Patient Education For Breast Cancer

Include Fiber In Your Diet

Fiber is a part of plants that you can eat but cant be digested by your body. Fiber is good for your health and can help you:

• Keep your blood sugar at the right levels.
• Lower your cholesterol levels.
• Have regular bowel movements and prevent constipation .
• Feel more full and satisfied after a meal.

Most people should eat at least 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day. You can do this by eating about 2 ½ cups of vegetables or legumes, 2 cups of fruit, and 3 servings of whole grains every day.

Increasing the amount of fiber in your diet over a short period of time can cause gas and bloating. Add sources of fiber to your diet slowly and drink lots of water. This will help your body get used to the change.

Foods with fiber

High-fiber foods usually have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving. Vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains are usually high in fiber. They also have many vitamins and minerals. Whole grains include the entire grain seed. Theyre better for you than refined grains. Examples of whole grains are:

• Brown rice, black rice, and wild rice
• Spelt
• Whole wheat
• Popcorn

Read the labels on your foods to find those that are high in fiber. Labels that list the word whole or whole grain before the first ingredient are good fiber sources. For example, look for whole wheat flour as the first ingredient in bread, not just wheat flour.

What Is Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in breast tissue. It happens when cells in the breast change and grow out of control. The cells usually form a tumor.

Sometimes the cancer does not spread any further. This is called “in situ.” If the cancer spreads outside the breast, the cancer is called “invasive.” It may just spread to nearby tissues and lymph nodes. Or the cancer may metastasize through the lymph system or the blood.

Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women in the United States. Rarely, it can also affect men.

Understanding Your Breasts: Normal Breasts Vs Dense Breasts

On April 1, 2013, the state of California became the fifth state to enact a dense breast notification law . This law requires physicians to inform patients if their breasts appear dense on mammography. It was enacted to raise awareness about dense breasts, but also raises questions about the relevance of breast density and what recommendations we should make to patients.

Womens breasts are made up of three different kinds of tissue:

• Fibrous tissue holds the breast tissue in place
• Glandular tissue is the part of the breast that makes breast milk
• Fatty tissue fills the space and creates the shape and size

Breast density reflects the amount of fibrous and glandular tissue compared with the amount of fatty tissue. If a mammogram shows mainly fatty tissue with just a few fibrous areas, you are considered to have low density breasts. Breasts with more fibrous tissue and less fatty tissue are considered to be high density breasts.

So why is it important to understand breast density?

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Chemotherapy And You: Support For People With Cancer

Explains what chemotherapy is and discusses questions people may have, such as how often they will have treatment and how it will be given. Explains common side effects, why they happen, ways your health care providers can help you manage them, and tips for to managing them at home.

Covers how diet needs differ for people with cancer, common eating problems that may occur, tips for handling food safely during treatment, how health care providers can help manage eating problems, and tips for managing problems at home.

Covers pain control methods and tips for cancer patients, pain control plans, talking with your health care team about pain, and coping with the physical and emotional effects of pain.

Cancer Screening And Early Detection

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Benefits Of The Breast Cancer Ally App

Its unique to each user:The app is tailored to focus only on the specifics and timing of a patients care plan.

It keeps details in order:To make things easier, the app curates key milestones. It lists what a patient needs to bring on her first visit. With guidance from a trained clinician, patients enter details about future visits. The app, in turn, offers directions and contact information. Based on input, pre- and postoperative information will follow. The app also updates a womans medical history for easy sharing with a primary care physician.

It prompts action :Beyond keeping appointments outside the home, cancer patients in recovery must manage self-care tasks. Which is why app users are given gentle reminders to follow through. A patient who had breast surgery under the arm, for example, would receive text messages — with links to illustrations — to conduct daily postoperative exercises. Users indicate completion via the app doctors can check for compliance.

It tracks patient concerns:Periodically, the app asks patients to record their symptoms by asking for levels of fatigue, depression and other factors. That often varies from what a woman might tell her doctor during an in-person visit, Clinicians can review the findings, allowing them to address any unspoken concerns.

