We're All Riding on the Train

As part of my birthday celebration, we took a ride on the Amtrak train from Seattle to Chicago on the Empire Builder, and then back through different states from Chicago to Emeryville on the California Zephyr.

They have what's called "community dining" on all Amtrak trains, which means that if you eat in the dining car, you'll be seated with other people until you have a table of four. It means that you'll have different dining companions for each meal.

We met a lot of interesting people, most of whom were older (over 40) and most of whom were visiting relatives somewhere along the Amtrak line.

The most interesting part of this is that I met a few cancer survivors.

One woman had just finished her chemo, and this was after surgery, and they were treating themselves with a trip to see their daughter and their grandson. I was astonished at her complete honesty in the matter -- she just laid it out there, but not in an inappropriate way. She was determined not to let cancer stop her or deter her in any way. Hers was colon cancer, but an advanced stage.

Another woman I met also had had cancer rather recently. She and her husband were finally able to take the trip they had planned the last two years. They had put off the trip because of different health problems that kept coming up in her. Cancer was only one of her problems. She lost one kidney due to cancer. Then, a few years later, she lost her other kidney to diabetes. Her sister was able to donate one of her kidneys, but then her sister came down six months later with cancer that, in my dining companion's words, "ravaged her body." The cancer was not traced back to her sister. They just shook their heads as they told me this story.

During my last meal on the Zephyr, I met a man who told me his wife died several years ago of cancer. It was just part of his conversation, part of his life. He didn't underline it. It just was.

I suspect more people on that train were dealing with cancer, had dealt with cancer, or have loved ones who are dealing with cancer. It was amazing to me how much the subject came up.

60 Is a Magic Number

Today is my birthday. It's not only my birthday, but a milestone: it's my 60th birthday.

I actually never thought I'd see this day. I had so many self-destructive days while growing up, as a young and even more mature adult. In fact, I was telling someone the other day that I wished I had the power to go back in time, confront myself and say: No more candy bars!

I have to laugh as I typed that. The truth is, I never really woke up to health issues until the cancer, which I contracted at age 54. Then, slowly, bit by bit, I started paying attention. I was kind of reborn.

In the last few years I've lost some weight (still working on that one), stabilized my diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure, and hit the exercise road (walking) anew, finding a friend to do it with. And, six years later, I'm still cancer free.

In the other phases of my life, I am really happy. But I still struggle with portion control, eating from the rest of the pyramid, getting my body into fighting shape.

It's all a process, isn't it? The process of life.

I'm going on a week's vacation starting tomorrow. Traveling is always a problem for me as far as exercise and diet. I'll let you know how things went when I return.

Live Longer with ... Walnuts?

Yes, Walnuts. I heard a newscast on the radio today that eating 8 or so walnuts a day can increase your likelihood of living longer. (I'm still trying to trace down the source of that report.)

But it makes sense. Netscape's Home & Living website lists 14 food items you should try to work into your diet regularly. About walnuts they say:

"How nutty is this? Walnuts reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
--Eat 1 ounce five times a week. Other options include almonds, pistachios, sesame seeds, peanuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, and cashews."

And About.com: Longevity calls it "the best nut (for living longer)." "While many nuts contain healthful qualities, the walnut may be the most healthy. Walnuts contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids that help your brain and skin age well. Walnuts also have high levels of antioxidants. In addition walnuts contain l-arginine. This amino acid helps the body produce nitric oxide, which is essential for healthy veins and arteries. Walnuts may also help to erase some of the damage of a high fat meal if you eat a handful as dessert." For the rest of their list, take a look at their website.

I'm going to have to find a way to eat some walnuts every day. 8 walnuts as an afternoon snack should work.

Group Therapy: It Works

A few minutes ago, a young friend of mine called me to wish me a happy birthday.

While we got to talking, he informed me that he started attending a local group in southern California for under-40 cancer patients. He suffered from and continues to deal with a brain tumor. He's 39.

He told me that he didn't think he'd like the group at all, and I'm guessing that's because he would feel their pain. However, after stalling for a month, he finally got there, and told me he's glad he did. "We can bitch and gripe about stuff," he told me, laughing. "Yeah, I used to play sports and now I can't. They took my driver's license away from me. Stuff like that."

Just knowing there are other people out there, he added, really helps him. Some are in worse shape than he is, some are in better.

