How to Prolong Life after Cancer

Based on new recommendations from the American Cancer Society, by living a healthy lifestyle, individuals who have overcome cancer can extend their lives—especially those with breast, colorectal or prostate cancer. Colleen Doyle, the Cancer Society’s director of nutrition and physical activity, provides the keys to prolonging life after cancer:

1.     Eat right

a.       Lots of fruits

b.      Lots of vegetables

c.       Mainly whole grains

d.      Lean protein

2.     Exercise

a.       Walking or other aerobic activity most days of the week

3.     Maintain normal weight

a.       Within normal range



Photo Credit: Art Fitness Training

Cancer Survivors might face other conditions

Individuals with cancer have a greater chance of developing other cancers, and could possibly be more likely to develop chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and osteoporosis, said Nagi Kumar, Director of Cancer Chemoprevention at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla.

“Many survivors are not going to die of cancer anymore,” Kumar said. “They are going to have problems with obesity, metabolic syndrome and other diseases that are very common in the U.S. anyway, and this is a little bit more vulnerable group.”

“It’s really important to be obsessive about what they do for themselves,” Nagi said. “Give it your all: do yoga, get more flexible, eat right. Become very obsessive about what you’re putting in your body.”

Be sure to check out our blog on Wednesdays to get new ideas for how to eat right and stay healthy. This week's Health Tip was on the benefits of black beans and included a recipe for a spicy black bean burrito. To read it, click here.  

Resources

Go to Health Day: For more information about this article by Jenifer Goodwin

The U.S. National Cancer Institute: For more ways to live a healthy lifestyle that can help prevent cancer

Rethink Breast Cancer: Your Man Reminder App

If you’ve heard of the Canadian-based breast cancer charity, Rethink Breast Cancer, then you’ve heard of “Your Man Reminder.” Rethink Breast Cancer was initiated by a couple of young women who were affected by breast cancer and realized that their needs were different from those of older women with breast cancer.

As a new way to reach out to and get young women educated and aware about breast cancer, Rethink came up with the creative and fresh idea to use extremely hot men to remind women to be breast aware - all through an app on their smart phones. Essentially, you can choose a man of your preference to give you monthly breast exam reminders. When the campaign was publicized, the video got over two million views and more than seventy thousand downloads of the app.

To get your very own hot guy reminders, download the app here!

Rethink Breast Cancer. Your breasts are in your hands!

Funding & Service Update

Thank you for your amazing support and encouragement over these past few months! It is with great happiness that we announce that, effective October 15^th, Moveable Feast was able to return our clients to full service.  While the federal financial delays created a lot of initial uncertainty, they also forced us to reevaluate our priorities and services, which have resulted in a few noteworthy changes:

1.       Moveable Feast will make the move that many Association of Nutrition Service Agencies (ANSA) programs have done to reduce grocery foods and provide a more healthy and nutritious balance of prepared foods, groceries and fresh produce. This will result in a 30% increase in our meal production and a decreased distribution of canned goods.

2.       Clients demonstrating the greatest need will receive 18 prepared meals, delivered twice weekly.

3.       Other clients will receive 12 prepared meals per week consisting of lunch and dinner entrees, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables as available.

4.       Children and caregivers will be added back to service on an individual need basis.

 With these adjustments, we believe we can better serve our clients and assure the fulfillment of our mission. Thank you for proving how strong and enthusiastic a support base we really have here at Moveable Feast.

Only together can we FEED people | FIGHT disease | FOSTER hope.

Aromatase Inhibitors: Effective, Yet Possibly Hard to Obtain

A recent study suggests that taking drugs called aromatase inhibitors could be an effective, safer way of preventing breast cancer onset in high-risk women. 

In fact, the study said that taking aromatase inhibitors reduced risk by 65%. 

The study was conducted on over 4,500 high-risk women across the United States, Canada, France, and Spain by Canadian scientists. The results of the study were definitive early-on; 32 women taking placebos got cancer while only 11 on aromatase inhibitors, after just halfway through the study.

Aromasin, one of a few brands of aromatase inhibitor drug.

Aromatase inhibitors do not carry many of the side effects associated with other breast-cancer-preventing drugs, such as uterine cancer and blood clots. (However, some long-term effects are not known, and some doctors question medicating high-risk but otherwise perfectly healthy women.)