The Breast Cancer Ally is ONLY for University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center patients!

Version 1.0 Requirements

• iPod Touch 5th generation or higher
• iOS v7.1 or higher.

Radiation Therapy And You: Support For People With Cancer

Explains the different types of external beam and internal radiation therapy that are used as treatments for cancer. Covers ways that doctors attempt to protect healthy cells from harm. Lists which side effects might result from treatment to specific parts of the body and offers tips for managing them.

Covers how to make informed choices when looking for complementary and alternative medicine .

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Who Is More Likely To Have Dense Breasts

• Younger women
• Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
• Women taking hormone replacement therapy
• Women with a lower body weight

Talk to your physician to discuss if you may have dense breasts. It may be recommended that you have a breast ultrasound or MRIin addition to your annual screening mammogram.

Choose Foods With Healthy Fats

Its healthy and necessary to include some fat in your diet. There are different types of fat. Some are healthier than others.

Fat has a lot of calories. One gram of fat has 9 calories, while 1 gram of a carbohydrate or protein has 4 calories. This means that high-fat foods have a lot of calories in a small amount of food. This is important to remember if youre trying to lose weight or stay at a healthy weight.

For people with certain medical conditions, limiting fat may be helpful. For most people, its better to avoid eating too many calories and choose healthier types of fats instead of avoiding them completely.

Saturated and trans fats

Saturated and trans fats may raise your cholesterol levels. High cholesterol is often linked to heart disease. Limit the amount of saturated and trans fats in your diet.

Saturated fats are naturally occurring fats. The following foods have lots of saturated fats:

• Meats
• Full-fat dairy products
• Coconut
• Palm oil

Most of the saturated fat people eat come from foods like burgers, sandwiches, pizza, and desserts.

Trans fats arent naturally occurring. The Food and Drug Administration has banned trans fats from many foods already, but you may still see them sometimes. Read the food label when buying packaged foods to see if the product has trans fats. Choose products with no trans fats whenever you can.

Trans fats are sometimes listed as partially hydrogenated oil or fractionated oil. Foods that may have trans fats include:

• Coffee creamers

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What Is Breast Health

One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. When you are proactive with your breast health, caring for your breasts does not have to be overwhelming. We want to provide you with the knowledge to help make informed decisions. Early detection, healthy lifestyle choices, and understanding the various signs of breast cancer are all important factors when it comes identifying your personal risk for developing breast cancer. While we cannot prevent breast cancer, we can ensure women have the tools and education to take charge of their breast health.

Side Effects Of Cancer Treatments

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Staying A Healthy Weight

Reaching and staying at a healthy body weight is one of the most important things you can do for your general health. Being overweight and having too much body fat is linked to an increased risk for some diseases, including certain types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

People who have gone through menopause and are overweight or obese have a higher risk for breast cancer. Research suggests that gaining a lot of weight during or after breast cancer treatment can increase both your risk of breast cancer returning and your risk for getting other cancers.

Whats The Relationship Between Red Meat Processed Meat And Cancer

Research by the American Institute for Cancer Research shows that eating more than 18 ounces of red meat per week increases your risk of getting colorectal cancer . Beef, lamb and pork are all red meats. Eating any amount of processed meat regularly can also increase your risk of getting both stomach and colorectal cancers. Processed meats are meats that are preserved by smoking, salting, curing, or adding other preservatives. Examples of processed meats include sliced turkey and bologna deli meats, bacon, ham, and hot dogs.

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What Should You Look For In A Self

It is very important to get to know your own breasts. By doing a self-breast exam once a month, you may discover changes and be able to alert your physician before your next yearly screening.

