Today is National Public Health Day. Public Health is the preventative side of medicine. It is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals."
The field is responsible for things like the discovery of the link between lung cancer and smoking, and the biology behind the AIDS virus. When you read about various risk factors for cancer and other diseases, this is where it comes from.
You can join the Public Health Heroes Thank You Facebook Page, by clicking this link.
Taking steps now can help us all avoid cancer. There is a widget on this blog on the right from the American Cancer Society listing various risky behaviors associated with cancer. These include high dietary fat intake, low vegetable and fruit consumption, low physical activity, pollution, high alcohol consumption, smoking, and high UV ray exposure. A low fat diet, healthy activity, and adamant cancer screening are the best ways to prevent cancer in your life. Mom will tell you, she almost didn't get the mammogram that first diagnosed her, and waiting another few months could have been disastorous. Make sure you're getting your colonoscopies, mammograms, PSA tests, and other screening tests that you have been recommended for based on age and family history!
Also- yesterday marked the beginning of the Great American Smokeout! Below you can see the EXTREMELY HIGH correlation between smoking and lung cancer death. This figure does not even include lung cancer diagnosis. Just death. So please take care of yourself!
Sorry for the preaching- but a good day to look at our behaviors and what we can do to avoid the very reason for this blog. A lot of cancer is environmental and a lot of cancer is due to genetic susceptibility. But if we can get rid of the cancer that's due to our own behavior, that would be a great thing!
Be healthy! And send a prayer to Mom in her chemo!
Julie
No comments:
Post a Comment