Article Category: Health & Wellness

It’s that time of year. We’re moving quickly toward late autumn, with its falling leaves and longer nights. And that means one thing: Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

It’s a holiday that brings family and friends together around a festive meal. Sure, it may not always go off without a hitch. Families aren’t perfect, after all, and your uncle Charlie is always trying to stir things up. But, even so, it can be a rare time to sit down with those close to us and just catch up.

And that also makes it a great opportunity to do something really important for your family’s health: collect a health history.

“Knowing family health history can help people understand their risk for cancer and other diseases,“ said Dr. Kimberly Kaphingst, director of cancer communication research at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute. “And this can help their doctors personalize cancer screening recommendations and other recommendations to reduce disease risk.”

Yet, studies show that only about one in three people actually spend any time connecting with their family about their health history. Thanksgiving or other family gatherings throughout the year are ready-made to fix this by breaking out our smartphones or notepads and gathering what’s known about diseases that may run in the family.

Doing a bit of homework beforehand can help you get the most from the family’s time together. Jotting down the health history you already know and then bringing this to Thanksgiving can help spark people’s memories and entice them to share.

“There are a number of helpful online guides on collecting family health information,” noted Kaphingst. “The U.S. Surgeon General’s My Family Health Portrait takes you step-by-step through the types of information to collect. Common diseases, such as cancers, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, are a good place to start.”

It’s likely not everyone will want to take part in the process, and that’s OK. Health is a very personal issue that can bring with it varied concerns and emotions. Whatever information people are willing to share, though, helps build a more complete story. And the more details you piece together and share with your family, the more likely other family members are to share what they know at some point.

Once you’ve recorded a health history – even if it has some holes – the most important thing is to then share it with your health-care provider, and encourage family members to do so with theirs, Kaphingst said. If a disease runs in the family, especially if it’s diagnosed at earlier ages, individual family members may be at greater risk. The good news is there could be steps you can take to help protect yourself. This can include earlier and extra screening tests for some cancers and heart disease risk factors, like blood cholesterol, diabetes and hypertension; medications to help lower the risk for certain diseases, like heart disease and breast cancer; and regular check-ups to help keep track of any important changes to your health.

While most people won’t have a health history that puts them at a greatly increased risk of a disease, it’s important to highlight any potential red flags. The process can take some effort but is a gift you can give to your loved ones. That’s something the whole family can be thankful for.

It’s your family’s health. Take control.

---

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention. As an epidemiologist and public health expert, he has a long-standing interest in the preventable causes of chronic disease. Colditz has a medical degree from The University of Queensland and a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

For a disease as scary as breast cancer, one positive and very important message that deserves to be heard more often during Breast Cancer Awareness Month is that it’s a disease that can be prevented.

Research shows that about half of all breast cancer cases could be avoided with healthy steps most women can take. That translates to around 130,000 fewer cases each year in the U.S.

And it’s almost never too early, or too late, to take steps that can lower risk. The teen and young adult years are ideal, since it’s an important period in growth and development that can have a pronounced impact on cancer risk later in life. Still, healthy habits picked up in midlife and beyond can have significant benefit, too.

Get started with these behaviors, which are also great for the overall health of the entire family.

Add movement to your days and keep it fun –dance, garden, play or walk.

One of the many benefits of regular physical activity is a lower risk of breast cancer. If you’re new to activity – or haven’t done it regularly in a while – take the pressure off and just choose something fun that gets you moving more than you normally would. After a while, you can do more if you want, building up to around 30 minutes of moderate activity a day. For families: Be active together. Walk to the grocery store, play ball in the park or tend a plot in a community garden.

Skip the alcohol.

We now know there’s really no risk-free amount of drinking when it comes to cancer, especially breast cancer. The best choice for your health and otherwise is simply not to drink. Choose healthy, alcohol-free drinks instead, bringing your own to gatherings if you need to. For families: Talk with your children about the risks of alcohol and binge drinking, and don’t center family meals and parties around alcohol.

Eat more plants.

Healthy, plant-based eating has many benefits, including lowering one’s risk of breast cancer. Being plant-based doesn’t mean you need to drop meat altogether. But it does mean adding more whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables to your meals and snacks – and cutting back on meat, especially red and processed meat. For families: Ease into plant-based eating by looking up vegetarian recipes as a family and going meatless one day a week.

Keep weight steady.