He added that it's amazing to him that all the women in the group are breast cancer patients. ALL of them. And many of them are in their early 30's. It's just not fair, we both agreed.

I am so proud of him, proud that he recognized he needed this kind of help. I'm tearing up now just thinking about it, thinking about him and his struggle.

If you're in the Bay Area, consider the groups that the Women's Cancer Resource Center offers.

The WCRC is at 5741 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland. If you are interested in attending or signing up for a group, please call the Helpline at (510) 420-7900 during their business hours: Monday through Friday 9 am to 5 pm. A volunteer will give you the name and number of the group you are interested in. Please wait to attend the group until you have spoken to the facilitator.

• Adults with Blood Cancers and their Families and Friends
1st Monday of the month, 7:30 – 9 pm
Facilitators: Gail Splaver, Ph.D., LCSW (510) 527-3871
Nancee Hirano, RN, MS, AOCN (800) 232-9997+3, ext. 37720

• African American Women with Cancer
2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month
6:30 pm – 8 pm

• Amigos y Familiares de Mujeres con Cancer (en espanol)
2do sabado por mes
1 a 3 pm

• Friends and Family
1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month
7 pm – 8:30 pm

• Latinas con Cancer (en espanol)
2do sabado por mes
1 a 3 pm

• Post Treatment
1st and 3rd Mondays
7 pm – 8:30 pm

• Teen Support Group for teens who have a parent or guardian with cancer – This group is on hold due to low attendance. If you are interested in joining this group, please contact Dolores at (510) 420-7900 x112.

• Women with Cancer
1st and 3rd Wednesdays
7 pm – 8:30 pm

• Women with Cancer
2nd and 4th Tuesdays
6 pm – 7:30 pm

• Women with Metastatic Cancer
Every Tuesday, 5:30 pm – 7 pm
Please contact the facilitator, Connie Holmes, for more information at (510) 898-0548; this is not a drop-in group.

Turning 60: Just Move!

Born in 1948, I'm one of the original baby boomers. I am approaching that dreaded ribbon in the race of time within a few days: I'll be turning 60.

I realize that 60 today isn't what 60 used to be when my parents were alive. What's the difference? Better nutrition when I was a child, and probably less stress as an adult. So, what, is 60 the new 40? Well, not quite, but I do have more tools at this age than they did at theirs.

The Baby Boomers website helloboomers.com suggests that at age 60 one of the best things we can do for ourselves is to drink plenty of water:

"One of the healthiest things you can do to easily help your body feel more alive is begin drinking at least 6-10 glasses of filtered water per day. Water helps flush the toxins from your body, relieves most back pains and enhances cognitive abilities. Avoid drinking water with your meals so the digestive process can work more efficiently; try drinking a glass of water before each meal and then after an hour or so, drink another glass or two."

They also give some very good advice: Just move.

"Exercise can prolong your life, aid in preserving your sanity and help you lose unwanted pounds. Resistance type exercise will sculpt your body and contour your muscles so it is a good idea to add weight training several times a week. Walking is a form of aerobic exercise that burns calories, improves your heart function and adds a boost to your attitude. There are many modalities of exercise from which to choose, find several that appeal to you and do them regularly."

More Bad News for Smokers: Nicotine May Spread Breast Cancer

I've read several reports on the fact that nicotine may spread breast cancer. The one below is by Amanda Gardner on HealthDay Reporter as posted by Yahoo! news.

"Nicotine may help push breast cancer cells from the original tumor to other parts of the body, contributing to the metastasis that so often kills patients.

Besides serving as yet another warning against smoking, the finding may also point to new targets for cancer drugs. However, the study's lead author stressed it is still too early to pinpoint the exact role nicotine may play in breast cancer's spread.

"I don't know what the potential is," said Dr. Chang Yan Chen, of the department of radiation oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston.

"This adds to the whole body of literature on how things that we ingest could potentially be harmful in terms of causing breast cancer or making existing breast cancer worse," added Dr. Julian Kim, a breast cancer surgeon and chief of oncologic surgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland.

The findings were published in the Oct. 15 issue of Cancer Research.

Nicotine, a component of tobacco, has been connected with a variety of malignancies -- not only lung cancer, but also head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, and more.

