Breast Cancer Prevention - 6 Lifestyle Tips

The following information is on Dr. Weil's Blog today.....

According to the American Cancer Society, every three minutes, on average, another woman learns she has breast cancer. The good news is that there are several strategies that can help reduce risk. Try incorporating the following lifestyle changes into your daily routine:

1. Get active. Regular physical activity (at least 30 minutes on most days) has been shown to be protective against breast cancer.
2. Maintain your health care. Early detection is key: in addition to monthly self examinations, women between ages 20 and 39 should have a clinical breast exam performed by a health care professional at least every three years; women 40 years of age or older should have annual breast exams and talk with their doctor about mammograms.
3. Supplement wisely. Folic acid, vitamin D and antioxidants all may help decrease risk.
4. Reduce exposure to xenoestrogens. These chemicals with estrogen-like activity are found in common pesticides and industrial pollutants and as hormone residues in meat, poultry and dairy products.
5. Avoid exposure to radiation. Limiting the number of chest X-rays you receive, especially at a young age, may decrease the risk of breast cancer.
6. Talk with your doctor. If you have close relatives with breast cancer, your personal risk is increased. Let your doctor know your family history, and discuss other ways you can help to prevent breast cancer.

Nutrition and Supplements

• Pay close attention to your diet. The original thought that breast cancer risk increased with a high-fat diet may have been too simple. There are several factors that we now believe are more closely associated with risk.
• Choose fats wisely. Studies have shown that women with a higher intake of olive oil have less breast cancer. Omega-3 fats, found in cold-water fish (especially wild salmon and sardines), freshly ground flaxseed and walnuts have also been associated with inhibiting the growth of breast tumors.
• Eat generous amounts of vegetables and fruit, which are loaded with cancer-protective phytochemicals. Our recommendation is 8 to 10 servings a day.
• Use freshly ground flaxseed or other sources of fiber every day. Diets that are high in fiber - lignins specifically – seem to increase the excretion of estrogen or modify the metabolism of estrogen and reduce the risk of breast cancer.
• Eat more soy. There has been some recent discussion on the possible negative effect of soy on risk of breast cancer, especially hormone receptor positive forms of the disease. Although the isoflavones in soy do have a mild estrogenic effect (they are able to bind to estrogen receptor sites in human tissue), soy foods also contain many cancer-protective substances. For this reason, and also because population studies have failed to show a relationship between soy consumption and increased risk of breast cancer, we recommend one serving of whole soy foods a day.
• Make green tea your beverage of choice. Green tea consumption is linked with lower incidence of many kinds of cancer.
• Drink very little, if any, alcohol. Alcohol consumption, even in modest amounts, is associated with increased risk of breast cancer.
• Take a multivitamin with folic acid, vitamin D and antioxidants. All these nutrients have been shown to be related to a reduced risk of breast cancer. Although the diet should be the primary source of most of these, a good daily supplement can help provide insurance that your intake is adequate.

Per Dr.Weil read the following book.....Breast Cancer, Reduce Your Risk with Food which was written by Robert Pendergrast, M.D., who teaches at the Medical College of Georgia.

Thought for Today....

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us. Alexander G Bell....

Our plan does not always work out, there are losses and failures, there are problems in relationships, loss of money or job, sometimes unpleasant things happen. We don’t always have control over these happenings, but we can control our attitude. When one of these things happens and we focus our attention on the loss – the closed door. If we could only look closer, we see only a closed door with the resultant loss and unhappiness, but if we could only move our sight and attention away from the closed door, we might be surprised to discover a row of new open doors.

It might not be so easy to move our eyes elsewhere due various reasons, such as attachment to the old and familiar, and fear of the new and the unknown.

Look to the open door and see the light...a new journey awaits you there.

Some things just make you smile....

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I saw this today and it just made me smile....I just laughed out loud.

An American Life ..The Greatest Generation

Below is an article from American Profile...

A smile breaks across the face of Jimmy Gentry, 81, as he stands before a sea of young faces at Bethesda Elementary School in Thompson’s Station, Tenn. (pop. 1,283). The captivated fifth-graders listen intently as Gentry shares his amazing story, or as he says, “the life of his generation.”