We hear so much about weight these days that it’s easy to become numb to its importance to our health. But overweight and weight gain in adulthood increases the risk of at least 13 different cancers. Keeping your weight steady – just not gaining weight – is a great goal that can have big health benefits, even if you’re overweight. For families: Keep high-calorie, low-quality snacks out of the house. Replace things like sugary soda, chips and cookies with fruits and vegetables, air-popped popcorn and fizzy water.

Stay smoke-free or get smoke-free.

We can now add breast cancer to the list of many diseases caused by smoking. So, if you smoke, quitting is the most important thing you can do to improve your health. Visit smokefree.gov or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) for help. For families: Talk with your kids from an early age about the dangers of smoking – and vaping. And be a good smoke-free role model.

Behaviors like these can’t erase a woman’s chances of getting breast cancer. A lot of different factors come together to cause the disease, many of which are out of a woman’s control. But healthy choices can help lower risk, and that applies to pretty much all women – younger, older, those with a family history of cancer and those without.

And that is a really positive, empowering message.

It’s your health. Take control.

For more ways to lower your risk of breast and other cancers, visit 8ightways.org.

---

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention. As an epidemiologist and public health expert, he has a long-standing interest in the preventable causes of chronic disease. Colditz has a medical degree from The University of Queensland and a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

You’ve likely heard of the HPV vaccine, but what you may be surprised to hear is that it is one of the most important advances in the field of cancer in the last 20 years. And while it may not be on the list of required vaccines at your child’s school, it is still very important for your child’s future health and well-being.

Infection with the human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a significant cause of many types of cancer in both males and females, including cancers of the cervix, penis, anus, vagina, vulva and head and neck. Each of these cancers can be quite serious, and, depending on the type, can also impact fertility, sexual function and overall quality of life.

HPV is a sexually transmitted infection and, actually, very common. About 4 in 5 people at some point in their lives will be infected with it. Typically, there are no symptoms, so people often don’t know they have it. While most HPV infections clear up on their own, some do not. HPV infections that don’t go away can lead to cancer.

The HPV vaccine protects against specific types of cancer-causing HPV, and it’s estimated that 31,000 cancers a year in the U.S. could be completely avoided with through vaccination.

“HPV vaccination provides safe, effective and long-lasting protection against cancers caused by HPV,” said Dr. Lindsay Kuroki, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The largest benefit from the vaccine comes in preventing cervical cancer, which is almost always caused by HPV. Cervical cancer is diagnosed in 13,000 women each year in the U.S. and is a top cause of cancer deaths globally. Studies have found the HPV vaccine so effective that there is now a very real possibility that cervical cancers could at some point be all but eliminated.

Of course, the key to that – and other benefits – is that people actually get vaccinated. And while we’ve been doing better on that front in the U.S., we still have a lot of room for improvement. Less than half of teens are up to date with vaccination.

The vaccine is recommended for both boys and girls around age 11 or 12, though it can be given as early as age 9 and up until men and women are in their mid-20s and possibly beyond.

If your child is in the age group to be vaccinated and hasn’t had the vaccine, ask your health-care provider about it. Not all providers will bring it up. This doesn’t mean it’s not important. But it does mean you may need to be proactive and raise the issue yourself.

“Parents try their best to keep their children safe and happy. However, sometimes it’s hard to realize that the choices you make now for your child will impact their health in the future. HPV vaccination is an opportunity that all parents should know of so that they can make the best health-care decisions for their children.” Kuroki said.

It’s your family’s health. Take control.

---

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention. As an epidemiologist and public health expert, he has a long-standing interest in the preventable causes of chronic disease. Colditz has a medical degree from The University of Queensland and a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

When we think about improving our health, steps we can take as individuals probably come to mind first – things like: eating more fruits and vegetables, sitting less and seeing the doctor when we should.

And, of course, these behaviors are really important for boosting our health and lowering the risk of many diseases. But one thing often hidden behind the health recommendations we see on websites, or read in columns like this one, is the importance that our surroundings can have on the choices we make.

“Our environment affects how easy or hard it is to choose, and then keep up with, healthy behaviors,” said Dr. Aimee James, a professor in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

For example, nice sidewalks or paths near home make it easier to walk before work. With grocery stores and farmers markets nearby, it’s easier to choose healthier foods over fast food.

And if there is good public transportation, it’s can be easier to get to doctor appointments.

