higher the risk for colorectal cancer.

You can download the full report here: REPORT

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Posted in Colorectal Cancer, Uncategorized

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