Nurses Corner by Nurse Heidi McGlown, RN
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so please educate yourself and your loved ones. Aside from skin can- cer, breast cancer is the most common cancer of women in the US and is the cause of death for approximately 40,000 women each year. Some cases of breast cancer can be prevented and many can be treated with early detec- tion. Share these prevention and early detection ideas from the National Breast Cancer Foundation with your loved ones: • Because obesity and excess weight increase the risk of developing breast cancer, the American Cancer Society recommends that women maintain a healthy weight throughout their life. Losing even a small amount of weight has health benefits and is a good place to start. • Growing evidence suggests that women who get regular physical activity have a 10%-20% lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who get no exercise. Doing even a little physical activity beyond your regular daily rou- tine can have many health benefits. • Many studies have confirmed that drinking alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer in women by about 7% to 12% for each serving per day. If you do drink alcohol, the American Cancer Society recommends women limit themselves to no more than 1 drink per day. • A recent study by American Cancer Society researchers found that current smokers had a 12% higher risk of breast cancer than women who never smoked. Research also suggests that risk may be greater for women who be gin smoking before they give birth to their first child. Quitting has numerous health benefits. • To find breast cancer early, when treatments are more likely to be successful, the American Cancer Society rec- ommends women 40 and older have a mammogram and clinical breast exam every year, and younger women have clinical breast exams periodically as well (preferably at least every 3 years). It is also important for women to per- form self- breast-checks at home regularly and to notify a physician right away if anything looks or feels abnormal.
dime and even do aerobatics. Now I personally have not done that but know many people who have. It takes a lot of experience and training to get to that level. The average altitude most people fly is about 1,000-1,500 feet but you can go as high as you want. There are people who fly to 10,000 feet just to say they did it. The age range for pilots is as young as 13 years old and I know someone 82 years old who flies. The average is around 50 years old. This year I attended the world’s largest air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where there were over 10,000 aircraft and over 500,000 people. I even par- ticipated in a mass group of PPG pilots flying to the airport. There were about 40 of us in two tight groups.” We can all imagine the view from ‘up there’ is spectacular and maybe, once we overcome our fear of feet dangling over the earth, might find we would like to do this, too!
October, November & December 2017 Crest Ink 21
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