Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Gwinnett Medical Center - (Page 30)

Gwinnett Medical Center offers home colorectal screening kits. This gives you the opportunity to test at home and then go to your physician to discuss the results. To obtain your colorectal screening kit, call 678-312-5000 and press 1. Test Yourself at Home Brooks cites her inﬂuence as well. “There’s no question that Katie’s activities and her high proﬁ le have lent a tremendous amount of energy and a great deal of awareness to the ongoing efforts by a lot of organizations, including the ACS and the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and others. But having the courage to actually go on air and have a colonoscopy— that was groundbreaking.” Standing Up to Cancer CALL Modify Your Risk with Healthy Living You may not be able to change your age or swap families, but you still can reduce your risk of colon cancer through healthy living. According to the American Cancer Society, adopting a healthy lifestyle could reduce the number of colorectal cancer cases by one-quarter. But Cindy Snyder, DNP, APNG, director of Oncology Services at GMC, cautions against waiting until “later” to get healthy. “You can’t get to age 60 and swear off processed meat and feel that you have cut your chance by 25 percent,” she says. “It’s a lifelong pattern of behaviors that influences your risk.” She advises starting now and helping your children and grandchildren get on the path to a healthier lifestyle by: • Eating a healthy diet and avoiding processed meats • Avoiding tobacco • Exercising regularly • Maintaining a healthy body weight And, of course, screening, starting at age 50. “It’s the single most effective way to prevent the disease or to find it early,” Snyder says. Couric’s work against colon cancer didn’t end with her on-camera colonoscopy and a few public service announcements. She passed her enthusiasm on to daughters Ellie, 21, and Carrie, 16, who were selling lemonade to beneﬁt cancer research when they were just preschoolers. Over the years, she has supported a variety of anticancer campaigns and organizations, including the ACS and the CDC, as well as a cancer center she helped to establish in her husband’s name and a group called Stand Up to Cancer, which she co-founded with eight other women. The organization has raised more than $180 million for cancer research. Although colon cancer awareness has increased, the disease remains the second most deadly cancer in the U.S., and there are areas where awareness needs a boost, Brooks says. “Women still have the perception that it’s a man’s disease, because we’ve done such a good job with breast and cervical cancer screening awareness, and they haven’t necessarily been hearing the colorectal cancer message. We need to make sure that everyone understands the risks,” he notes. Progress is also being made on the research front, including a number of new blood tests that search for some of the genetic markers associated with colon cancer. “These tests are now under evaluation, so we’re a few years away from having access, but imagine if you could go to your doctor and he could draw blood to screen you for colon cancer in the same way that The Next Phase 30 Vim & Vigor · FALL 2 012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Gwinnett Medical Center

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Gwinnett Medical Center
Contents
Phil’s Feature
Good Times for a Good Cause
Warm Fuzzies
30 Days to Better Sleep
I Can’t Ask My Doctor That!
He Said, She Said
Hold On to Your Health
Still A Screening Star
Your Joints: An Owner’s Manual
Weighing Your Options
No Greater Gift
Weather Alert
Virtual Health
PrimeTime Health
From the Heart
Putting Everything in Place
Out of the White Coat
Transforming Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Gwinnett Medical Center