Welcome to the official page of the Connecticut Challenge for Cancer Survivors.
The CT Challenge is:
A collaborative network of cancer survivor services throughout the state of CT.
A global resource for survivors on the web.
www.ctchallenge.org
The CT Challenge is:
A collaborative network of cancer survivor services throughout the state of CT.
A global resource for survivors on the web.
www.ctchallenge.org
Information
- Founded:
- 2005
Notes
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- Behind Cancer Guidelines, Quest for Data 10:47am Nov 24|1 Comment
- Get a Mammogram. No Don’t. Repeat. 3:13pm Nov 21
- Breast Cancer Guidelines' Impact On Black Women 1:00pm Nov 21
Anthony Ramos
"Naturopathic
Medicine offers patients something better than ONE right answer, it
offers patients the answer that is right for their own body. This is
what cancer survivorship seems to be all about. Survivors need to find
the solutions that fit their unique needs."
I'm reminded of Kathy Acker - novelist who died from breast... cancer. She wrote an autobiographical article in which she describes her own disillusionment with Western medicine and discovery of other forms medicine, published in the Guardian in 1996, I think. The article is called "The Gift of Disease" - a great read, both for the content and Acker's wonderful narrative style.
Connecticut Challenge
by Erin Kinney
Naturopathic Doctorate Candidate 2012
University of Bridgeport
My name is Erin Kinney, and I am a Naturopathic Doctoral candidate at the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic medicine. For those of you are unfamiliar with Naturopathy, here is a quick introduction: Naturopathic Medicine is a dis...tinct system of patient-centered health care that emphasizes prevention, treatment and the promotion of optimal health through the use of different therapeutic modalities that encourage the self-healing process or the “vis medicatrix naturae”. The modalities commonly used by Naturopathic physicians include: clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), hydrotherapy, manipulative therapy, environmental medicine and minor surgery. To find out more about Naturopathic Medicine you can you visit the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians website at http://www.naturopathic.org. This website can answer questions about insurance, licensure and can help you locate a Naturopathic Physician in your area.
Before I had ever heard of Naturopathic medicine I always felt overwhelmed by all of the information available about how to lead a “healthy” lifestyle, let alone how to best prevent or cure disease. What diet should one follow to prevent illness and maintain optimal health? What are the best supplements to take? How do you know you are doing everything you can to prevent and or catch certain diseases early? These are many of the same concerns that cancer survivors face. The disease and treatment are undeniably treacherous on one’s body, so it is important to consider one’s options for healthy living.
I was so excited to find Naturopathic Medicine as a career because I was certain that once I entered Naturopathic Medical School, all of these questions would be answered for me. One month into the program, I was frustrated as it became clear to me that there are no absolutely right answers to these questions! However, two years into the program and I have realized that Naturopathic Medicine offers patients something better than ONE right answer, it offers patients the answer that is right for their own body. This is what cancer survivorship seems to be all about. Survivors need to find the solutions that fit their unique needs.
I know that many people have the misconception that to be treated by a Naturopathic Medicine specialist, one might have to abandon the care of the Medical Doctor. That is simply not the case. Naturopathic Medicine is by definition a complementary treatment option. You can and should enter into the care of an N.D while continuing conventional treatments. The N.D will strive to reduce any adverse side effects from conventional treatments and most importantly make sure that your individualized program is best suited for your mind, body and soul. To learn more about this type of integrated care, you can check out Cancer Centers for America’s integrative program on their website: http://www.cancercenter.com/complementar
Erin Kinney
Naturopathic Doctorate Candidate
Connecticut Challenge TIP OF THE DAY: Eating healthier can seem like a change too big to make, but you can start by cutting out just one bad food or drink you regularly eat or drink. And try making the change for just two weeks. Don't focus on the long-term; simply focus on the critical first two weeks. For example, you could start by cutti...ng out soda or candy or high-fat cream in your coffee. Let us know what you decide to do!
Connecticut Challenge
When I was very young, my father would read to me before I went to bed. As I began to learn to read, I realized that my father was skipping entire sentences or even pages of stories – presumably so they would end sooner and I would get to bed. When I started calling him on it (“Hey! You didn’t read that paragraph!), th...e stories started to make a heck of a lot more sense. A similar situation seems to have developed with mammography debate, and our concern at the CT Challenge is that survivors understand what messages they should take from each side of the debate.