“I want you to close your eyes and imagine a time long ago,” Gentry begins. “I want to tell you a story about a little boy.” Like he’s done more than 100 times over the last 20 years for audiences around the nation, Gentry takes listeners back to the “simple, but wonderful times” of his childhood, when he would climb trees, swim in the Harpeth River, and catch squirrels and fish with his bare hands to help survive during the Great Depression.

“We didn’t have anything,” he says of his years growing up in Franklin, Tenn. (pop. 41,842). “But nobody else had anything, so we didn’t know any better. We had the best time in the whole world. And the reason I had such a good time was because of my momma. She would tell us, ‘You may not have the best clothes in the world, but you’ll have the cleanest.’”

Gentry was 12 when his father died, leaving his mother to raise nine children. “She gathered us kids around his coffin and said, ‘What you’ve left me with is worth more than all the gold in the world.’”

Gentry lived through significant times in American history: “I remember being at a drug store on Dec. 7, 1941. I was 16 years old and hanging out with a group of teenagers. Somebody said, ‘Be quiet and turn up the radio.’ There, for the first time, we heard that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. When we heard that, we put our unfinished Cokes down and walked out of the drugstore without saying a word.”

Students’ eyes widen as he describes his life as a 19-year-old foot soldier during World War II. “You’d walk all night, then you’d go to sleep walking,” he tells them. “You’d fall down and wake yourself up and keep on walking. Then you’d walk all day and all night again. The next day we reached the city of Wurzburg, Germany. That’s where the Germans were waiting for us.”

Near the end of his conversation with the students, Gentry pauses. “There are some things in here that are difficult to talk about, so I might cry,” he says, closing his eyes as he describes the events of April 29, 1945, the day he and fellow soldiers liberated Germany’s Dachau concentration camp.

“I remember seeing these faces,” he says of the camp’s survivors. “They’re staring out at me. They appeared to be dead.” Gentry is careful to not upset his young audience, but offers enough description so they understand the atrocities he witnessed.

Gentry’s story brings the textbook to life, says social studies teacher Melanie Dickson, 38. “I didn’t realize what a powerful impact he would have on us all,” she says. “History comes alive as the students realize that there are people who actually lived through these events. Several students said that they had a vivid image in their head of what life was like during the Great Depression and the trials faced during World War II.”

At the conclusion of his talk, Gentry fields questions from his young audience. “I have a question,” says a little girl in the corner. “Was the squirrel tasty?” Gentry laughs and replies, “If you’re hungry enough, you’ll eat a stick.”

You’ve got to tell your story
For 40 years after serving the nation in World War II, Gentry kept his war stories to himself: They were much too painful to retell. Instead, he focused on his career as a high school teacher and football coach, and on building a family with his wife and high school sweetheart, Rebecca—“the only girl I ever kissed.”

But in 1985, he received a call from a concentration camp survivor, asking if he would speak about what happened at Dachau. “I couldn’t do it,” Gentry recalls. “But the man asked if he could just meet me and shake my hand.”

The two met, and again the man asked if Gentry would share his story. “He said to me, ‘When you die, nobody will ever know anything about what happened.’” In 1986, Gentry worked up the courage to speak to a group of students at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. Since then, he has been asked to tell his story to civic groups, church congregations and schools in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, among others. He speaks because, “my conscience tells me that I should do it,” he says.

However, Gentry doesn’t just tell the story of his experience liberating Dachau. Instead, he tells the “story of an American life.” He often dedicates his talks to small towns, and spends much of his time reminiscing about his childhood.

Recalling an American life
“Everybody knew everybody else growing up,” Gentry says. “I remember the telephone numbers growing up were 1, 2, 3, 4. One time I called the operator, Lillian, and said, ‘Lillian, give me number 79.’ She said, ‘Jimmy, they’re not at home. They’ve gone to the grocery.’ She knew my voice, and she knew where they were. Everybody knew everybody.”

His stories often are met with amazement from his audience, as evidenced by the thousands of letters he’s received over the years. Katie Horton, a fifth-grader at Bethesda Elementary, wrote to Gentry: “I can’t wait to share your stories with friends and family. I think they will also be very interested and proud of all the things you have been through. You are a great speaker. I would love to hear more of your stories.”

Responses from students and friends prompted Gentry to write and publish his autobiography, titled An American Life, in 2002, which is dedicated to his wife, who died last year.