Many of these things exist because people in the community decided they were a good idea and worked to make them a reality. “We have more power than we often realize to make changes that can help shape the health of the places where we live, work and go to school,” James said.

Big efforts can have an impact. Smaller efforts can, too. Together, they can all help build momentum that helps people in a community make and sustain healthy choices. And the ways you can engage in your community are as varied as you’d like them to be. You could:

• Use social media to raise local awareness about the importance of water bottle-filling stations in schools and other public buildings.
• Send emails or make phone calls to members of the city council about the need for free sunscreen dispensers in local parks.
• Attend a meeting of the school board to support the need for healthy food and drink options in school cafeterias and at after-school activities.
• Contact the county transit office about adding bus stops that make it easier to get to the local medical clinic.
• Take part in clean-up and maintenance events for parks and walking trails.
• Submit an opinion piece or letter to the editor to the local paper about the need for more safe sidewalks throughout the community.
• Work with your employer to organize a lunch-time walking club.
• Coach a youth sports or dance team.
• Run for the city council or county commission.
  
  

These can be satisfying efforts, knowing you’re helping to make changes that can have a positive and lasting impact for your neighbors, James said. Plus, it can strengthen the bonds within communities. “By engaging with and working to improve our communities, we make friends and acquaintances we never might have met otherwise. We support each other and improve not just our own health, but the health of our entire community.”

Of course, these types of changes can take time. So, patience can be important. But like other things we do to stay healthy, these broader changes can be well worth the effort.

“We can improve the way things are,” James said. “And that usually starts with one person saying, ‘This can be better. This can change. Who’s with me?’ ”

It’s your community’s health. Take control.

---

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention. As an epidemiologist and public health expert, he has a long-standing interest in the preventable causes of chronic disease. Colditz has a medical degree from The University of Queensland and a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

We have a love affair with sugary drinks in the U.S. And it may, quite literally, be killing us. About 25,000 deaths each year are linked to drinking beverages like full-sugar sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks.

It’s a startling number, especially for something so common that we often don’t give it a second thought. Half of adults have at least one sugary drink each day, and about 20 percent have two or more.

As if losing years of life weren’t concerning enough, “regularly drinking sugar-sweetened beverages has also been linked to weight gain and a higher risk of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and even liver disease,” said Dr. Rachel Tabak, a registered dietitian and research associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

What is it about these drinks that can lead to so many problems? There are a number of possibilities, but one likely culprit is pretty simple: extra calories.

“Our bodies don’t necessarily recognize the calories we take in from beverages the same way they do from food,” Tabak said, so we might not adjust for the calories we get from, say, a soda by eating less. Over time, these extra calories can lead to weight gain and obesity, and the many diseases related to them.

On average, U.S. adults consume about 150 calories per day from sugary drinks, and many consume much more. A large fountain drink can have as many as 600 calories, which is a quarter to a third of the amount many adults should have in an entire day.

If you drink sugary drinks, the healthiest thing to do is to cut back, “ideally to zero,” Tabak said.

These simple tips can help:

• Keep sugary drinks out of the house. If you don’t buy them, you’re much less likely to drink them.
• Keep a pitcher of cold water or unsweetened tea in the fridge. This way, you’ll always have a healthy option on hand.
• Choose unsweetened coffee instead of an energy drink. If you want a boost, go with classic black coffee. You can even get it in cans.
• Choose whole fruit rather than fruit juice. Whole fruit has more nutrients and is higher in fiber. If you really want 100-percent juice, try a low-sodium, 100-percent vegetable juice, which “has a number of health benefits and tends to contain more fiber and less sugar than fruit juice,” Tabak said.
• Don’t go overboard on diet drinks. While they’re low-calorie and low-sugar, “there’s a lot we still don’t know about how they might affect the body,” she said.
• Buy a reusable water bottle. Keep it filled and with you, so you’ll be less tempted to choose a sugary drink when thirsty.
• Be an advocate. Even small changes, like working to get healthier drink options in meetings or at school activities, can have an important impact in your community.
  

For fans of sugary drinks, cutting back can be hard, at first. So, it’s good to start small, and let little successes build on each other. It can be a process that takes some time, but it’s really worth the effort.

It’s your health. Take control.

---

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention. As an epidemiologist and public health expert, he has a long-standing interest in the preventable causes of chronic disease. Colditz has a medical degree from The University of Queensland and a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

A common refrain these days is that “sitting is the new smoking.” And while that’s a bit of an exaggeration, it’s a catchy phrase that does actually bear some weight.