Without a doubt, a detailed screening plan is a central piece of the survivorship paradigm. While the recent debate over mammography seems to be largely focused on preventing primary incident breast cancers, my survivorship-tuned ears have perked up. Frankly, I am concerned about how survivors might interpret the complicated messages. What will survivors’ “take home” messages be?
After hearing, reading, and seeing countless statements from qualified, unqualified, experienced, and inexperienced pundits on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) statement, I have begun to wonder how many individuals who have publicly commented on the new recommendations have actually read the text of the new USPSTF statement because the most important sentence (for survivors’ ears) in the statement is getting lost in the shuffle. I thought it would be useful to quote directly from the portion Task Force’s recommendation statements that are attracting so much attention. I have bolded the sentence that has been ignored.
(1) The USPSTF recommends against routine screening mammography in women aged 40 to 49 years. The decision to start regular, biennial screening mammography before the age of 50 years should be an individual one and take into account patient context, including the patient’s values regarding specific benefits and harms.
(2) The USPSTF recommends biennial screening mammography for women between the ages of 50
and 74 years.
That forgotten sentence is of the utmost importance to cancer survivors. By explicitly stating that decision to start screening before the age of 50 should be an individual decision and that decision should take into account the individual’s risk profile and personal values regarding treatment, the Task Force has said that mammography screening plans should be customized for each woman. Survivors, as a population, have a drastically different risk profile than the general population, so it follows that survivors and their care team should develop a screening plan that speaks to the markedly increased risk. No matter what you think is the right decision for “normal” women at any age, survivors should be following unique screening plans developed by their physicians.
As we all know, survivorship advocates have spent countless amounts of energy lauding the benefits of early detection through screenings after a primary cancer diagnosis and treatment, and we simply won’t stand for any confusion of that message. But it is also important that not malign the experts who developed the new recommendations. The Task Force is trying to find ways to reduce the unfortunate pain and suffering that can be caused by false positives and unnecessary treatments. By including specific language about the unique nature of each individual’s screening plan, the Task Force spoke directly to populations with known increased risk and suggested that persons in those populations must develop appropriate action plans in consultation with their doctors. And it is important to remember that the Task Force is only trying to reduce unnecessary pain and suffering; it is comprised of individuals who have spent lifetimes fighting cancer. The very last thing these dedicated people want to see is more pain and suffering at the hands of cancer.
Gina Kolata, who has been covering this story for the New York Times, wrote a nice article in Sunday’s paper detailing the history of the report and how/ why it was generated. Click the link below to read the article.
Bottom line, the CT Challenge is firm in its stance that survivors should develop customized screening plans in consultation with their physicians. If you are a caregiver, medical professional, or friend or family to a survivor, the CT Challenge asks that you stress the importance of a detailed and customized screening plan.
Christian McEvoy, MPH
Director of Survivorship Information
Connecticut Challenge
www.nytimes.com
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force thought its review of breast cancer recommendations would be a straightforward job, but the response to its guidelines was swift and angry.
See MoreTitle: Too Few Older Adults Get Recommended ScreeningsCategory: Health NewsCreated: 11/19/2009 10:10:00 PMLast Editorial Review: 11/20/2009
Several doctors groups and advocacy groups set guidelines for cancer screening, and they update that advice periodically as new information emerges.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force thought its review of breast cancer recommendations would be a straightforward job, but the response to its guidelines was swift and angry.
Connecticut Challenge TIP OF THE DAY: During survivorship, exercise is incredibly important. One way to fit exercise in during a busy day is to take the stairs. You burn roughly 10 calories per story, and the exercise helps build strength in your legs and your core. Happy climbing.
Connecticut Challenge
The Connecticut
Challenge team posed a question to Karen Sabbath, Registered Dietician
at the Harold Leever Regional Cancer Center in Waterbury, CT.
Dear Karen:
We're wondering if you saw an article by Gina Kolata in Sunday's NYTimes (11/15). The article was titled "Medicines to deter some cancers are not taken." In ...the article she says: "But other measures that are often assumed - and marketed - as ways to prevent cancer may not make much difference, researchers say. For example, public health experts for years recommended eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to prevent cancer, but the evidence is conflicting, at best suggestive, and far from definitive. Low-fat diets were long thought to prevent breast cancer. But a large federal study randomizing women to a low-fat or normal diet and looking for an effect in breast cancer found nothing, said its director, Ross L. Prentice of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Fiber, found in fruits, vegetables and grains, is often thought to prevent colon cancer, even though two large studies found no effect. "We thought we would show relationships that were strong and true," said Dr. Tim Byers, professor of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, "particularly for dietary choices and food and vegetable intake. Now we have settled into thinking they are important but it's not like saying you can cut your risk in half or three-quarters." Others wonder whether even such qualified support is misplaced."