"It has been known that there are 10 to 12 nicotine receptors that express on the surface of various cells," Chen explained. "We do not know why nicotine receptors express in all the cell surfaces from various tissue origins, but we do know that nicotine is an important neuron transmitter in the central nervous system. It has been reported that nicotine can promote certain intra-cellular signaling in lung cancer."

So, while much of the research on nicotine has focused on its effects on the body's nervous system, recent research indicates that nicotine can also activate signaling pathways in non-neuronal cells, including tumor cells.

In a series of lab experiments, Chen and colleagues discovered that certain breast epithelial-like cells produce different subtypes of the nicotine receptor nAChR, as do certain breast tumor cells.

When these receptors were bound with nicotine, they started signaling the cells to grow and migrate. The findings were confirmed in mice.

Nicotine did not appear to be enough to spur tumor migration on its own, although scientists don't yet know which molecules nicotine partners with to do so.

"I took two cell lines and checked to see if the cells expressed the nicotine receptor, and I found they did," Chen said. "I found that certain signaling is upregulated, but [nicotine] itself cannot push the cell to undergo tumorigenesis [cancer formation]. The conclusion is, it probably can activate a certain intracellular signaling, but really, it depends on an individual's genetic background."

"Nicotine had some effects on these tumor cells that could eventually be harmful to a patient," Kim added. "It made breast cancer cells grow more vigorously. It made them have a higher capacity to become invasive, and it made cells that are sort of precancerous turn in a direction towards cancer."

I Can't Believe I'm Not Eating Butter!

I love butter. Ask me why I like to eat bagels, bread, challah, corn on the cob, baked potatoes. It's all about lathering on the butter.

But my cholesterol is high. I have to do some things, more things, to reduce my high cholesterol.

I have tried I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, a margarine spread, over at a friend's house. Last night I spread some on challah, and I really liked it. It's not butter, not quite. But it's smooth and very tasty: very close.

So I bought a tub of the Original spread today, and I'm going to shelve the real butter for now.

Here's a comparison chart from the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (ICBINB) website. Keep in mind that I'm trying out the Original, not the Light. At least not just yet. (And, of course, I'm not being paid by any product or service. This is just my two cents in trying to change some of my habits toward a healthier lifestyle.)



It looks like ICBINB has less sodium, fewer calories, and less cholesterol. That does it for me. Oh, and it adds some Omega 3's in there as well. And it looks like the Light version has fewer calories. I might try that next.

Oh, one more thing: it does look like the ICBINB spread DOES have some trans-fat. But since it's less than half a gram, they're not required to list it.

I just have to figure out now whether I can cook with ICBINB or not.

Walking for Your Health

My friend called again today, trying to get me out walking.

We made a pact to walk together at least twice a week. That's not so much, right? But between the two of us, and our busy schedules, it's been tough.

The morning's are colder now. The evenings come sooner, so there are fewer hours in which to walk in the safety of sunlight. Still, those are all excuses.

Walkers have been shown to have less incidence of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other diseases. For more specific information on how walking helps with each of these, look at this website.

I'm determined to walk today, somehow. Tomorrow is another question.

Save Lids to Save Lives

Help fight breast cancer in an effortless way: mail in pink lids from yogurt cups to Yoplait.

During their annual drive, for every pink lid you send in Yoplait® will donate 10 cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, up to $1.5 million. And they guarantee a donation of at least $500,000. Save Lids to Save Lives is celebrating its 10th anniversary. You have until December 31, 2008 to mail in the lids.

Almost 500,000 lids have been sent in already. There's a counter on the Yoplait website.

So grab your friends, coworkers, yoga class or neighbors and start getting involved today. You can use their tools, start a team or just pick up a spoon and you can help fight breast cancer.


About Susan G. Komen for the Cure(R)
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cure. Owing to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, we have invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer,
visit www.komen.org or call 1-877-GO-KOMEN.

Checking my Glucose Level Every Day

Every morning before I eat breakfast I check my blood glucose level (bG) on my handy dandy glucose meter. Yes, it’s the same old thing every morning, sticking my finger, putting the drop of blood on the test strip, and recording the number. Thankfully, my doctor tells me I only have to do this once a day.

