May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month, and May 1 is Melanoma Monday, a day focused on raising awareness of the deadliest form of skin cancer.
On average, one person dies of melanoma every hour. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. In fact, it is estimated that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.
Anyone can get skin cancer, regardless of skin color. Nearly 9,500 people are diagnosed with skin cancer every day. Skin cancer is highly treatable when it is detected early. If melanoma is detected and treated before it spreads to the lymph nodes, the five-year survival rate is 98 percent.
The American Academy of Dermatology is launching its 2017 SPOT Skin Cancer campaign, Check Your Partner. Check Yourself, on Melanoma Monday to encourage the public to check their partners and themselves for signs of skin cancer.
Because men older than 50 have an increased risk of developing melanoma when compared to the general population, the AAD is asking women to help their male partners examine their skin for new, changing or suspicious spots. Research has shown that women are nine times more likely than men to spot melanoma on others.
The AAD encourages everyone to perform regular skin self-exams. If you notice any suspicious spots on your skin or your partners, or anything changing, itching or bleeding, see a board-certified dermatologist.
Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, which frequently develops in a mole or suddenly appears as a new dark spot on the skin. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial.
You can identify melanoma warning signs by looking for the ABCDEs of melanoma:
A is for Asymmetry: One half doesnt match the other.
B is for Border irregularity: The edges are ragged, notched or blurred.
C is for Color that varies from one area to another.
D is for Diameter: Melanomas are usually greater than 6 millimeters (the size of a pencil eraser) when diagnosed, but they can be smaller.
E is for Evolving: The mole is changing in size, shape or color.
Tips to protect your skin
Follow these tips to protect your skin from the damaging effects of sun exposure and reduce your risk of skin cancer:
Apply sunscreen. When you are going to be outside, even on cloudy days, apply sunscreen to all skin that will not be covered by clothing. Reapply approximately every two hours, or after swimming or sweating.
Use a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen that protects the skin against both UVA and UVB rays and that has an SPF of at least 30.
Use 1 ounce of sunscreen, an amount that is about equal to the size of your palm. Thoroughly rub the product into the skin. Dont forget the top of your feet, your neck, ears and the top of your head.
Seek shade. Remember that the suns rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. If your shadow is shorter than you are, seek shade.
Protect your skin with clothing. When going outside wear a long-sleeved shirt, pants, a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses.
Use extra caution near water, sand or snow as they reflect and intensify the damaging rays of the sun, which can increase your chances of sunburn.
Get vitamin D safely. Eat a healthy diet that includes foods naturally rich in vitamin D, or take vitamin D supplements. Do not seek the sun.
To learn more about skin cancer detection or prevention, or to find a free SPOTme skin cancer screening, visit SpotSkinCancer.org.
Dr. Anthony L. Timko is a board-certified dermatologist and a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology. He has been providing dermatological care to the communities of Central Colorado for more than 15 years. He is the sole provider at Central Colorado Dermatology in Salida, but said he is welcoming Dr. Kathryn Echols to his practice in July.
Sweet revenge
by Julia Powell, RN
Special to The Mail
The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison, according to Ann Wigmore, founder of the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute.
One dietary poison that continues to repeatedly and increasingly prove itself guilty is sugar.
At the scene of numerous crimes, sugar has long been implicated in an increased risk for obesity, diabetes, tooth decay and some forms of cancer all justified evidence for locking sugar behind bars.
But mounting evidence regarding its status as criminal comes from a 2016 study published in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. The study examined decades of research showing that sugar may actually be even worse for the heart than saturated fat, the designated No. 1 dietary villain in cardiovascular disease (CVD) for the past 50 years.
The study revealed that a diet high in sugar triples the risk for fatal CVD!
In a nutshell, a high sugar intake can trigger the following:
Boost blood sugar,
Boost insulin levels,
Cause insulin resistance,
Increase triglyceride levels,
Promote fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome,
Damage the LDL cholesterol, turning it into very bad LDL,
Lower the heart-protective good (HDL) cholesterol and
Promote inflammation.
All of which set the stage for arterial-plaque buildup and cardiovascular disease.
Laura Schmidt of the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine says, The average American consumes 22 teaspoons a day (of sugar). Thats about three times whats recommended.
For reference, 1 teaspoon of sugar is equivalent to about 4 grams.