Sadly, high insurance copayments may be preventing women from obtaining this possibly life-saving drug. Studies show that women who pay high copays for AI treatment are more likely to stop the treatment prematurely.

Heart & Sole Stroll - This Sunday!

For years, Moveable Feast has partnered with the Red Devils to feed Marylanders living with breast cancer.

This Sunday, June 12th, 2011, come out and support the Red Devils in their annual walk-a-thon, the Heart and Sole Stroll, held at Goucher College in Towson. 

"Every dollar you raise helps fund essential support services for breast cancer patients and their families. $35 will help pay for one ride for treatment...$85 will cover one house cleaning...$125 will help pay a patient’s prescription drug co- payment...$300 will buy meals and groceries for a family."

Registration is just $35 and includes a commemorative T-Shirt. Click here to visit the registration page, and hope to see you at the Stroll on Sunday!

The Red Devils was founded to honor the courage, grace and humor of two young women, Jessica Cowling and Ginny Schardt, who refused to be defined by breast cancer. Jessica died in July 2002 and Ginny in August 2002 at the ages of 31 and 44. Jessica and Ginny’s struggle made them aware of the important role support services provide to individuals undergoing treatment for the disease. Today, The Red Devils works in partnership with 37 hospitals and medical facilities throughout Maryland and with more than four dozen service providers. We are committed to lessening the burdens of the disease by improving the quality of life for patients and their families. Support is available to anyone with breast cancer living in or being treated in Maryland.

Recovery through Gardening

Breast cancer recovery can be a long and difficult path - here at Moveable Feast, we see this firsthand every day. But there is good news - gardening can help increase patient stamina, mental well-being and physical recovery, according to new studies.

Getting down & dirty in the soil is therapeutic and relieves stress and anxiety. Furthermore, being outside in nature and getting enough sunlight and exercise helps to speed patient recovery. 

Nationwide, gardening therapy programs are cropping up everywhere for cancer patients.

Here at Moveable Feast, our gardens also help breast cancer patients recover - but in a different way. We grow a variety of fruits and vegetables and use them in our nutritious meals and groceries. Join us for our first official Moveable Feast Garden Day on the morning of Friday, May 20th, 2011. Contact Sara McClean for more information! 

Moveable Feast Receives $75K from KomenMD

We just received these pictures and wanted to share! In case you didn't hear about it, in the beginning of April, the Komen Maryland Affiliate granted us $75,000 to continue our services to breast cancer patients.

Here are some pictures of Ted accepting the check.

Lymph Node Surgery?

Some radical news from the laboratories of breast cancer research and treatment. 

A recent study of almost 900 women with breast cancer suggests that complete lymph node removal may not be necessary. 

If women meet certain criteria, surgically removing lymph nodes has no proven benefit. The patients in the study survived at the same rate regardless of whether or not their lymph nodes were completely removed. 

Many doctors now believe that chemotherapy, drugs, and radiation can fully kill the cancer in lymph nodes, thereby eliminating the need for surgery. 

And surgical removal of lymph nodes can have many negative side effects, including infection, loss of movement, abnormal sensations, and painful lymphedema. 

This discovery is being called "radical," "practice-changing," and a "big deal in the world of breast cancer." 

Of course, more research and study is required, but we're happy to hear that breast cancer patients may not need to go under the knife as often as we thought!

Diabetics and Breast Cancer

Researchers contributing to the Journal of Clinical Oncology have found that breast cancer patients with pre-existing diabetes had a higher mortality rate. 

In fact, they were 50% more likely to die than patients without diabetes. 

Researchers have not yet figured out exactly why diabetes contributes to breast cancer mortality, but they have some ideas: 

• Women with Type-II diabetes tend to have their breast cancer diagnosed later than women without diabetes.
• Diabetes weakens the body, making it more susceptible to bad side effects of chemotherapy.
• Doctors are less willing to use aggressive cancer treatments on diabetics because they are apt to have negative health effects overall.
• Type-II diabetes often causes obesity and elevated insulin levels, which may have an impact on the breast cancer.

Here at Moveable Feast, we see and understand the health complications that our breast cancer clients can face. We are glad we can help provide nutritious meals and dietetic advice to improve their health and ability to battle cancer. 

Yes, Real Men Wear Pink.