Be sure to schedule an appointment with your provider if you notice any of the following signs:

• Change in the size or shape of your breast
• A lump or hardening of your breast
• Swelling, redness, darkening, or warmth of your breast
• Rash, lesions, or dimpling of the breast
• Focal pain on one of your breasts
• Nipple discharge or new onset inversion of the nipple

Health Care Provider Education

Improve the quality of care for your young patients by learning about the risk factors for early onset breast cancer, and the steps you can take to improve outcomes for patients at risk.

According to national data, only 28.7% of primary care physicians refer a woman with average risk to genetic counseling, and 41.1% refer a woman with high risk for genetic counseling or testing, indicating a knowledge and efficacy gap in appropriate genetic risk detection.

Educating health care providers is an essential component of the Bring Your Brave campaigns effort to reduce the burden of early onset breast and ovarian cancer in young women.

Under the Affordable Care Act, CDC was mandated to develop a campaign to educate young women and health care providers about early onset breast cancer and hereditary breast and ovarian cancer risk. The federal Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women provides guidance to CDC in these efforts.

The goal of this targeted education program is to

• Improve awareness of early-onset breast cancer among medical providers.
• Equip medical providers with the skills to identify and counsel young women at high risk for breast cancer.
• Address patient-provider communication gaps.

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Eating Guidelines During Endocrine Therapy

Hormone treatments include tamoxifen, leuprolide , and aromatase inhibitors such as anastrozole , exemestane , and letrozole . These may be used for short or long periods of time. If youre getting hormone therapy, review the following guidelines.

Medication-nutrient interactions

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice can interact with many medications. Avoid eating grapefruit and drinking grapefruit juice if youre taking tamoxifen.

Certain dietary supplements can interact with tamoxifen and other hormone treatments. Always check with your healthcare provider or clinical dietitian nutritionist before starting any dietary supplements.

Managing your body weight

For some people, hormone therapy can make it harder to stay at a healthy body weight. Read the section Staying a Healthy Weight for more information on managing your weight and for tips to improve your diet.

Diet and hot flashes

A hot flash is a feeling of intense heat that isnt caused by an outside source. Hot flashes are a problem for some people during menopause. They can also be a problem for people getting treatment for breast cancer. Hot flashes can be different for everyone. They may last for different lengths of time and may come and go.

Staying at a healthy weight or losing weight if youre overweight may help with hot flashes.

A stressful or warm environment can start a hot flash. Some foods and drinks can also start hot flashes or make them worse.

• Caffeinated drinks
• Chocolate
• Spicy foods
• Hot drinks

How To Add Exercise To Your Daily Routine

Its important to find physical activities you enjoy. This way, youre more likely to do them regularly. Remember that any small increases in activity will help. Set small exercise or activity goals for yourself and slowly work your way up to doing more.

Exercise can be broken up into 2 or 3 sessions. For example, if you dont have 1 whole hour to exercise, try walking for 30 minutes twice per day. Try the following ideas to increase your physical activity:

The table below will help you determine how much exercise you need each week, depending on your goals.

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Limit Total And Added Sugars

Sugars are naturally found in many foods, such as fresh fruit and milk. Its okay to eat naturally occurring sugars in moderate portions.

Some foods have added sugars . Foods and drinks with added sugars can add too many calories to your diet. Over time, this can make you overweight or obese. They can also cause issues with your blood sugar and insulin . Insulin issues can include chronic hyperglycemia , hyperinsulinemia , and insulin resistance. These conditions may increase your risk for getting breast cancer and some other types of cancer. The World Health Organization recommends having no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day. This measure is for someone eating 2,000 calories a day.

Follow these recommendations to limit the amount of sugar you eat:

• Read food labels to find out how much added sugar a food or drink has.
• Grams and % Daily Value are now required for added sugars. Less sugar is better.
• Ingredients are listed in descending order. This means that the product has more of the ingredients that are listed first and less of those listed last. Make sure sugar isnt one of the first few ingredients on the list.
• Food labels list added sugars in many ways. Some names to watch for are:
• Corn syrup

If you have other health concerns talk with your clinical dietitian nutritionist.