The link for the article is below
Karen's reply:
You bring up very relevant issues; ones that we see on a day to day basis with our patients. "What can I take to boost my immune system?" "Take a look at this supplement that I bought to prevent cancer" "I eat 5 servings a day of fruits and vegetables and I still got cancer". Gina Kolata has pointed out the less than hoped for outcomes of many studies, but I have a different spin on it. It is my opinion that cancer isn't caused or prevented by doing one thing. Since we don't know what causes cancer (with the exception of lung/cigarettes/asbestos), it is impossible to guarantee that by following several dietary or lifestyle recommendations, we will be guaranteed a reduction in risk. We all know the person who was an avid athlete, vegetarian, non-smoker and non-drinker who was diagnosed with breast cancer.
What we do know is that if you look at population trends, there appear to be associations with total lifestyles/diets and disease incidence in general. For example, people who follow the lifestyle described above are less likely (statisically) to be diagnosed with any diseases, but that doesn't mean that bad things won't happen. Just exercising won't help if a person is obese and eats lots of processed foods. Just eating fruits and vegetables won't help if a person drinks excessively and consumes large amounts of red meat. Supplements do not make up for a bad diet and can (as the article points out) be harmful. Then, there is the issue of the environment...pollution? Plastics/BPA? Pesticides? What is their role and do these factors exacerbate abnormal cells independently or synergistically to multiply? How do you measure that? You can begin to see that isolating one factor is unlikely to show anything of significance in the big picture.
All this being said, and knowing that there are no guarantees, do we tell people to give up and do whatever they want? Absolutely not. We recommend a healthy lifestyle which includes maintaining a good weight (we do know that excess fat produces excess estrogen which increases the risk of recurrence for an ER+ breast cancer patient), exercise on a regular basis, as well as a plant based diet, where some meat is allowed, but does not represent the main focus of the meal. We have people avoid processed foods, excessive alcohol and too much sugar, bad fats and salt. We stress that supplements are medications and have side effects and interactions with prescription meds that need to be evaluated one by one. As pointed out in the NYTimes article, they can be harmful as well.
We urge people to get the benefits of antioxidants in food from the FOOD, not the bottle. There are exceptions to this rule (Vitamin D for example) that are reviewed with patients based on the data we have available to us now. By going over each of these issues as they relate to our patients, we teach them that they may not be able to prevent cancer or a recurrence, but they can give it their best shot; sometimes that is the best it can be. It may not be as "sexy" a message as the colorful bottles of pills that are sold to patients, but the recommendations are more likely to play a role in preventing many chronic diseases than to follow the "unhealthy" diets and lifestyles. Hope this is helpful. Let me know if you need more specifics; I do have lots more info to share!!!!
-Karen
www.nytimes.com
The few drugs proved to deter cancer are widely ignored, researchers say, while ineffective supplements are used.
See More
Pam Lindau as a breast cancer survivor whose annual mammogram saved my life before the age of 50, I'd like to know why they can pick and choose who should live through this devastating disease.
Today is the Great American Smokeout, a day when smokers commit to quitting for 24 hours…or forever. Quitting isn’t easy, but you don’t have to do it alone. The American Cancer Society offers plenty of support, including a 24-hour quitline. And ...
Title: Great American Smokeout '09: Time to QuitCategory: Health NewsCreated: 11/19/2009 8:10:00 AMLast Editorial Review: 11/19/2009
Title: Morphine May Help Tumors Spread in Cancer PatientsCategory: Health NewsCreated: 11/18/2009 12:10:00 PMLast Editorial Review: 11/19/2009
Connecticut Challenge This screening debate is raging, but survivors should remember that their risk profile is significantly different from the rest of the population, so survivors must talk to their doctors to developing screening plans that address their unique needs.
Medicare and private health insurers said they were unlikely to change coverage of breast cancer screenings after new guidelines recommended that women wait longer to have mammograms and have fewer of them.