Moveable Feast partners with the Maryland Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure to feed women and their families living with breast cancer.

But men can get breast cancer too. On Sunday, March 20th, join brothers, fathers, husbands, sons, etc. as they gather at Max's Taphouse for the REAL MEN WEAR PINK fundraiser, complete with drink specials, cool guy raffle prizes, and lots of male bonding.

All funds raised will be donated to Komen Maryland.

Click to enlarge

Moveable Feast at the Komen Appreciation Reception

On Thursday, March 3rd, Moveable Feast development staff attended the annual appreciation reception for the Maryland Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The event was held at the Marriott in Hunt Valley, MD. It was great to see all the supporters and representatives of partner organizations all gathered in one location. We enjoyed the evening very much.

Bottom Line: Smoking is Unhealthy

In January, researchers found that women who smoked heavily before hitting menopause had a slightly greater chance of developing breast cancer.

The researchers looked at data for nearly 150,000 women over 30 years. The research was lauded for its large size, which made the results quite reliable.



Robert Pattinson smoking an electronic cigarette, which is not associated with any health risks. (c) Examiner.com

The researchers found that "pre-menopausal heavy smokers had a 6% increase in breast cancer malignancy."

Light or moderate smoking and second-hand smoke were not found as significant factors for cancer, however.

In the past, studies have suggested that smoking can help reduce levels of estrogen a hormone that can stimulate the onset of breast cancer. In fact, women have been known to smoke after menopause, thinking that it reduces the risk of breast cancer!

Research results about breast cancer and smoking have a long history of being conflicting and confusing. What's Moveable Feast's final conclusion about the topic? Not much is definitively known yet about how smoking affects breast cancer, and overall, it's better to not smoke.


P.S. Save the date for the Race for the Cure on Sunday, October 23rd, 2011, sponsored by the Maryland Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. 

P.P.S. Looking for something sooner to partake in? Consider going to Komen's "Many Faces of Breast Cancer 2011," on Saturday, March 26th. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, whose own mother was affected by breast cancer, will be the keynote speaker. 

Get Your Annual Mammogram

Remember back in 2009 when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) came out with those controversial new guidelines for getting yearly mammograms? For women in their 40s, they recommended against getting mammograms at all. And for women in their 50s, they recommended a biennial (once every 2 years) mammogram. The idea was that this would save women a lot of worry and hassle over most likely harmless lumps.

Well, researchers at UColorado and UMichigan have found something different. They found that annual mammograms starting at age 40 save 65,000 more women than if mammograms had been done every other year starting at age 50. 

In fact, annual mammograms starting at age 40 reduce mortality risk by 73%!

Sometimes the results of research can be scary. When the task force came out with their recommendations, many people didn't know who to listen to. Here at Moveable Feast, we recommend that you get your annual mammogram - it's better to be safe than sorry!

iPhone & Breast Cancer

Pretty cool news out of Annapolis - Severna Park. 

Teacher Richard Zmuda at the Severn School has created an iPhone app that compiles and distributes the latest information about breast cancer treatment, research, and initiatives.

Drawing off of his personal experiences with his wife's breast cancer, Zmuda knew that a big obstacle to patients today is easy and clear access to accurate information. So in the 1990s, he began writing an email newsletter that was distributed to a few area hospitals, doctors, and nonprofits. Local doctors praised his newsletter for its accuracy and helpfulness to patients. But he wanted to reach farther.

Now, with an iPhone app whose download costs a one-time fee of just 99 cents, anyone can access Zmuda's newsletters and their wealth of information.

Pretty cool. And now, with the iPhone being offered on the Verizon network, we're hopeful that Zmuda's app will become even more popular. The more you know, the better prepared you are to fight your disease.

Komen for Avastin

Last week, we wrote about the FDA's changed recommendation for using the injectable drug Avastin in treatment of breast cancer. 

Quite soon after the FDA released its new conclusions, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation sent out a very interesting letter to its supporters. We support Komen's stance. Below, some excerpts:

...We know that for some number of women, Avastin works and works well.  We are hearing from women who are gaining not just months, but years, with a high quality of life, from this treatment. This decision puts insurance coverage for Avastin for these women at serious risk, leaving them with no options. The entire Komen family must join together to speak with one voice as patient advocates on behalf of those women who do in fact benefit from its use.  We simply cannot leave them and their families with no recourse. And we don’t intend to.