Sharon Kinser, 39, who has known Gentry since she was a kid, was thrilled when he wrote his autobiography. “It gives someone a glimpse into a life that is long gone, but has much to be desired,” she says. “And to know that you can read that and go talk to the person. It’s a real gift. He’s such a special man. He’s an American hero.”

Bringing simple times to life
Gentry does more than speak and write about the simple American life of his childhood; he helps kids re-create those times on his 400-acre Gentry’s Farm, which also is home to his three sons and five grandchildren. During harvest season the farm is open to groups who enjoy fall hayrides and picking pumpkins.

Each June for more than 30 years, Gentry’s Farm has been transformed into a summer camp for kids. “We pitch horseshoes, feed the chickens, we have a rope swing in the tree, play in the river and we tell stories,” Gentry says. “Just simple things and we do it without computers or television.”

Kinser attended the camp as a middle-school student and worked as a camp counselor during high school. “I had so much fun there,” she recalls. “We played checkers, horseshoes, and a highlight was capture the flag. We’d camp out by the river and tell ghost stories.”

This summer, her 8-year-old son, Wade, will attend his third year at the camp. “When he was born, I basically said, ‘You will be going to Gentry’s camp when you get old enough.’ He loves it.”

Gentry finds great joy in sharing the life he remembers, whether at his camp or in front of a classroom full of students. “My story could be someone else’s story in another part of America,” Gentry says. “It is an American life, and there aren’t too many of us left now to tell our story. I think it’s important to share it.”

Write to Gentry directly at: 1970 Hwy. 96 West, Franklin, TN 37064. Richard McVey is an editor at American Profile

I was so inspired by Mr. Gentry's story that I decided to send an email and see about ordering his book. His daughter in law wrote me back and stated I could contact him directly. I wrote him a letter, enclosed a check and requested a copy of his book. Yesterday I received a signed copy of his book in the mail. I am honored to have his book among my collection. I will treasure it and one day pass it on to my children, so they too can learn of the "Greatest Generation" of our time.

Thought for Today....

~A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart~. Anonymous

Where would we be without our friends, those who listen without judgment. The one who makes you smile just to hear their voice...the ones who will tell you the truth when others only tell you what you want to hear. Friends are treasures we can not live without...be thankful if you are blessed with friends who help make your life complete.

Friends Are Quite Angels..Treasure Them Everyday..

Happy Birthday Frank...110 Years Old..WWI Last Survivor

Frank Buckles represents our final link to a generation that built a legacy as defenders of the free world. --Jay Rockefeller

Today, Frank Buckles is 110 years old. He is the last known survivor of WWI. What a remarkable life this honorable man has lead.

See the Gift for the last doughboy...

He served in the ambulance corps during World War I in France and Germany, where he evacuated wounded soldiers from the horrific battlefield. As if that weren't enough, he was drawn into World War II, where he survived three years in a Japanese POW camp after his freighter was captured.

Buckles also happens to be the last surviving doughboy, yet another distinction for a man who was able to join the Army at just 16. Frank Buckles was on this Earth before we had washing machines, before X-rays, before air conditioning, before TV or plastic, even before sliced bread. He is, in short, amazing and has been alive long enough to inspire awe at his longevity.
Despite his long life and inspiring story, and the fact that he is now an icon in the military family and modest about his achievements,

Buckles is first and foremost a good person and a kind friend. To this day, Buckles lives on his farm in Jefferson County, West Virginia; it was only a few years ago that he stopped driving his tractor.

Frank is truly an American Hero... we wish him a very Happy Birthday! Today, take time to keep Frank in your thoughts as he has given so much to this country. May we continue to push for his last dream to see a Memorial for the WWI veterans ..his brothers in arms.

Thought for Today....

A man may fall many times, but he won't be a failure until he says that someone pushed him. ~ Elmer G. Letterman

In other words you have to take responsibility for your own actions, it is called choices. We all have the ability to make the right choice in any given circumstance. What will you do? Make the right choice ...and if you make a bad one...don't blame someone else. There are consequences for making a bad choice ..learn a lesson and move forward. You can not turn back the hands of time.

Have you ever seen the rain...there is always sunshine after the rain....but you can not create a cloud that will hang around forever.