But every month or so, I do something more. I go to the Accu-Chek website, log into my account, and type in all the glucose readings there. Because of this computer entry, I can do a number of things:

• Print out the readings for my doctor during my semi-annual visits. This way she can just glance down the page and see the highs and lows of the numbers. Anything over 140 bG is a red flag for her.
• I can graph averages. There are four different graphs (which measure an average over the last 3 months) I can create:
• Average Day
• Average Week
• Trend Graph
• Target Range

The Average Day shows me which days are the week are trouble for me. Believe it or not, Wednesday is my best day (with an average of 120 bG). However, weekends are trouble – I average 131.3 bG for Saturdays and 130.5 bG for Sundays. Come to think of it, I guess this isn’t a surprise after all, as weekends would be when I’m most likely to pig out or have sugar. By Wednesday I’m back in the routine, only to hit Friday and go right into weekend bad habits. I’ll have to watch that trend and try to reverse it!

The trend graph is pretty important, too, as it gives me an instant glimpse into whether I’m headed in the right direction or the wrong one. It’s important to remember that the graphs give you an average over the last three months, the time period that an A1C test would give you if you were in the doctor’s office.

I’ve found the blood glucose monitor to be a very good tool in controlling my diabetes. And the Accu-Chek website is just one more tool in looking at the numbers. Use of the website is free.

Red Wine Found to Reduce Risk for Lung Cancer

I'm mostly a white wine drinker myself, but perhaps I should switch over, especially with this new information about how red wine can reduce your risk for lung cancer. Wow.

This is the report yesterday from Fox News online:

"Drinking red wine not only reduces your risk for cardiovascular disease, but it may also reduce your risk for lung cancer – especially if you are a current or ex-smoker, Reuters reported Thursday.

People who do or have smoked and drink at least one glass of wine each day are 60 percent less likely to develop lung cancer than those who have smoked and don’t drink red wine, said Dr. Chun Chao, of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Pasadena.

Chao said it's the resveratrol and flavonoids in red wine that are protective -- something white wine does not have.

The reduction seen with red wine "lends support to a causal association for red wine and suggests that compounds that are present at high concentrations in red wine but not in white wine, beer or liquors may be protective against lung carcinogenesis," Chao wrote in her study.

However, previous studies examining the correlation between alcohol consumption and lung cancer haven’t always had the same results, Chao and her team noted in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Research has not adjusted socioeconomic statuses, which cannot only influence alcohol use, but lung cancer risk."

Feasting/Fasting during the High Holy Days

Yom Kippur is now over. Jewish ritual and tradition calls for Jews to fast during the 24 hours of Yom Kippur, which was yesterday. "Fasting" includes no intake of water as well as food. Jewish tradition also says that those who are sick, as well as children, should not fast.

I like to follow along with what my community is doing. However, I do fall under the category of "sick" for this exercise: diabetic, high blood pressure, previous cancer patient, on and on.

So I do what I can. I had a cereal breakfast in the morning, and ate a banana for lunch but no more. I use water to take my medication the three times a day I must take it, plus a little more. But believe me when I say I was really hungry (and thirsty) when I dove into the oneg feast at sundown last night.

And that's the other problem for me during Yom Kippur: eating all the wrong things, all at once, at the end of Yom Kippur.

I tried to eat a lot of fruit. However, I also ate a lot of sweets (because they looked really good). And there wasn't enough water available -- they ran out of water in the first 10 minutes -- and the only thing left was red wine or apple juice, both rife with sugar.

My blood sugar wasn't over the line (140+) this morning, but it was up there, 130. I didn't succeed all that well at controlling my blood sugar, and will have to think about that more next year.

Now, today, I'm back to routine.

Healthy Pumpkin Recipes

This is my favorite time of year, where summer slips gently into fall. And pumpkin is part of that for me.

HealthNet insurance put some healthy pumpkin recipes out in its latest email. See below. By the way, I substitute Splenda for sugar. And I will be making the pumpkin bread this morning!

"Pumpkins are more than just decorations - they’re low in fat and sodium, rich in the vitamins and minerals essential to a healthy lifestyle, and taste good too… Try one of these pumpkin recipes to sweeten up your Halloween or Thanksgiving holidays.

