100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (44 page)

Polycarbonates containing BPA were widely used in food containers and

bottles, but are mostly found today in other places like cash register receipts

and canned-food linings. And unfortunately, recycling these materials is

reintroducing BPA into more places, including toilet paper, napkins, and

newspaper. It is harmful in many ways, despite what the chemical compa-

nies and mega manufacturers tell us, but it is still manufactured at a growing

rate of 3.6 million tons a year! It is inexpensive to make and widely available

for many uses. It’s a manufacturer’s dream!

But for us it’s a nightmare because our body reacts the same way to the

BPA in these plastics as it does to hormones, more specifically, the sex hor-

mones. Exposure to endocrine disruptors, or chemicals that mimic hor-

mones, potentiates the risk for hormonally related cancers like breast,

ovarian, uterine, and prostate. But the harmful effects don’t stop there. Here

is a growing list of all abnormalities linked to BPA exposure:

●
ovarian cancer
●
breast cancer

●
prostate cancer
●
premature birth

●
miscarriage
●
liver disease

●
obesity
●
diabetes

●
infertility
●
erectile dysfunction

Perk #45: Home Alone

175

●
feminizing male organs in utero

●
heart disease/lipid abnormality

●
attention-deficit disorder (ADD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity dis-

order (ADHD)

BPA is one of the hundreds of chemicals found in newborns’ umbilical

cord blood and has been for years.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) more than 90 percent

of the American population over the age of six has detectable BPA in their

urine. A recent study done at the University of Harvard showed a 1,221 percent

increase in BPA levels in the urine of those who ate soup from cans three

times a week, as the can linings are potent BPA leechers. (Some can linings

and water-bottle linings are clear, so you don’t even know they’re there.) And

don’t think that avoiding plastic can liners will get you out of harm’s way.

Paper products, like copy paper, paper money, and airline tickets, contribute

approximately thirty-three tons of BPA to the environment every

year in the United States and Canada. We are exposed to those

Be aware of the

papers every day, and the employees that handle those papers

dangers of plastic

every day are at an even higher risk of exposure.

exposure and make

Lately, with increased interest in the dangers of BPA, there

small changes to

is more research being conducted on how BPA causes such clear

reduce it.

changes in the reproductive hormones. We know that BPA binds

with the estrogen receptors when we are exposed to it and dis-

rupts hormone function. But now researchers have discovered that it is the

metabolite of BPA, MBP, which plays a bigger role in the estrogen response

by grabbing it with not just one receptor, like the BPA, but with two recep-

tors, doubling the potency of the abnormal hormone response.

We know about BPA and the harm it’s doing. We know BPA can get

into our bodies by eating and drinking contaminated foods stored in BPA-

lined cans and food containers, but it also easily passes through our skin

and into our bloodstream from direct contact. Studies show it can remain

on your skin for up to two hours. It is impossible to avoid all plastics in

your life, so try to avoid plastic exposure as much as you can. Here are some

general guidelines:

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

●
Avoid eating canned food and choose frozen or fresh to avoid the BPA

exposure in the can lining. This is especially strong in acidic foods like

tomatoes and tomato soup.

●
Choose plastics marked with #1, #2, #4, or #5, as these numbered plastics

do not contain BPA. (Plastic marked #7 is categorized as “other,” which

can mean safe plant-based cellulose or unsafe BPA combo plastics. Check

with the manufacturer for specifics.) However, even plastics that are

marked “BPA-free” may still have BPA if they were recycled from BPA con-

taining plastics. There’s just no way of knowing.

●
Reheat all foods in glass or ceramic containers, as heat tends to increase

the leeching of the chemicals from plastics into your food. Don’t use plas-

tics for hot beverages or food.

●
Avoid containers marked “PC” (polycarbonate) if the container is clear

plastic.

●
Don’t reuse single-use plastics as they can break down and leech chemicals.

●
If you work with cash register receipts, money, or thermal paper in other

areas, wear gloves to protect yourself from BPA exposure.

●
Avoid plastic teethers and toys and stick to cloth, cotton, and uncoated

wood.

●
Choose natural flooring instead of vinyl.

●
Cover food with paper towels instead of plastic wrap when microwaving.

There are many chemicals that go into making plastics, not just harmful

BPA. Be mindful of the plastics that are in your life.

For more information on plastic safety go to www.ewg.org.

Perk #46

Cancer Forced Me to

Brush Up on My Math Skills

M
ath has never been my strong point. So

you can just imagine my confusion

when I started to investigate breast cancer

statistics. There were stats for incidence,

survival rates, recurrence rates, and lots of

other numbers that made little sense to me.

I really wanted to understand what I was

getting myself into with this cancer thing, so

I asked my daughter, an honors math stu-

dent, to do a little tutorial with me before I

set off to decipher the numbers. To think, if

not for cancer, I would have gone through

life with less than adequate math skills!

The first stat I found was rather daunting. Stage-3 breast cancer yields

just over a 50 percent five-year survival rate. But wait, the news gets better.

By exercising, I can reduce my risk of recurrence by nearly 40 percent. I’m

a runner, so YAY for me! Believe it or not, the younger you are at the time

of diagnosis, the lower your chances of survival, so being diagnosed after

the age of forty ups my odds of surviving by another 3 percent. Yet another

encouraging study found that a healthy diet resulted in as much as a 30

percent decrease in the risk of death following a cancer diagnosis. I am

happy to report that I have fully embraced a healthy, cancer-fighting diet.

Now, bear with me while I do the math:

50% chance of survival overall

Plus 40% for exercising

Plus 3% for age at diagnosis

Plus 30% for a good diet

I 177 J

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

If my calculations are correct, my odds of surviving breast cancer are

123 percent. (Plus or minus 30 percent for drinking red wine. Scientists can’t

seem to agree on whether it is good for me or bad for me.)

DO NOT get too caught up in the stats when you have

cancer; they can be misleading. You are not a statistic.

DO everything you can to improve your health through

exercise, a healthy diet, and maintaining a positive attitude.

HEALTH TIP #46

Try Crunching These Numbers

Here are some statistics (not to get caught up in):

●
30%—percentage of all cancer deaths in the United States that are caused

by smoking. Quitting is the single most effective thing you can do to

reduce your risk of cancer—above anything else.

●
30 to 40%—percentage of cancer deaths related to human behavior like

poor diet and inactivity.

●
72,000,000—the number of people who are currently obese in the United

States (2012).

●
54,304—the number of cancer deaths among

women related to obesity in the United States this

Statistics can be

year (20% of all cancer deaths).

sobering . . . and

motivating.

●
95%—the number of umbilical cord blood sam-

ples that tested positive for DDT residue, a cancer-

causing pesticide banned in 1972.

●
68%—the five-year survival rates for all cancers, up 18% from forty

years ago.