Breathe Easier With A Lower Risk of Cancer

Our homes may be our havens, but indoor air has been ranked 4th in environmental causes of cancer by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We tend to think of smog-filled cities as carcinogen-laden dangers, and the clear air in our homes as paradise. On the contrary, indoor air exposes us to more carcinogens than outdoor air. Follow these tips, then take a breath of fresh air!

1. Open your windows. Yes, even in colder climates -- in January. Our tightly sealed homes may lower our heating bills, but trap carcinogens indoors.

2. Purchase a few houseplants. Houseplants can decorate our homes and lift our spirits, while at the same time absorbing carcinogens in the air. NASA has identified various houseplants for their ability to clean the air in our homes.Evaluate your household cleaners. Many common household cleaners contain chemicals known to cause cancer in animals. Most surfaces can be cleaned with products safe enough to eat - baking soda, olive oil, and white vinegar.

3. Freshen your air naturally. Many commercial air fresheners contain, or result in the formation of carcinogens. Simmer lemons or cinammon on the stove, or choose potpouri as an alternative.

4. Convert your wood burning fireplace to a natural gas verson. According to the EPA, wood smoke contains volatile organic compounds, some of which cause cancer.Use integrated pest management for household pests. Children exposed to professional pest services are three times more likely to develop non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

5. Choose carpeting wisely. Check that carpeting has the green CRI carpet testing label. Request one of the newer "glue-free" pads. Ask that the carpet be "aired out" in the warehouse for a few days prior to installment, and open windows and run exhaust fans for a few days afterwards. Of course, make a "no-shoes" policy on your home to lower the need for cleaning, and to keep yard pesticides outdoors.

6. Choose solid over pressed wood products. Pressed wood and particle board emit formaldehyde vapors, one of the most common household carcinogens.

7. Do not allow smoking in your home. Period.Test your home for radon. More on this tomorrow.

For many more tips on cancer-proofing your home and life, buy Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time: Practical Advice for Preventing Cancer.

Tips To Lower Cervical Cancer Risk: January Is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month!

This year in the United States alone, roughly 10,000 women will be diagnosed with, and roughly 4,000 women will die from cervical cancer. Thankfully, screening has lowered the risk that pre-cancerous changes will progress to cancer, yet, cervical cancer still takes the lives of too many of our mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, nieces, and dear friends. What can we do to lower risk?

1. Have regular Pap smears, and other follow-up as recommended. A study last month demonstrated that those individuals without insurance are twice as likely to die from cancer. Some of these deaths are related to inadequate screening and detection of cancer at a treatable stage.

If you do not have adequate insurance coverage to afford a Pap smear, many states offer these free of charge. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, has a site where individuals can search for low-cost or free Pap smears by state. This is available at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/cancercontacts/nbccedp/contacts.asp, or by calling 1-888-842-6355 (option #7).

2. If you are diagnosed with HPV, try these dietary recommendations that may accelerate clearance of the virus, and hence, its ability to lead to cancer.

3. Consider switching to sanitary napkins instead of tampons if you are diagnosed with high risk HPV. In one study, the use of tampons appeared to slow clearance of the HPV virus.

4. Of course, practice safe sex. HPV is a sexually transmitted virus. Condoms reduce, but do not eliminate the transmission of HPV.

5. Thoughtfully consider the cervical cancer vaccine based on your risk factors. Though controversy exists regarding vaccination against HPV, the vaccine could potentially lower the risk of developing cervical cancer, the second leading cause of cancer in women worldwide.

For further information on cancer prevention, a disease that will personally touch one in three women - buy Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time.

Presidential Candidates On Health Care: Topic #2

Our health care system is in need of care. Few candidates would argue.

Today, we address two of several levels where our current system is in dire need of repair - physicians and corporate health care - in a "novel" light - fiction! David Kerns M.D., professor of pediatrics at Stanford University Medical School, has uncovered and describes the underlying wound that afflicts physicians and administrators in their paradoxical quest, to both make a living and provide quality patient care. In his novel "Standard of Care," David narrates why we are bleeding as a nation, in a method those outside of health care can comprehend, and those on the inside will find heartwrenchingly honest and convicting. This book is a must read for anyone who wishes to address the future of health care in our country. Without this understanding, we are simply spending money to purchase bandaids to place over a deep wound that continues to bleed.

Several reader reviews of Standard of Care from Amazon are repeated below. Read more about Standard of Care and you'll appreciate why it does such a great job describing our health care system.

A call to arms! This novel pits a single protagonist against corporate medicine, one of the diseases that is making health care in the United States not the best in the world but certainly the most expensive. Dr. Daniel Fazen is the prototype of a doctor you know and trust, someone who may have taken care of you when sick (or well), and someone you can immediately like. His battle with himself and with the forces of for-profit medicine make for a fast-paced and exciting novel. It is also a call to arms for those who feel we must change the way we deliver health care in this country, soon, before it is too late. A timely subject as we approach the next election.

- Robert M. Reece MD, North Falmouth, Massachusetts

Send it to Your Congressional Representatives! If you are concerned about the state of the U.S. healthcare system, this book is for you. We are the richest country in the world, but one third of us are uninsured or under-insured, leading to denial of care and many preventable deaths. That's just not right. Standard of Care is a fast read with engaging characters involved in a medical quagmire--painfully familiar to many of us--which sucks you right in. Written by an acclaimed doctor, it helped me understand the myriad conflicts of interest between patients, their primary care physicians, the health insurance companies, and hospital corporations. I felt like I was in the shoes of the hospital executive who must choose between profit and optimal patient care. This "inside look" at our broken healthcare system left me more committed than ever to vote for presidential and state candidates who advocate fundamental health care reform. Surprisingly, after reading Standard of Care, I felt like one person really can make a difference to help solve this crisis.

- A book for our times. Amazon Reviewer, San Diego

Podcasts of David Kerns interviews on New Dimensions Radio, both a short cafe interview, and an hour long discussion of the critical problems in our health care system, are available in mp3 format. Further information and links to articles regarding the U.S. Health Care Crisis can be found at David Kerns website. For information on primary cancer prevention, the "cure" for our tragic cancer rate in the U.S. - one in two men and one in three women are expected to develop cancer - read Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time.