Hey, everyone. I’m sure you will all agree with me that this was a pretty meaty chapter, but with the topics it was to be expected. Chapter 11 takes a step back from focusing on fitness and nutrition to discuss cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. The cardiovascular system is literally what keeps our blood flowing. The heart is responsible for transporting nutrients, oxygen, waste, hormones and enzymes, and helps to regulate our body temperature, waste levels, and acidity levels. It also helps defend against toxins and harmful microorganisms. The system is made up of arteries and arterioles, capillaries, veins, and venules that all work together to carry out all of these important tasks.
When the system doesn’t work properly, cardiovascular disease becomes a concern. The disease accounts for 33% of U.S. deaths, making it the leading cause of death each year. It is most common among men and women over the age of 80. Cardiovascular diseases include hypertension, which is associated with high blood pressure, atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease, which is associated with damaged arteries, coronary heart disease, which is the leading killer associated with clots and blockages, and stroke, which occurs when the blood supply to the brain is cut off.
Metabolic syndrome is the greatest contributor to CVD and comes with a host of risk factors. These include elevated blood triglycerides, blood pressure, waist circumference and fasting blood glucose, and reduced blood HDL cholesterol.
Reducing CVD requires taking responsibility for your own habits and actions. Avoid smoking and maintain a healthy balance of diet and exercise. It is also important to monitor blood pressure and manage stress levels. However, risks like race, hereditary elements, age, gender, and genetic oriented risk factors cannot be changed or avoided.
There are a variety of ways to diagnose CVD including an ECG, or electrocardiogram, cardiac catheterization or aniography, and a position emission tomography, or PET, scan. Surgical treatment options for CVD include coronary bypass surgery, angioplasty, or insertion of a stent. There are also medications and drug therapies such as aspirin and clot busting therapy. After these treatments, there comes cardiac rehabilitation and recovery.
As if cardiovascular disease was not enough, cancer is also a big name on the list of killers in the U.S. Cancer occurs when something interrupts normal cell programming and uncontrolled growth and abnormal cell development result in a neoplasm, which is a new growth of tissue serving no physiological purpose. These are what we know as tumors, which can either be benign, noncancerous, or malignant, cancerous. To determine whether a tumor is one or the other, a biopsy is conducted to assess cell development. Metastasis is when the cancer cells enter the bloodstream and form tumors in other parts of the body.
The four different types of cancer talked about in this chapter are carcinomas, sarcomas, lymphomas, and leukemia, which all present in different layers of the skin. Risks of developing these cancers are categorized into hereditary risk and acquired, or environmental, risk. Lifestyle risks are associated with personal choices such as smoking and drinking. As we realized before, genetic and hereditary risks cannot be avoided.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death among men and women in the U.S. The chapter highlights the symptoms, detection methods, and treatment. Symptoms include cough, chest and back pain, and attacks of pneumonia or bronchitis, and treatment is dependent on the type and stage of the cancer. Of course, smoking is a huge risk factor for lung cancer, and even quitting does not reduce risk of developing cancer. Chapter 11 also discusses rectal and colon cancer and breast cancer. Since I have a history of breast cancer in my family, that part of the chapter stuck out to me on a personal level. Prostate and testicular cancer are not a concern to me personally as a female, but skin cancer, being the most common form of cancer in the U.S. is always a concern. The ABCD rule for detecting skin cancer is a handy and simplified solution that was eyeopening to read about. The chapter should also serve as a reminder for all of us with summer coming up to remember sunscreen!
Being diagnosed with cancer is an impossible thing to hear, but luckily there are ways to cope with these diagnoses. Mindfulness-based interventions are proven to help patients cope with life after diagnosis. I watched my mother go through a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and even though she has worked in the medical field for over thirty years, she still struggled with the news. She underwent a full hysterectomy and was lucky enough to come out cancer free, but not everyone is so lucky. Although there is no cure for cancer, we are lucky to be in an age of medical advancement and development of innovative cancer treatments. Some include sterotactic radiosurgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.
Diabetes is not far behind CVD and cancer in severity. Experts predict that more than 1 in 3 Americans will have diabetes by 2050. Diabetes is associated with glucose levels and insulin production. The three types are diabetes mellitus, which is associated with high glucose levels, type 1, insulin dependent, and type 2, non-insulin dependent. To prevent diabetes, monitor your body weight and diet, sleep patterns, and stress levels. Unfortunately, genetic factors, age, and ethnicity cannot be changed, as they can’t in cancer and CVD risks. The chapter also discusses the symptoms and complications associated with diabetes, but luckily it also supplies us with a list of ways to treat and monitor diabetes.
This was a great chapter to read because of my personal history with lung and ovarian cancer and diabetes. This is one of the reasons I am very careful with my health and fitness. This week I am feeling good about my personal goal of increasing my muscle mass. I had my body comp done on Sunday night and found that I am down three pounds to 125.5 and my body fat is down to 21%. This is great news, and also is a healthy reminder that the number on the scale is not all that matters. I have only lost three pounds, but my my muscle mass has increased meaning that I have traded some of the pounds of fat I carried for muscle. I am also starting to actually see the results of my labor, which, combined with the positive test results, have encouraged me to keep pushing.
Meghan's Health and Wellness Studies 