Lifestyle Changes for Lowering Cancer Risk: One Step at a Time

This time of year, it’s common to make diet and fitness resolutions, but we often choose unrealistic goals that are impossible to adhere to long-term. We get discouraged and give up, berating ourselves as failures, ending up in worse shape, mentally and physically, than when we started. Instead of tackling a “whole body makeover” or demanding a “new year, new me,” why don’t we gently love ourselves through small, sustainable healthy improvements this year?…

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HPV and the HPV Vaccine: What You Need to Know

There are more than 100 strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV). Most are harmless, but some can lead to genital warts and cancer. But by getting routine pap smears and making sure you are vaccinated against HPV; you can significantly reduce your risk. Unfortunately, in recent years, the misinformation about HPV and the vaccine has increased thanks to social media, so it's important to distinguish truth from fiction. So here is what you need to know about HPV, how to prevent it, and whether the vaccine is right for you…

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10 “Healthy” Foods That May Not Be So Healthy

One of the most common statements my clients tell me when beginning their health journey is: I want to eat better, but I don’t know how to start. And I get it. Changing your current diet and lifestyle can be daunting, especially when there is a plethora of options at the grocery store. Unfortunately, so many foods are advertised as “healthy” when, in reality, they lack essential nutrients or are filled with numerous additives. So much of marketing and packaging is misleading regarding the ingredients you’re purchasing to put into your body. Simply put, choosing the right foods can be confusing….

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Why Eating In-Season is Healthier (& More Delicious)

Have you ever noticed that butternut squash tends to taste better in the fall? Your taste buds aren’t deceiving you! The change of seasons makes certain produce that grows best during that season more flavorful because it’s fresher, riper, and juicier than its out-of-season counterpart. In-season produce not only tastes better, but it’s healthier for us, too. I’ve found that I feel better in my body and am more energized when I pay attention to what’s local and seasonally available at the grocery store…

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Insights into Cancer, Sexual Health, and Intimacy: Survivors and Experts Speak Up

One aspect of cancer that is seldom discussed is how it affects our sexual health and relationships. A cancer diagnosis is always life-altering, but specifically, with breast and ovarian cancers, the surgical alternation of reproductive organs and hormonal interventions can have a significant impact on how our bodies and minds handle intimacy….

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Inflammation and Osteoporosis: What You Need to Know

As we age, the topic of osteoporosis is discussed more regularly. If you’re a woman around the age of menopause or older, your doctor has likely mentioned this disease to you in passing. Or maybe you’ve heard of others exhibiting the early signs of osteoporosis. But what exactly is osteoporosis? Is it preventable? And why is it more common in women? Let’s dive in!…

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8 Sneaky Foods That May Be Causing Inflammation

Inflammation is one of those trigger words that you probably automatically associate with “bad.” But when injuries and foreign invaders are present in your body, inflammatory processes act as a defense mechanism to protect and heal you. So, in this sense, you want inflammation to occur! However, you can have “too much of a good thing,” and this idea definitely applies to inflammation….

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Advice from Veteran Breast Cancer Specialist, Dr. Johnson-Miller

Recently, I had the privilege of talking to Dr. Denise Johnson-Miller, medical director of the breast program of El Camino Hospital in Northern California. As a leader in her field for more than thirty years, Dr. Johnson-Miller has practiced as a surgical oncologist, professor, and program director at many distinguished programs across the country including Rutgers and Stanford….

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The SEAM Guide to Contraception: A Comprehensive List of Your Options and Everything You Need to Know

In the United States, 99 percent of women who have been sexually active report having used some form of contraception at some point in their lives. As a result, birth control is championed as a groundbreaking innovation that provides women with reproductive freedom to prevent pregnancy or manage period symptoms. But with the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the landscape for reproductive liberties has shifted….

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My Breasts Hurt All The Time But My Doctor Says I'm Fine, What Should I Do?

The fact is, breasts are complicated organs, and it’s easy to feel lost in the myriad diagnoses, tests, and treatment options. 70% of women experience breast pain in their lives, especially from age 30-50, and that most of the time it is not an indication of cancer. It can however be extremely irritating and interfere with daily life…

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Facing a Breast Cancer Diagnosis? This Glossary May Be Helpful

My name is Sarah Zimmerman, PA-C and I am a freelance writer and Physician Assistant. I recently started working in a breast center, and The SEAM editors have kindly asked me to write a regular column on all things breast cancer… The fact is, breast cancer is very complicated, and it’s easy to feel lost in the myriad diagnoses, tests, and treatment options. So often, when we’re given a cancer diagnosis, all we hear are alarm bells going off in our heads, and the specific and foreign medical jargon is too much. I’m here to try to make it all clearer….

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How to Seek and Offer Help: A Guide to Mental Health Advocacy

Without question, the last couple of years have underscored the necessity of knowing how to ask for help, accept help and offer help. And yet, “help fluency” remains elusive for far too many people. In Go To Help, mother-daughter power duo, Deborah Grayson Riegel and Sophie Riegel, blend their backgrounds in coaching and mental health advocacy to help readers recapture their empathy.

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How to Communicate as a Healthcare Provider: 3 Patients Weigh In

For those who have received a diagnosis of cancer, or were present when someone else has, the memory of that moment sticks in strangely specific ways. We might recall the color of the wallpaper or the music on the radio, what we’d eaten that morning, or the smell of the hand sanitizer. And it’s common for the overwhelm of emotions in that moment to make it difficult to retain important information….

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Finding Balance with Nutritionist Elissa Goodman

Like many of us, Elissa Goodman began her career working long hours at a stressful job fueled by an excess of caffeine. Then her world was turned upside down. She felt a lump, and, after several specialists visits, a doctor diagnosed Elissa with early-stage Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She was only 32. As a component of her long path of healing, Elissa turned to holistic nutrition and nourishment in concert with medical treatment. That was more than twenty years ago…

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