WONDER HOW YOUR DOCTOR STAYS HEALTHY?
Here, leading researchers in their field tell us the single most
important thing they do to maintain their health and well-being.
self-discipline to prevent breast cancer. There’s no magic pill.”
KNOW WHO YOU ARE. From shyness to a tendency toward diabetes, your genes set the
stage for who you are. Now, scientists can compare your genes to
genes known to cause illness or life-threatening reactions to
drugs used to fight everything from infection to heart disease.
“The most important thing I do for my health is to compensate
for my genetic defects,” says George M. Church, PhD, a professor
of genetics at Harvard Medical School. His
genetic profile indicates a risk for high cholesterol,
skin cancer, and a sleep disorder. “A vegan
diet does a good job of getting rid of high cholesterol,
and I take a statin [cholesterol-lowering
drug]. I also keep sun exposure low and get a
solid night’s sleep.”
One concern consumers have, however, is
whether health insurance companies will use the
information revealed by a genetic test to discriminate
against who they’ll insure. The federal
government says they can’t. But at least one parent
who wants to have her child tested isn’t taking
any chances. She’s going to have the simple
blood test done by her family physician, then
mailed to a commercial lab under the name
“John Doe.” And she’ll pay for it with cash.
Finally, since so much of the testing science
is new, it’s hard to know which companies that
offer it know what they’re doing. Ask your family
physician to sort the wheat from the chaff
before you select a company.
“It is possible to alter your genetic destiny,”
says Church.
SPIN AWAY FROM BREAST CANCER. When women abandoned hormone therapy (HT) in the wake
of a study indicating that it significantly increased breast cancer
risk in postmenopausal women, the rate of breast cancer in
the U.S. plummeted nearly 9%. Now a study from the National
Cancer Institute and the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston indicates that most of the drop was in estrogendependent
tumors—suggesting that many women in the past
may have had subclinical tumors that were stimulated by HT.
“It takes self-discipline and effort to prevent breast cancer,”
says Christine Berg, MD, an author of the study and
chief of the early detection research group at the National
Cancer Institute. “There’s no magic pill.”
Instead, she adds, “I think the key to prevention is to keep
your weight at an optimal level through diet and exercise.”
Since obesity is a significant contributor to breast cancer in
postmenopausal women, aim for a body mass index between
19 and 25, she advises.
“I do Spinning and weight training for 45 to
90 minutes four to six times a week. That will
not only help me prevent breast cancer, but
heart disease and osteoporosis as well.”
CUT YOURSELF A BREAK. Building the ability to feel compassion for
yourself may be even more important than
building self-esteem, says Duke University
social psychologist Mark Leary, PhD. In five
studies recently published, Leary showed how
self-compassion buffers the stresses that life
hands us, builds resilience, and allows us to
roll with the punches.
“Think about what it means to be compassionate
toward others,” says Leary. “You’re kind,
forgiving, and accepting of them. The problem
is, when we goof up, we don’t act that way
toward ourselves. We beat ourselves up, and
take it too personally. And it adds an extra layer
of punishment. I try to lighten up on myself.”
It’s easier to weather job layoffs, divorces,
and other stressors if we learn to catch ourselves
in the moment between accepting
responsibility for something and telling ourselves how stupid
we were—then offer ourselves the same compassion we give
others. It just may help us correct the situation quickly, maintain
healthy relationships with those around us, and move on.
Ellen Michaud writes about health for Prevention and other magazines.
