May 2013: Stress Less!
Skin Cancer Awareness Month
Women's Health Month
Hello Everyone!
Welcome to May, where our focus throughout the month will be Stress Less.
The first feature in this month's Wellness Exchange, The Stress-Health Connection, will help you to understand
your body's basic reactions to stress. By understanding your natural physical reactions, you can better manage and
cope with any stressful situation that comes your way.
May is nationally observed as Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month. Learn more about skin
cancer and how to reduce your risk in our second feature, Skin Cancer: What You Should Know.
We hope the information you find in this month's newsletter is helpful and informative !
Your Partners at The Wellness Corporation
The Stress-Health Connection
Stress exists in your mind - but it’s also evident in your
stomach, heart, muscles and even your toes. “In fact, stress
may affect every cell in your body,” says Ronald Glaser, Ph.D.,
a researcher at Ohio State University Medical School.
Step 1: Understand Physical Reactions to Stress
During stressful times, your body produces various chemicals,
including cortisol, an immune-suppressing hormone. The more
cortisol produced, the weaker your immune cells become and
the more susceptible you are to negative physical reactions and
illness. Common physical reactions to stress include:
·
Migraine headaches
·
Sleep disorders
·
Backaches
·
Skin rashes
·
Fatigue
·
Depression, irritability and/or mood swings
·
Anxiety or excessive worry
·
Chest pain
·
Upset stomach and stomach ulcers
·
High blood pressure
By gaining a better understanding of the connection between stress and disease, you can reduce your stress and,
in turn, improve your overall health and well-being.
Step 2: Keep Everyday Stress in Check
It is impossible to completely avoid all stress, but it is possible to manage your reactions to it. These steps can help
you control everyday stressors:
Exercise. Aerobic workouts can release pent-up frustrations while producing endorphins, brain chemicals that
counteract stress.
Eat a healthful diet. A balanced diet can help stabilize your mood.
Communicate with friends and family. Social ties relieve stress and have been shown to contribute to a more
positive outlook.
Spend time enjoying your hobbies and interests. Doing so allows you to focus on a pleasurable activity instead
of your problems.
Try relaxation techniques. Meditation, creative imagery, visualization, deep breathing, yoga and listening to relaxation music can help you to relax.
Learn to set limits. Don’t agree to unnecessary, stressful obligations.
Get enough sleep. Stress interferes with relaxation, making it hard to get a good night’s sleep, which can lead to
fatigue and a reduced ability to cope. To get the best sleep possible, go to bed and wake up at the same time every
day.
Step 3: Learn How to Deal with Serious Stress
When faced with a highly stressful event in your life - perhaps the death of a loved one, a life-threatening illness or a
serious financial loss – consider the following strategies to help you cope:
Avoid unnecessary changes in your life. Instead, reserve what energy you do have for dealing with the stressor
at hand. If possible, stabilize your work and home environments while working out the primary problem.
Quiet your mind. In times of stress, the mind makes things seem worse than they are by creating endless versions
of impending disaster. Because the body can’t tell the difference between fact and fantasy, it responds with heightened physical response.
Keep in the present. You can calm both your mind and body by keeping your mind in the present, which is seldom
as stressful as an imagined future or regrettable past. To keep your mind in the present, focus your attention on your
breathing, a sound or visual pattern, or meditation.
Courageously and aggressively face the stressor. Resist any temptation to ignore the stressor. Instead, carefully
appraise the seriousness of the problem without magnifying it out of proportion.
Take inventory of your coping responses. Confidence is a valuable ally in combating stress, and it builds on
memories of past successes. Review successes you’ve had with other stressful life situations. Recall some of the
specific things you did to cope.
Take action. Commit yourself to a reasonable course of action to deal with the stressor. Action is a powerful stress
reducer. Research shows the body lowers its production of epinephrine, a powerful stress hormone, when a person
shifts into action.
Skin Cancer: What You Should
Know
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United
States. The number of people diagnosed with skin cancer is
steadily increasing, and people are getting it at younger ages.
With early detection, skin cancer can be cured in 85 to 95 percent of all cases. It is also often preventable
Types of Skin Cancer
The three major types of skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.
Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma can cause considerable damage and disfigurement if untreated.
If detected and treated early, however, these carcinomas have a cure rate of more than 95 percent.
Malignant melanoma causes more than 75 percent of all deaths from skin cancer. This disease can spread to other
organs, most commonly the lungs and liver. Malignant melanoma diagnosed at an early stage usually can be cured,
but melanoma diagnosed at a late stage is more likely to spread and cause death.
Who Is at Risk?
Although anyone can get skin cancer, individuals with certain risk factors are particularly at risk. Some risk factors
for skin cancer are:
·
Fair to light complexion
·
History of sunburns early in life
·
Certain types and a large number of moles (more than 50)
·
Family history of skin cancer
·
Personal history of skin cancer
·
Weakened immune system, whether caused by certain cancers, organ transplant
medication or AIDS
·
Chronic exposure to the sun
·
Freckles as an indicator of sun sensitivity and sun damage
·
Psoriasis and treatments for psoriasis
·
Smoking
·
Radiation therapy
Where you live can affect your risk for developing skin cancer. In the United States, skin
cancer is more common in southern states, where the sun is stronger. Age can also be a
factor. Most skin cancers appear after age 50.
How to Perform a Skin Self-Exam
After your shower or bath, start by noticing where birthmarks, moles and blemishes are
and what they look like. Be sure to check your entire body, including back, scalp, buttocks
and genitals. Use a mirror to check hard-to-see areas. Check for anything new - a change
in the size, texture or color of a mole or a sore that does not heal. Do a skin self-exam
once a month.
About The Wellness
Corporation
The Wellness Corporation is
a free and confidential
program provided by your
employer for you and your
household members. The
EAP can help resolve
personal and professional
problems.
Contact us today!
800.828.6025
Treatment
Skin cancer can be treated in several ways. Depending on the type and stage of skin cancer, possible treatments may include chemotherapy for the skin, removal by laser, surgery,
radiation or freezing. If a large cancer is removed, your doctor may perform a skin graft. In
this procedure a piece of healthy skin from another part of your body is used to close the
wound and reduce the amount of scarring.
Skin Cancer Prevention & Self-Care
Exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays appears to be the most important environmental
factor in the development of all three types of skin cancer. This makes skin cancer a largely preventable disease when sun protective practices and behaviors are consistently applied and utilized.
Follow these steps to help protect your skin and decrease your likelihood of developing
skin cancer:
·
Avoid overexposure to the sun, particularly between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and
2:00 p.m.
·
Make it a daily habit to use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher. Apply
sunscreen thoroughly to all exposed skin, even on cloudy or cool days.
·
Wear a wide-brimmed hat and clothing when you’re in the sun.
·
Avoid sunlamps and tanning beds. The UV rays put out by these devices have
been shown to damage the skin, despite what tanning salon owners and
employees might tell you.
·
Use lip balm with the sunscreen paraaminobenzoic acid (PABA).
·
Wear UV-opaque or polarized sunglasses to protect your eyes.
·
Be sure to apply sunscreen around the eyes, ears, mouth, and any bald or
thinning areas on your head.
Ÿ Some medicines can make you more sensitive to UV radiation. Check with your
doctor or pharmacist to see if this applies to you.
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