...Our mission now is three-fold: to ensure that women have access to the drug, that insurance coverage for Avastin remains in place for women who are already benefitting, and encourage the development of biomarkers to determine who will benefit most effectively from the drug.

To those ends, Komen is asking the manufacturer to continue including Avastin in its patient access programs that provide drugs at low or no cost to individuals. We are also asking insurance companies and public payers to continue covering the drug for the women who are benefiting. And we are encouraging the manufacturer to step up biomarker research so the drug can be targeted to patients who will benefit.

We are advocating for these women because this is central to our promise – to deliver the cures, and to protect everyone in our Komen family...

FDA's Recommendation Against Avastin

On Thursday, the FDA revoked its 2008 recommendation that Avastin (bevacizumab) be used to treat breast cancer.

Avastin had been approved as an injectable drug in 2008 by the Food and Drug Administration. It was thought that, when combined with chemotherapy, Avastin would hamper the breast cancer from metastasizing to other areas of the body. 

However, recent studies suggest that Avastin has no effect on the spread of cancer in the body. 

These studies, combined with the fact that Avastin can cause life-threatening side effects (high blood pressure, bleeding, hemorrhaging, heart attack, and/or cardiac arrest) led the FDA to stop recommending the drug for breast cancer patients. 

Nevertheless, there is opposition from many fronts. Numerous breast cancer patients attribute their well-being to the drug. And of course, the manufacturer, Genentech, will file an appeal and proceed through all that bureaucracy.

It's times like these when we're especially glad to be feeding our breast cancer clients. Even when vital drugs may be called into question, Moveable Feast services will never falter. In 2010, we did not have to turn away a single client asking for help.

Linwoods (DOFL) helps The Red Devils

Great news from two great establishments that Moveable Feast works with! 

Linwoods Restaurant (in Owings Mills) participates in Dining Out For Life and raises a great deal of money to help feed Moveable Feast's clients. And we work with The Red Devils to provide meals to women living with breast cancer and their families. 

On Thursday, November 4th, Linwoods and the Red Devils held a very cool benefit event called "Paint the Town Red." It featured elaborate body painting and an auction, among other fundraisers. Read more about the event on WJZ.com.

Oh, and click here to subscribe to our blog posts by e-mail!

The dangers of HRT & the importance of Moveable Feast

Last week I read in both the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun about how hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal women drastically increased their chances of contracting deadly breast cancer.

The Women's Health Initiative has released a report documenting higher rates of breast cancer in women that took Prempro (a combination of the hormones estrogen and progestin). This study was extensive, as it followed over 12,000 women over a period of 11 years.


The most shocking finding was that, among the twelve thousand women: 

• 385 women who had invasive breast cancer had also taken HRT....
• ...compared to only 293 women who had invasive breast cancer without taking HRT.
  
• HRT increased the risk of having breast cancer spread to lymph nodes
• HRT doubled the chances of dying from breast cancer

There's still a great deal of controversy surrounding hormone replacement therapy & the added risks of contracting breast cancer. On the one hand, the increased risk of developing aggressive, invasive breast cancer seems obvious. Yet Yale endocrinologist Hugh Taylor says that HRT greatly improves the quality of life for those undergoing severe menopausal symptoms such as mood swings, greater irritability, personality changes, and decreased ability to focus and concentrate. 

Ultimately, to the regular woman, it seems that HRT will still be a judgment call made on an individual, case-by-case basis. The latest research and doctor's advice can only guide her decision.

There are so many causes - both known and still yet unknown - for the development of breast cancer. It will be a long time before the scientific and medical world knows all the factors that create additional risk. In all this uncertainty, I'm glad Moveable Feast is here to help those that suffer from breast cancer, and will be for many years to come.

NEWS BITES - Komen Maryland Race for the Cure 2010

The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Maryland was started in 1993 and has developed into the largest footrace in the state. Each year, it raises hundreds of thousands of dollars that are donated as grants to various breast cancer programs in Maryland. Moveable Feast is proud to be one of those programs, delivering food to people living with breast cancer.

This year’s Race for the Cure is on October 3rd, 2010. To learn more and to sign up, please visit http://komenmd.org. Komen Maryland needs YOUR help to continue raising money – there’s only a few weeks left before the Race!