Crunchy Pumpkin Pie
For Crust
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground almonds
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water

For Filling
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
4 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
2/3 cup evaporated skim milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. To prepare crust: Mix oats, flour, almonds, sugar, and salt in small mixing bowl. Blend oil and water in measuring cup with fork or small wire whisk until emulsified. Add oil mixture to dry ingredients and mix well. If needed, add small amount of water to hold mixture together. Press into 9-inch pie pan, and bake for 8–10 minutes, or until light brown. Turn down oven to 350 degrees. To prepare filling: Mix sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in bowl. Add egg and vanilla, and mix to blend ingredients. Add pumpkin and milk, and stir to combine. Putting it together: Pour filling into prepared pie shell. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Nutrition facts: Makes 9 servings; Serving Size 1/9 of 9-inch pie; Calories 169; Fat 7 g; Cholesterol 24 mg; Sodium 207 mg; Fiber 3 g; Protein 5 g; Carbohydrates 22 g

Pumpkin Bread
1 can (15 ounce) pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup yogurt, plain lowfat
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat together pumpkin, sugar, oil, and yogurt. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, and salt; add to pumpkin mixture, stirring until just moistened. Stir in raisins. Pour into 2 greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pans and bake for about 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely.

Note: Substituting yogurt for eggs and oil reduces fat and cholesterol.

Nutritional facts: Makes 32 servings; Serving Size 1 slice; Calories 110; Fat 2g; Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 150 mg; Fiber 1 g; Carbohydrate 21g; Protein 2g; Sugars 10g

Perfect Pumpkin Pancakes
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 3/4 cup milk, lowfat
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a medium bowl, combine egg, canned pumpkin, milk and vegetable oil, mixing well. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Batter may be lumpy. (For thinner batter, add more milk). Lightly coat a griddle or skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium. Using a ¼ cup measure, pour batter onto hot griddle. Cook until bubbles begin to burst, then flip pancakes and cook until golden brown, 1 ½ to 2 ½ minutes. Repeat with remaining batter. Makes about 1 dozen 3 ½ inch pancakes.

Nutritional facts: Makes 12 servings; Serving Size 1 pancake; Calories 130; Fat 3g; Cholesterol 20 mg; Sodium 340mg; Carbohydrate 21g; Fiber 1g; Protein 4g; Sugars 4g

Sources:
Crunchy Pumpkin Pie recipe from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Keep the Beat - Heart Healthy Recipes; www.nhlbi.nih.gov
Pumpkin Bread recipe from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Adapted from Food for Fitness and Fun, November 2000 Iowa State University Extension; http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov
Perfect Pumpkin Pancakes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Adapted from Kids a Cookin', Kansas Family Nutrition Program; http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov"

Are You Getting Enough Iron?

In the years preceding my diagnosis as someone with colon cancer, there were signs. There were two signs especially related to iron deficiency:

* I kept getting turned down when I tried to give blood. I couldn't pass the iron test.

* Finally my doctor told me I was anemic, lacked iron, and suggested I take a supplement.

I started taking supplements, but I have to tell you: my intestinal tract wasn't happy. I quit taking the supplements before the week was out.

Eventually a colonoscopy uncovered that I had a large polyp in my colon that was sucking blood, and, indeed, iron out of the blood. I was anemic all right, but the cause was cancer.

Do you get enough iron? Below is an article by Remedy magazine:

"Up to 8 out of every 10 teenage girls and premenopausal women are deficient in iron--the key carrier of oxygen through the body. The deficiency can result in fatigue, poor concentration and sleep problems. Most iron deficiencies go undetected because routine blood tests only check for anemia, the final stage of iron deficiency. If you suspect you might be low in iron, ask your doctor about a serum ferritin test; it's a more sensitive indicator of iron status than hemoglobin or hematocrit tests. Also:

* Eat some extra-lean red meat. The iron in meat (heme iron) is well absorbed; the iron in plant foods is not. Add meat to a stir-fry, spaghetti sauce or chili, and you boost absorption of the nonheme iron found in beans, pasta and vegetables.
* Cook in a cast-iron skillet. Your food will absorb iron.
* Eat vitamin C-rich food, such as orange juice, broccoli or strawberries, at meals. Vitamin C boosts iron absorption and counteracts some compounds (such as phytates in brown rice) that block iron absorption.
* Select iron-fortified foods. While their iron isn't well absorbed, such foods do add some to the diet.
* Drink tea and coffee between meals, not with food. Both of these beverages contain tannins, compounds that block iron absorption.
* Ask your doctor about supplements. A moderate iron supplement should be considered if daily caloric intake falls below 2,500 calories and serum ferritin levels below 20mcg/L. Severe deficiency requires prescription supplements."

