Luck May Play Bigger Role Than Genetics
Whether you get cancer or not may be a matter of luck, according to a new study published in Science. Random mutations that occur in the body when cells divide are responsible for two-thirds of cancers, researchers said, meaning lifestyle choices such as diet, exercise and smoking may not play as large of a role as previously thought, especially when it comes to such cancers as pancreatic, leukemia, bone, testicular, ovarian and brain cancer.
"When someone gets cancer, immediately people want to know why," study author Bert Vogelstein, an oncologist with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told the New York Daily News. "They like to believe there's a reason. And the real reason in many cases is not because you didn't behave well or were exposed to some bad environmental influence, it's just because that person was unlucky. It's losing the lottery."
That’s not to say you should take your chance and start smoking, but researchers say the findings point to a need for improved measures to detect cancers early, rather than focusing on preventing them entirely.
10 Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Prostate Cancer
Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis: What’s the Difference?
Lorraine Carlson, 60, ran a thriving glassworks business in Oakland, California. Using glass architecturally, she created pieces such as stained-glass windows for homes or balustrades for staircases, overseeing each project throughout. Then two things happened: In July 2011, Carlson was hit by a car as she crossed the street. She spent the next year recovering from multiple injuries, but new, unexplained problems arose, not related to the accident.
"Weird things started happening," Carlson says, "My knees swelled up to the size of footballs. The bottoms of my feet were swollen, and I couldn't wear shoes. I had a lot of pain – I couldn't walk." And blood tests of inflammation levels, previously normal, "went really wacko," she says. The following July, a rheumatologist diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis. Whether the accident triggered the arthritis or the timing of the diagnosis was coincidental, the toll on Carlson has been enormous.
“So it’s been over two years,” Carlson says. “I went from having my own business, working at a pace from 50 to 60 hours a week, and busy, busy, busy – to basically being stopped dead in my tracks.” [Read more: Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis: What’s the Difference?]
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Try a New Year’s Theme Instead of a Resolution
Last year around this time, I wrote about ditching the New Year’s resolution to opt for a New Year’s theme instead. The idea is simple – choose a single word that resonates with you as something you would like more of in your daily life, and use it as a theme to focus on throughout the upcoming year. A theme is gentler than a rigid resolution, and allows you to come back to it when you get off track throughout the year. Themes from last year’s post – mindfulness, enjoyment, movement and nourish – are still great ideas for the upcoming year, but here are four more suggestions for themes, as well as how they might help you have a healthier year:
Intention. My personal favorite for the year, this theme is for anyone who feels they're running on autopilot most of the time. Quite simply, the theme of intention has to do with deliberately choosing how you spend your time, and also choosing how you approach tasks. In other words, it's choosing to spend time doing what you consider important, and less time on activities that are mindless or wasteful. If you’ve found yourself zoning out for big chunks of time on social media rather than going outside to get some exercise, or inhaling your lunch while you drive to another appointment, this theme might be just the ticket to bring you back into balance. [Read more: Try a New Year’s Theme Instead of a Resolution.]
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