Sitting increases the risk of many serious conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity and some cancers. It’s even been found to take years off of a person’s life, with one study showing that six percent of all premature deaths could be linked to too much sitting.

As if that’s not bad enough, studies have also reported that prolonged sitting has unique health risks that can’t be fully exercised away, no matter how much time we spend at the gym or local running track.

“Even among people who do moderate-to-vigorous activities for seven or more hours per week, those who sit too much have an increased risk of death,” says Dr. Yikyung Park, a nutritional epidemiologist and associate professor in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

And, unfortunately, sitting for long stretches of time is something many of us do. One national survey completed before the explosion of smartphones and social media found that we spend more than half of our waking hours being sedentary. Another showed that if we work at a desk or office job, we may spend as much as 80 to 90 percent of our work days being sedentary.

With numbers like that, it’s important for many of us to look after our health by taking steps to cut down on the amount of time we spend sitting. Luckily, compared to some other healthy behaviors, it’s pretty easy to do. We just need to stand up more throughout the day. Of course, figuring out how to make that a part of our regular routines can take a little bit of planning.

Work is a great place to start on that front, since it’s where many of us spend much of our week and log much of our sitting time. One international scientific panel recommends workers stand for at least two hours each work day, building up to four hours a day.

“Use a standing desk. Organize stand-up meetings. While on the phone, stand up. If you have a short message for a colleague, deliver it in person instead of calling or writing an email,” suggests Park.

When you’re at home, try doing some things standing that you’d normally do sitting. Have your cereal and catch up on the morning’s news while standing in the kitchen. When going out for coffee with friends, pick a place at a counter so you can stand comfortably. And when relaxing with a favorite TV show, stand through an episode or get up during commercials or between shows.

“Break up a long period of sitting as often as possible,” says Dr. Park. And just like with exercising, it’s also important to build up slowly to longer periods of standing so your body has a chance to adjust to the change.

Whether we are at work or home, our surroundings can feel like one big invitation to sit down, and for hours on end. For our health and well-being, it’s important to take a stand against that – and stand.

It’s your health. Take control.

---

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention. As an epidemiologist and public health expert, he has a long-standing interest in the preventable causes of chronic disease. Colditz has a medical degree from The University of Queensland and a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Among scary diseases, lung cancer can be one of the scariest. It is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the nation, including in Missouri and Illinois. And for smokers and many ex-smokers who are at increased risk of lung cancer, it can feel especially scary.

But there is some good news for those at high risk for the disease. Since 2013, a screening test has been available for certain heavy smokers and ex-smokers that can help catch lung cancer at earlier stages when it’s more treatable. The test is covered by Medicare and most other health insurance plans, and it’s been shown to lower the risk of dying of lung cancer by 16 percent and to lower the risk of dying of any cause by about 7 percent.

While these numbers may not sound that impressive, it’s been estimated that if everyone in the U.S. who was eligible for lung cancer screening were actually screened, it could prevent about 10,000 deaths each year, a number on par with those lost to drunk driving.

The screening test is called low-dose computed tomography, or low-dose CT. It is quick, easy and recommended for people at high risk of lung cancer. To be eligible for screening, you need to be age 55 to 77, be a smoker or ex-smoker who quit in the last 15 years and have smoked the equivalent of one pack a day or more for 30 years.

If you think you may by eligible, ask a health-care provider about screening. Together, you can decide if it’s right for you.

While a randomized clinical trial shows that the test saves lives, it does have some potential harms that are important to consider. First, low-dose CT has a relatively high false alarm rate. Officially called a false positive, this is when the test finds something that looks like cancer but isn’t cancer. False positives can make you feel anxious and stressed, and lead to follow-up tests that have their own risks.

Second, low-dose CT can lead to something called overdiagnosis. This is when the test actually finds cancer, but strange as it may seem, it’s a cancer that wouldn’t have caused any health issues if it hadn’t been found. These slow-growing cancers, nevertheless, are often still treated. And those treatments, like surgery and chemotherapy, can have risks.

Finally, there’s a small health risk from the radiation used during the low-dose CT scan itself. The amount of radiation in a single scan, though, is only about half the amount a person is exposed to during the normal course of a year.

