Odds and Ends

Water Conservation - Beverage Heroes?  A story from the Associated Press (AP) caught my attention yesterday.  It was published in many papers so you might have caught it.  The largest beverage companies are spending millions of dollars to assure that certain land areas are NOT developed and that the proper care of watersheds is administered.  The conservation efforts are intended to protect the companies bottom lines - the products they sell.  Beverages are predominately water.  I understand that their motive is self satisfying but the outcome is beneficial to everyone and I applaud the efforts.  Here is a link to the story from one of many sources.
Weight Control Success You are probably aware that individual research experiments and the National Weight Control Registry support the assertion that people who are successful at maintaining weight loss use self monitoring techniques.  They keep track of their intake of calories.  The level of monitoring (every calorie or just general daily calories) is not as important as the awareness of what one is eating. Because we spend almost 50% of our food budgets on away from home meals and calorie monitoring is a successful weight control technique, it is vital that we have calorie content available on menus and menu boards.  Lets get the final rule written and the numbers on our menus!  (FDA delay)
Eye Drop Application Here is another thing you may know, but just in case you don't I will share it.  Actually there are two things. As noted previously, I have sun damage to my eyes.  The condition is called pinquela.  My whites are discolored (this makes me sad).  The eye doctor suggests that I use drops every day.  He told me this two years ago, so I got some Visine.  When I saw him in July he said "NO!  That is the opposite of what you need."  Ooops.  So for dry, damaged, scratchy eyes, lubricant drops are helpful.  I bought the store brand after I used up the sample he gave me. (But only after I compared the ingredients labels).  Anyways, I also told him that I had trouble administering the drops.  I would blink before the drop reached my eye.  So - here is the technique.  With your eye closed, squeeze a drop in the corner (where your tear ducts are) then tilt back and open your eye, lean sideways, and the drop rolls right in!
NFL and Disease Prevention Somewhere along the line, I signed up to receive occasional emails from the NFL.  This would be precipitated by my love of the NYG - whom I shall see play in person next month!  In July,  I received one of the emails and it was announcing a new Wellness Initiative for current and former players, coaches, team members and families.  The main focus appears to be mental health.  This may be a response to suicides and family conflict that plagues some of the players.  Though it includes physical health - that may be related more to injuries (including concussions) that can turn in to disabilities than chronic disease prevention.  The program includes a 24 hour hot line for members in crisis.  You can learn about it by clicking here.  I can't imagine this being a bad thing.  I hope that it helps.

Lastly my weekly exercise chart.  I didn't share it last week, but I add it today to highlight the near absence of any red columns!  That is running.  I did manage 15 minutes, but clearly I am not healed so I stopped. I hope for more red next time.  BTW, for those who have followed my swimming trials and tribulations.. just once a week, okay just this semester, Oh, if the pool is closed, its not my fault, YAY!, okay twice a week, okay three times a week.. Well, the whole Rec Center is closed this week and I am thinking of paying to swim at the Y.  Clearly I made it past the six months (now two years) time that makes something a habit.

Choices determined by Chances

Cockerham, W. C., Rütten, A., & Abel, T. (1997). CONCEPTUALIZING CONTEMPORARY HEALTH LIFESTYLES. Sociological Quarterly, 38(2), 321-342.

Older article - important words... all taken directly from the text as follows: 

 We would therefore suggest the following definition of health lifestyles: collective patterns
of health-related behavior based on choices from options available to people according to
their life chances. These life chances include age, gender, race, ethnicity, and other relevant
variables that impact on lifestyle choices. The behaviors generated from these choices can
have either positive or negative consequences on body and mind but nonetheless form an
overall pattern of health practices that constitute a lifestyle. We further suggest that this definition
provides an initial theoretical statement of a health lifestyle. It incorporates the interplay
of choice and chance along Weberian lines but omits the requirement that choices are voluntary. We would add that adoption of a health lifestyle gives the individual a strategy that serves as an anchor in coping with health risks in an evolving postmodem environment. Contrary to Weber, we assign priority to chance over choice, although choice remains a central factor in lifestyle selection. Bourdieu’s assertion that structure determines the perceptual
boundaries underlying choice is persuasive.

 Noting in my words, we do not have equal chances and therefore we do not have the same choices..

Cancer of the Stomach

I couldn't avoid the news stories about an increase in stomach cancer in a segment of our population. Interesting the researchers say, because the rates per 100,000 persons in other groups actually went down. This time the disparity is in white people and in young white people. The overall incidence is still low for all of us. But the news stories triggered my curiosity on the cancer itself.

First - stomach cancer includes upper and lower. The reports this week were specific to the lower stomach. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) - which doesn't differentiate between the two types of stomach or gastric cancer, states that the suspected links are the bacteria H. pylori that also can cause ulcers, chronic inflammation of the stomach, and then your usual suspects - family history, smoking and poor diet - inactivity - obesity.

In the news out this week, the suggestion is that the highly processed and salty diet of Americans is to blame for the increase of new cancer cases in the 25-39 year old age group, along with a deficit of fruits and vegetables.

Another reason why regulations on salt in prepared foods makes sense.

I also wanted to take a look at the American Cancer Society (ACS) numbers for this cancer. The statistics they offer are for 2009. The projection for stomach cancer was just over 21,000, with more males than females and the total deaths were about 10,000 - more males than females. The NCI states on its website that about 13,000 men and 8,000 women die from the disease every year, but that most are over age 70. So there may be a bigger increase in one age group but that does not mean a greater prevalence. Prevalence is who has the disease not who was just diagnosed with it - that is incidence. Still, the ACS states that we have a 1 out of 112 chance of developing the disease, which I consider high. Well, I did until I looked up the chance for lung cancer which is different for men and women and is averaged for smokers and non so it is around 1 in 14 - but lower if you do not smoke and higher if you do.

Okay, well prostate is the most common for men and breast for women, so lets compare that - WOW one out of six men could be diagnosed with prostate cancer and one of out eight women may get breast cancer.

So indeed stomach cancer is not the leading type of cancer for incidence or death rate but the fact that it is on the rise should be disconcerting. (It does not make the top ten list for men or women, in this country)