The news isn’t very positive.\u00a0 But, as more is being discovered and more research is revealed, there are some easy ways to combat these number and significantly decrease your chances of getting cancer.<\/p>\n
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1.\u00a0 \u00a0Clean and wear proper PPE on all calls<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 One of the glaring discoveries of the research is that wearing PPE including SCBA from the moment of entry until the completion of overhaul can greatly reduce exposure to carcinogens.\u00a0 And by wiping your skin upon exit from a fire and thoroughly and regularly cleaning your gear these exposures are decreased even more.\u00a0\u00a0Clean your neck, face, arms and groin thoroughly after each fire. These are areas with lots of blood vessels where particulates tend to collect. It was once considered a badge of honor for a firefighter to come home with a sooty face, but we know better now. Take care to remove this threat to your health as soon as possible.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 Don’t use tobacco!<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Using any type of tobacco puts you on a collision course with cancer. Smoking has been linked to various types of cancer \u2014 including cancer of the lung, mouth, throat, larynx, pancreas, bladder, cervix and kidney. Chewing tobacco has been linked to cancer of the oral cavity and pancreas. Even if you don’t use tobacco, exposure to secondhand smoke might increase your risk of lung cancer.\u00a0\u00a0Avoiding tobacco \u2014 or deciding to stop using it \u2014 is one of the most important health decisions you can make!\u00a0 I know that there is a lot of tobacco use in firehouses, my suggestion, try to organize a contest to quit.\u00a0 Firefighters love money and challenges so pool together some monetary challenges to get your crew to stop tobacco.\u00a0 If you need help quitting tobacco, ask your doctor about stop-smoking products and other strategies for quitting.\u00a0 \u00a0Here is a great resource to help you quit (click here).<\/a><\/p>\n 3. Eat a healthy diet.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Cancer is a systemic disease with various causes, some of which include a poor diet, toxin exposure, nutrient deficiencies and to some extent genetics. One extremely important way to prevent and\/or treat cancer is nutritionally, through eating a nutrient-dense diet and avoiding things that are known to increase cancer risk. But for many people navigating the modern-day food system often seems overwhelming. Ingredients found in ultra-processed foods are being blamed for everything health-related, from cancer and diabetes, to reduced kidney function and bone loss. Only adding to the confusion, sometimes even the way we cook otherwise-healthy foods puts them in the cancer-causing foods category.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, until food manufacturers are forced to clean up the ingredients they use in their products, it\u2019s up to us to avoid the worst kinds and to choose cancer-fighting foods. Researchers have known about the dangers associated with some unhealthy habits and cancer-causing foods for decades, while others are just now emerging as possible culprits.<\/p>\n Inflammation is the underlying issue that dictates cancerous tumor initiation, progression and growth. Studies suggest that 30 percent to 40 percent of all kinds of cancer can be prevented with a healthy lifestyle and dietary measures!\u00a0 And other sources claim that this number is in fact much higher, with around 75 percent of cancer cases being lifestyle-related.<\/p>\n What makes some foods carcinogens (in other words cancer-causing) and others cancer-fighters? Foods that potentially contribute to cancer can include any number of chemicals, pesticides, preservatives and additives.\u00a0\u00a0Although making healthy selections at the grocery store and at mealtime can’t guarantee cancer prevention, it might help reduce your risk. Consider these guidelines:<\/p>\n 4. Maintain a healthy weight and workout regularly.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0If you want to prevent disease, exercise! Cancer is just one of a very long list of health problems that can arise as a result of chronic inactivity. Adults who participate in any amount of physical activity gain some health benefits. But for substantial health benefits, strive to get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic physical activity.\u00a0 Also, avoid sitting as much as possible. If you can, limit your sitting to three hours a day or less, as the mere act of standing triggers beneficial changes in your biology.<\/p>\n For the fire rescue athlete, I recommend you do a combination of both!\u00a0 \u00a0A study in JAMA Internal Medicine found that people who did 1.25 hours of vigorous or 2.5 hours of moderate activity a week had a 31 percent lower risk of dying of cancer than those who didn\u2019t work out.\u00a0 Exercise also helps you shed excess fat and maintain a healthy weight (this is particularly true for high-intensity interval training). Excess weight is a significant risk factor, and obesity.