The balance of screening’s risks and benefits can vary from person to person, and the decision to get screened is a personal one. For many people, it’s easy. For others, it can take more consideration.

There’s no right or wrong choice. But what is important is having the conversation about screening if you have a history of smoking about a pack or more a day.

Of course, the single biggest step that smokers and those who recently quit can take to protect themselves from lung cancer is to be smoke-free, whether they get screened or not. Quitting smoking for good lowers the risk of lung and many other cancers, plus heart disease, stroke and premature mortality.

And it’s never too late to benefit. For help quitting, talk to your health-care provider, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, or visit SmokeFree.gov.

It’s your health. Take control.

---

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention. As an epidemiologist and public health expert, he has a long-standing interest in the preventable causes of chronic disease. Colditz has a medical degree from The University of Queensland and a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Part of being a teenager is feeling a sense of youthful invincibility. The health concerns of middle age are just that – concerns of middle age – and are so far away that it’s hard for teens to even think about them, let alone want to take steps to avoid them.

But more and more, evidence shows us that certain behaviors early in life can be particularly important to health risks later on, and one of those behaviors is indoor tanning.

Indoor tanning – the use of a tanning bed, tanning booth or sun lamp – increases the lifelong risk of skin cancer, including deadly melanoma. And the younger that people are when they start indoor tanning, and the more they do it, the higher the risk.

Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the U.S. and is one of the most common cancers in young adults, especially in young women. And rates of the disease have been rising for many years, likely in part due to indoor tanning.

“People who tan indoors more than 50 total hours are two to three times more likely to develop melanoma than non-indoor tanners,” said Dr. Lynn Cornelius, chief of dermatology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And the use of popular bronzer lamps, which are much more powerful than the noonday sun, adds Cornelius, increases risk even more, “over four times.”

Yet, even with its dangers, indoor tanning remains popular with many teenagers, including in parts of the Midwest.

While only around 4 percent of high school boys and 8 percent of high school girls tanned indoors in the past year in the U.S., close to 13 percent of 12th grade girls tanned indoors. For white girls who are high-school seniors, this number can climb to more than 20 percent.

And in Missouri, a recent survey found that 21 percent of 11th grade girls and 30 percent of 12th grade girls have tanned indoors. “That’s more than double the national average,” Cornelius said. “It’s alarming.”

For parents hoping to help protect their kids from the dangers of indoor tanning, a good first step is to take some time to really understand its risks and talk to their kids about them. Cornelius draws parallels to smoking, pointing out that indoor tanning devices are classified as class 1 carcinogens by the World Health Organization – the same as tobacco and arsenic.

“I think many parents don’t understand the risks – that indoor tanning is not the same as going out in the sun,” she said. “There’s a reason why states are banning ultraviolet radiation from artificial devices for kids 18 and younger.”

Research has shown that rates of indoor tanning by youths are lowest in states with the most restrictive policies, such as total bans of tanning by minors, as is the law in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota and 16 other states. Weaker policies, such as requirements for parental consent for minors to tan, have been found to be mostly ineffective at curbing youth tanning.

While indoor tanning can seem a lesser concern compared to some of the other challenges of the teenage years, it’s certainly not something to ignore. Like other risky behaviors, it can have an important and lasting impact on kids’ health for years to come. So, as parents or guardians or simply concerned adults, it’s important to make an effort to talk with teenagers about the risks of tanning beds, to support strong policies that curb teen tanning, and to model good behavior yourself by not tanning.

“It all comes down to education,” concludes Cornelius. “That, and protecting teenagers from the dangers of indoor tanning by putting good laws in place that restrict access, just like we do with cigarettes.”

It’s your kid’s health. Take control.

---

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention. As an epidemiologist and public health expert, he has a long-standing interest in the preventable causes of chronic disease. Colditz has a medical degree from The University of Queensland and a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

For a long time, cancer has topped the list of many people’s health fears, surpassing stroke, heart disease and other conditions. While cancer is a frightening disease, knowing you can reduce your risk is welcome news.

Decades of research show that half or more of cancers could be avoided with a healthy lifestyle and regular screening. This isn’t to say that each of us has complete control over whether we get cancer or not. But we do know that some relatively simple steps can go a long way toward lowering the chances of developing many types of cancer.

Although many people know this generally, they’re often less clear on exactly what steps they can take to lower their risk. A 2017 report from the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), for example, found that while a large majority of the public knows that smoking and sun exposure increase cancer risk, only half or less know that key behaviors such as being overweight, being physical inactive, drinking alcohol and eating processed meat raise risk.

