LiveLongAgeWell

If someone were to ask me to name the worst cancer, I would say cancer of the pancreas. This cancer has received much media attention recently. Patrick Swayze is now fighting it, and it killed Luciano Pavarotti and Professor Randy Pausch (author of The Last Lecture).  Even the president of the American Medical Association died of pancreatic cancer last year.

The survival statistics are grim: after diagnosis, only about 25% of the afflicted live even one year, only 5% survive five years. It is so deadly because this cancer is typically diagnosed late, after it has spread, and surgery in those cases won’t cure. While there is hope that new and experimental drugs will work better, standard chemotherapy usually gives disappointing results. It also tends to be one of the most painful cancers. Victims often quickly lose lots of weight and become yellow with jaundice.

The pancreas—which produces digestive juices and hormones involved in food metabolism—is buried deep in the abdomen below and behind the stomach, and this deep location masks symptoms until it has spread beyond the pancreas. The liver, close by, is a prime target. Clearly, it’s a disease you want to avoid, and fortunately medical researchers have identified some measures you can take to significantly cut your risk:

1.    Don’t smoke. Smokers suffer a two to five times risk of getting pancreatic cancer. But if you smoke and quit, after five to ten years of not smoking, your risk goes down to that of a non-smoker.

2.    Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, especially dark green and highly colored ones. These vegetables contain more cancer-inhibiting phytonutrients. Think tomatoes (high in lycopene), soy, broccoli, blueberries, carrots, cranberries, and many others. In general the darker, richer, more vibrant color the better!

3.    A diet high in legumes and whole grains seems to cut the risk. One reason may be because these foods help fill you up and keep you from getting obese.

4.    Avoid obesity! Especially central, or abdominal obesity is thought to be a risk factor for pancreatic cancer. If you are overweight, work on numbers 2 and 3 above, and as a minimum for exercise, start moving and walking more. For example, take the stairs rather than the elevator, and park your car farther from the store entrance so you are forced to walk more.

5.    Minimize your red meat consumption, especially processed meat. It may be the high level of iron or the fat in red meat are the carcinogenic components, and for processed meats (non-fresh meat), the high sodium and nitrates might be the problem. Also, meats cooked at high temperature, and charred or grilled meats are especially believed to be loaded with cancer-causing substances.

6.    Floss your teeth! Yes, it is thought that those with bad oral hygiene, gum inflammation, and periodontal disease have a higher level of inflammatory substances in their body, and these can spark a pancreas cancer. Men with periodontal disease have a 64% higher risk!

7.    Make sure you are getting enough vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is common world-wide, and studies have suggested those who get adequate vitamin D cut their risk of pancreatic cancer by 50%. For more on vitamin D, I recommend this article from the Harvard School of Public Health.

In future posts, I will discuss each of these hints in more detail, but in the meantime, the above is food for thought…and make that food highly colored vegetables!