Swim a Mile for Cancer

Tomorrow and Sunday (October 4 and 5), the Women's Cancer Resource Center will be hosting a Swim a Mile for Cancer event at Mills College from 10 am to 4 pm.

Why swim a mile for women with cancer? In 2008, an estimated 14,965 people who live in the San Francisco Bay Area will be diagnosed with cancer. Nearly one out of every two Californians born today will develop cancer at some point in their lives, and it is likely that one will die from the disease.

Join an estimated 500 men, women and children who will swim at the WCRC's Swim a Mile for Women with Cancer at Mills College. Register to swim!

Anybody can swim and any distance can be swum, from 1 lap to 36 laps (1 mile). We'll be cheering you on! And if you're not a swimmer, you can water walk.

All swimmers are asked to raise $250 in pledges.

Swimmers, cheerleaders, friends and family are welcome to attend! There will be music and organic and healthy food at the event. And be sure to check out the WCRC booth to test your cancer knowledge and purchase a Swim-a-Mile t-shirt or hat.

National Denim Day

Lee National Denim Day is tomorrow, Friday, October 3, 2008.

Since its inception in 1996, Lee National Denim Day has adhered to a simple philosophy: one day, one cause, one cure®. In 12 years, that philosophy has become a mantra for millions and has made an impact Lee Jeans never dreamed possible.

It all started when several Lee Jeans employees realized that each of them, in one form or another, had been touched by breast cancer. An everyday conversation sparked an idea and led to the creation of Lee National Denim Day, which has become one of the largest single-day fundraisers nationwide for breast cancer.

In its first year, Lee Jeans set a goal of raising $1 million on Lee National Denim Day. To do this, Lee Jeans invited companies to go casual for a cause, inviting employees to wear their jeans to work on Denim Day in exchange for a $5 contribution to the fight against breast cancer. The underlying concept behind the program was simple—by convincing enouhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifgh people to take one small step, together they could reach an incredible goal.

The response to the inaugural Lee National Denim Day program was astounding. That year, more than 3,000 companies signed up to participate, raising $1.4 million dollars for the fight against breast cancer, setting the stage for what would become one of the most captivating social action campaigns in the country.

Since its first year, Lee National Denim Day has raised more than $70 million for the fight against breast cancer and unites nearly one million supporters nationwide each year.

So, support Lee's cause to find a cure for breast cancer: donate if you can, and wear denim on Friday!

Tai Chi for Health

I went to a local sci fi convention the other day, and one of the featured members was Erin Gray. Erin was a big T.V. star in the 1980’s/1990’s, starring in the series “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” and “Silver Spoons.”

There was a lull during her presentation when nobody had any questions, so she told us she’d tell us about her favorite subject, tai chi. She’s a master of tai chi, she reported, and gives classes in Los Angeles. Erin told us the story about how she got involved in tai chi, initially through the discovery of the benefits of acupuncture when appearing on Silver Spoons and she had a cold and couldn’t go on until she had treatment. She said that, since she started over 15 years ago, she hasn’t had a single cold since even though she’d had several lung-related incidents in her young years.

I took a look at the Tai Chi Academy website re: the benefits of Tai Chi, and this is what they have to say:

Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese system of slowly flowing movements and shifts of balance that strengthens the legs while conditioning the tendons and ligaments of the ankles, knees, and hips, increasing their range of motion and making them more resilient, less prone to injury. The constant weight shifts train balance and body awareness, leading to confident ease of movement within the form and in everyday life. Tai Chi is a physical exercise that focuses the mind, while conditioning the body. Practicing twenty minutes a day dissipates stress and reduces stress-related debilities, increases stamina, and strengthens the body and will.

Western Science recognizes the following benefits of practicing Tai Chi: increased oxygen uptake and utilization (more efficient breathing), reduced blood pressure, slower declines in cardiovascular power, increased bone density, increased strength and range of motion of joints, greater leg strength, knee strength, and flexibility, reduced levels of stress hormones during and after practice, improved immune function, and heightened mood states.

In the U.S., studies have shown that even people in their 70's and 80's can learn a simplified series of Tai Chi forms, and benefit tremendously: Study subjects show a marked decrease in injurious falls, reductions in blood pressure, and improved measures of balance and confidence. If Tai Chi can do this for geriatric beginners, think of what it can do for someone who starts a few decades sooner, and stays with it.