November is COPD and Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, is a long-term lung disease. The disease affects millions of Americans and is a leading cause of disability and death in the U.S. Common risk factors include:

  • smoking
  • environment – inhaling hazardous fumes, air pollution, smoke, dust, chemicals
  • alpha -1 deficiency – an inherited gene that affects the ability to produce the protein that protects the lungs
  • a history of childhood respiratory infections

Lung cancer happens when cells in the lung change, because known risk factors – smoking and the environment, but lung cancer can also happen in people with no known risks. Cancer cells destroy healthy lung tissue and will spread beyond the lungs affecting other organs of the body. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in men and women in the US with smoking as the greatest risk factor.

For more information, visit lung.org the official site of the American Lung Association.

October is National Breast Cancer Month

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among American women.

The best way to find breast cancer early, when it is treatable and in most cases curable, is by performing self breast exams monthly and getting yearly mammograms.

Breast cancer does not discriminate; 1 out of every 100 cases of diagnosed breast cancer occurs in men.

Symptoms of breast cancer vary but may include changes in the size or shape of the breast, pain in the breast, nipple discharge, or new/non-healing rashes on the breast.

If you experience any of these symptoms or have any concerns about breast cancer, you should notify your provider and ask about your risk of breast cancer.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/resources/features/breastcancerawareness/index.htm

June is Cancer Survivor Awareness!

In June, we have the opportunity to celebrate with cancer survivors. Recognizing the journey these individuals have taken and supporting them through phases of diagnosis, recovery, rehabilitation, and a return to “normal” is often our focus as healthcare providers. However, moves in medical literature are beginning to address the need for a healthcare framework that addresses survivorship. What does this look like? Where is our role as healthcare providers in meeting these survivors on the different phases of their journey? How do we change our approach?

At the core, cancer survivorship must address the likelihood of recurrence and new cancers, the physical effects on the individual, the psychosocial effects on the patient and family, management of general health, and maintaining a plan for other chronic conditions (Nekhlyudov et al., 2019).  There is a concern that the burden of a comprehensive approach is allocated to a specific provider, be it the primary care or even the oncologist. However, the approach, to be effective, should surpass the practitioner’s specific area of expertise. In understanding a health history, the consideration of survivorship is critical in building a care plan. This fact means that all healthcare professionals need to build a survivorship plan. For these care plans to demonstrate effective outcomes, the role of counseling cannot be minimized. Adherence to comprehensive survivorship plans is directly related to the supports in following the plan while addressing the likelihood of recurrence or complications from other health conditions (Jacobsen et al, 2018). Measurements of quality of life are integral in measuring the effectiveness of the plan and play a role in the patient’s adherence. Assuring critical issues, such as neuropathy and joint pain, which are often concerns voiced in accessing activities that are meaningful generate from conversations that identify what is of value to the patient and their family (van Leeuwen et al., 2018). Building these directly expressed concerns from quality of life measures into the care plan supports the shift for patients that are survivors and challenges practitioners to create comprehensive treatments that meet this unique need.

For more information, check out these articles:

https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/111/11/1120/5490202?login=true

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6036622/

https://hqlo.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12955-018-0920-0