\u00a0\u00a0Physical activity also improves circulation, driving more oxygen into your tissues, and circulating immune cells in your blood. By improving blood flow to your liver, it also helps your body detoxify potentially harmful substances, including excess estrogen that may spur estrogen-sensitive cancers.Your metabolic and cardiovascular health is also largely dependent on exercise. In fact, one of the primary benefits of exercise is that it improves your insulin and leptin sensitivity and boosts your mitochondrial health, both of which play decisive roles in cancer and other chronic diseases.<\/p>\n Thousands of firefighters, EMTs and medics use this program to stay strong, lean and fit for duty.\u00a0 Click here for more information on this workout program (includes eating guidelines, recipes and more).<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 5. Get regular cancer screening tests and your annual physical.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 It does not matter if you are a volunteer or a career firefighter, we are all exposed to the same stresses and carcinogens.\u00a0\u00a0Annual physicals are the best way to detect potentially life-threatening medical conditions.\u00a0 There is no\u00a0\u00a0guarantee that every medical issue will be identified.\u00a0 What the research is telling us is that early detection can save lives! The best way to diminish the effects of any diseases, illnesses or injuries is to detect them as early as possible. This is especially true for firefighters who, in many cases, are at greater risk for certain diseases, illnesses, and injuries than the general population. The best way to find these diseases, illnesses and injuries early is for healthcare providers to have an increased awareness and for firefighters to have annual physicals that can catch abnormalities early.\u00a0 Here are some\u00a0 great resources to provide to your physician to help them understand the risks and tests firefighters require.\u00a0 Please print these out and take to your next physical.<\/p>\n A firefighter\u2019s blood work alone can provide a ton of insight into his risk for heart attack, stroke and cancer. Research shows that almost all of firefighters who suffer fatal cardiac events on duty possess one or more of the risk factors for heart disease \u2013 and two of these are identified in a typical blood panel: cholesterol and blood glucose. Markers of inflammation and cancerous growths can also be identified in the blood. And, most\u00a0importantly, with annual physicals, you will be able to live longer, more fruitful lives with your\u00a0 family and friends.<\/p>\n Cancer can strike anyone, even the healthiest of us, but as science advances toward a cure, it also offers compelling evidence on how much control we actually have in cancer prevention.\u00a0 We as a fire service must take care of each other and promote proper PPE and gear cleaning, challenge each other to reduce tobacco use, and make sure we get our annual check-ups.\u00a0 And, most importantly we must remember that our own cancer prevention starts in the the gym and in the kitchen.<\/p>\n Stay safe and let me know how I can help you get “fit for duty.”<\/p>\n Aaron Zamzow<\/p>\n Resources<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/news-events\/press-releases\/2015\/peak-longevity-physical-activity<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.who.int\/cancer\/prevention\/en\/<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.menshealth.com\/health\/obesity-and-cancer<\/p>\n http:\/\/time.com\/4330041\/reduce-cancer-risk-exercise\/<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health-news\/cancer-is-number-one-killer-of-firefighters#8<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.firehouse.com\/safety-health\/article\/12394530\/guide-to-occupational-cancer-screenings-letters-to-firefighters-and-primary-care-physicians<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/17172193<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/20843485<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cancer- I think almost everyone in the fire service knows of someone that has had it or is currently fighting it.\u00a0 Over the past few years cancer has been one of the most often discussed topics in the fire service.\u00a0 \u00a0There has also been a tremendous amount of research dedicated to deciphering why we are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[38,377],"tags":[381,382,380,379],"class_list":["post-3917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-firefighter-fitness-program","category-firefighter-cancer-prevention","tag-emt-health","tag-fire-fitness","tag-firefighter-cancer","tag-firefighter-cancer-prevention"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paAEPz-11b","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/cancer-fighting-22.png?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3917"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22924,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3917\/revisions\/22924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firerescuefitness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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