The American Heart Association recommends limiting daily added sugar intake (not counting the sugar content of fruit and dairy products) to 9 teaspoons (37.5 grams) for men. It recommends 6 teaspoons (25 grams) for women and children ages 2-18, and zero for children younger than age 2.
Added sugar in foods may surprise you, so read the labels, count up the grams and recognize the villain lurking within. Some of the culprits may surprise you!
A serving of Shredded Wheat: 0.1 gram (virtually none).
One slice of multigrain 100 percent whole wheat bread: 4 grams (1 teaspoon sugar).
A serving of Kelloggs Special K: 4 grams (1 teaspoon sugar).
A typical 6-ounce serving of flavored yogurt: 21-27 grams (5-6 teaspoons sugar).
8-ounce serving of Campbells Tomato and Sweet Basil Bisque: 24 grams (6 teaspoons sugar).
Snickers bar: 27 grams (6 teaspoons sugar).
16-ounce bottle Snapple Green Tea: 30 grams (7 teaspoons sugar).
McDonalds Fruit & Maple Oatmeal: 33 grams (8 teaspoons sugar).
Dunkin Donuts Reduced Fat Blueberry Muffin: 39 grams (9 teaspoons sugar).
15.2-ounce bottle Odwalla Original Superfood Fruit Smoothie: 51 grams (12 teaspoons sugar).
Chilis Caribbean Salad with Grilled Chicken: 70 grams (17 teaspoons sugar).
20-ounce bottle Mountain Dew: 77 grams (19 teaspoons sugar).
Remember: Sugar is addictive.
Julia Powell is a nurse in the Cardiopulmonary Department at Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center.
Is anti-gluten frenzy about to be countered by a pro-wheat comeback?
Americans at one time lived their lives utterly unconcerned about the gluten in their diets. But an anti-gluten craze that erupted in the last decade has become so prominent that it spawned a $16-billion-a-year industry.
Gluten became branded as the enemy of good health, bestselling books scared the public away from wheat, and foods marketed as gluten-free popped up everywhere.
But its time everyone takes a deep breath and re-evaluates this whole wheat-is-a-villain attitude, Dr. John Douillard said in a press release.
Douillard is a doctor of chiropractic and a sports medicine and Ayurveda practitioner. He is author of Eat Wheat and six other health books and a former director of player development and nutrition counselor for the New Jersey Nets NBA team.
Wheat was found guilty without a fair trial, and there are risks when we just blindly take a food that people have eaten for 3.5 million years and remove it from our diets, Douillard said.
Hes ready to lead the charge in the opposite direction, though Douillard acknowledges that avoiding gluten is the right move for certain people.
May, for example, is Celiac Awareness Month, which brings attention to the genetic autoimmune disease that damages the small intestine.
People with celiac disease should avoid gluten, theres no doubt about that, Douillard said. But for the greater majority of people, the anti-gluten frenzy has gone too far and needs to dial it back.
Far from being a dinner-table scoundrel, wheat can be beneficial, helping to lower the risk of diabetes, obesity and Alzheimers disease, he said.
The real problem is that processed foods have changed our digestive systems, Douillard said. Thats why people often feel bad when they eat wheat. But taking foods out of the diet wont fix what processed foods have done to your system. That just kicks the problem down the road, leaving people at risk for more serious health concerns later on.
So if going wheat-free isnt the answer, what can you do to begin to improve your digestive system? That can get complicated, but Douillard has a few suggestions to get you started in the right direction:
Eat more fiber. Aim for 50 grams of fiber in your diet each day. Make half your plate green vegetables, one-fourth starch and another one-fourth protein.
Increase the amount of beans you eat. Of course, beans can be difficult for some people to digest, but one easily digestible bean is the split yellow mung bean. As your digestion improves, you can reintroduce other beans.
Drink water between meals. The brains relationship with the rest of the body can be a funny thing. When people are dehydrated, the signals to the brain often get translated as hunger signals. So people scarf down an unhealthy snack when they should be reaching for a glass of water. A good guideline is 16 ounces 30 minutes before each meal.
Dont overeat. Perhaps it can be traced back to our mothers telling us to eat every bite, but people have a tendency to eat until their plates are empty rather than stopping when theyre full. Douillard said its better to stop even before youre full. About three-fourths full is the way to go, he said.
Your digestive strength is the key to a long, healthy and vital life, Douillard said. Whether you eat gluten shouldnt be decided for you because of weak digestion. It should be decided by you based on what you prefer.
See more here:
'Check your partner, check yourself' - Mountain Mail Newspaper
