No, not your mortgage or school loans. Here we discuss your modified lifestyles. I recall over 30 years ago, as my mother mowed the lawn she watched a jogger go by. As a daughter of immigrants from Poland, their little row home housing five children was in a community grateful to see possibilities for the American dream. In that area of Philly, there were no people jogging to get fit. Most people worked physically hard and didn’t need to exert themselves, instead falling to bed with exhaustion. Her own mother sat on the window sill three stories up to wash her windows and scrubbed floors on her hands and knees… even at age 90. They were not thinking, “How can I get my heart rate up?” Mom found these efforts purely to create exertion a waste of energy that should be turned to more productive use. Always an “influencer”, as I raked the clippings behind her, she called out to the jogger, “Maybe you should just go home and mow your lawn”. She never did get the idea of gym memberships.
As that generation of physical activity waned and we became more sedentary, we ultimately realized what we are missing and learned the benefit of daily exercise for brain and body health. At least 30 min/ per day for a lifetime- you don’t retire from exercise. So if you are not raking leaves, shoveling your own snow, tending a farm or even cleaning or scrubbing your own house, we do need to actually make time for exertion. It can reduce dementia, improve cardiovascular health. decrease cancer risk and diabetes. Everyday there is more research confirming benefits and as we age we are searching and willing to take responsibility. Know what is nice about that? Most of us actually do have time and energy to put to the task.
Perhaps you wonder, “So what is the pay off for me, Doc?”, or think, “When I get some freedom I will pay attention to that.” Right now you are working, raising a family, a spouse or parents, or just getting to treatment and having side effects. Lifestyle change is a luxury. My message is to make the commitment now because too many patients have let it go for too long. This week, even more information and research is available that empowers you.
It is rare to know someone who smokes now, but I recall actually having to put an order in the patient’s chart in the hospital that they could go outside to smoke or even smoke in the room (without oxygen) in 1989. It was a big deal when smoking was banned in hospitals. This week you read about how any alcohol at all increases cancer risk (I am sorry) but it’s the last vice to fall.
And so, what has all this behavioral modification brought us? Great news! We are now seeing stats for cancer fall- related to these health conscious changes.(See American Cancer Society Statistics *) Death rates are falling and even for the most deadly cancer- lung. New therapies are having tremendous results as well.
Be hopeful that your experience will be vastly different from “the big C” of previous generations. Every aspect of care from diagnosis to treatment to maintenance has improved. But the biggest most impactful is how you choose to protect yourself. No therapy can make up for harmful habits. Get counseling if you need it. Believe me, the hard work of treating a cancer is no joke. You want to avoid this if possible. We still believe in the “two hit” theory of cancer- one is your genes the other environment (lifestyle, exposure) that triggers.
I see you running out there. I know your home is smoke free. You remember the sunscreen. You get your screenings. You avoid or limit alcohol. You try to eat well and avoid fat and sugar (well at least you want to). Keep up the good work. Stay vigilant. Have determination to live your strongest life, oh and yes, why not consider mowing your own lawn?