Additionally, many of the survey respondents believe that such things as genetically modified foods (GMOs), artificial sweeteners, hormones in beef, and food additives increase cancer risk when, to date, there is little or no evidence of this.

“Part of the confusion may be related to the fact that people get bombarded with a lot of information, from the media and other sources,” says Dr. Ed Giovannucci, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a panel member on a recent AICR report on nutrition, physical activity and cancer. “So, it becomes hard to distinguish what are important causes of cancer supported by evidence and what are only suspected causes, with little supporting evidence.”

Perhaps most surprisingly is that only about half of the survey respondents correctly identified being overweight as something that increases cancer risk. Yet, research shows that it causes about 130,000 cancer cases a year in the U.S., and increases the risk of at least 13 different types of cancer. The only lifestyle factor with a greater impact on cancer rates is smoking.

To help cut through some of this confusion, Siteman Cancer Center has compiled eight key steps that can help prevent cancer. They are built on solid scientific evidence and are designed to be things that most people can do, even if some of the steps might be easier than others.

They are to:

1. Maintain a healthy weight.
2. Exercise regularly.
3. Not smoke.
4. Eat a healthy diet filled with fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and low in red and processed meat.
5. Drink alcohol only in moderation, if at all.
6. Protect yourself from the sun and avoid tanning beds.
7. Protect yourself from sexually transmitted infections, and get kids vaccinated against HPV.
8. Get recommended cancer screening tests.
   
   

Compared to many of the wild health headlines popping up on news feeds, these eight ways can feel pretty ordinary. But while they may lack excitement, they can have really important benefits when it comes to preventing cancer.

It’s your health. Take control.

The full 8IGHT WAYS series about reducing cancer risk is available at 8ightways.org.

---

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention. As an epidemiologist and public health expert, he has a long-standing interest in the preventable causes of chronic disease. Colditz has a medical degree from The University of Queensland and a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

It can feel like a real victory when we discover those little tricks that make daily life a bit easier. Whether it’s a quicker way to finish chores or a simple dish that tastes like it took hours to make, it’s hard to beat the satisfaction of getting more done with less time and energy.

When it comes to our health, little tricks can feel rare. But a quick and easy one many people don’t think about is stepping on a scale regularly.

It’s understandable why many of us avoid it. Scales can deliver unwelcome surprises, especially if we’ve gone months or years between weigh-ins. But what regular weighing can do is prevent such surprises. By keeping track of your weight, you can note if it’s creeping up and can make small adjustments to how much you eat and how active you are.

A 2015 analysis that reviewed 17 studies on regular weighing found that this simple trick not only helped people with maintaining their weight, but also helped with losing weight and keeping it off.

“The overall evidence suggests regular self-weighing can enhance weight loss, particularly if the self-weighing is regular and continues,” says Dr. Rachel Tabak, a registered dietitian and research associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

And getting started is about as easy as it gets. First, if you don’t have a scale, buy or borrow one. There are many different scales out there, but a basic, inexpensive one is all you really need. Then, weigh yourself regularly – once a day or once a week or something in between – and keep a log of your weight.

A paper log works great, or you can go higher tech with a scale that automatically logs your weight to your computer or smartphone.

Overall, it’s currently unclear what an optimal weighing schedule is, adds Tabak, but some newer studies “suggest that more frequent weighing, daily rather than weekly, is associated with better weight loss outcomes.”

The most important thing is that you do it regularly and keep up with it.

As you get started, you’ll see that your weight has small fluctuations – up a few pounds one day and down the next. That’s natural. What really matters is the overall trend over time. If your goal is to lose some weight, but instead it’s steadily going up or staying the same, try to identify why that might be and make changes to what you’re eating and how much activity you’re getting.

Though stepping on the scale may not always be the high point of your day, these regular check-ins can play an important role in meeting your weight goals. More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, which increases the risk of many serious conditions, from cancer and stroke to diabetes and physical disability.

Maintaining a healthy weight has huge health benefits for individuals – and the nation. So, stepping on the scale regularly just may be a step worth trying.

It’s your health. Take control.

---

Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention. As an epidemiologist and public health expert, he has a long-standing interest in the preventable causes of chronic disease. Colditz has a medical degree from The University of Queensland and a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.