Surviving childhood cancer is an amazing feat, but if it’s left you feeling invincible, you could be putting your adult health in jeopardy.
According to a study done at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, when 15,620 adults who survived childhood cancer were asked how concerned they were about their current health, about one-third said that they were not very concerned or not at all concerned. And nearly 40% weren’t concerned about the possibility of facing another bout with cancer.
These responses might indicate that many childhood cancer survivors don’t fully understand that they have unique health risks that require a lifetime of vigilance, said Todd M. Gibson, PhD, the study’s lead author.
HOW TO FOCUS MORE ON YOUR HEALTH
Cancer treatment, especially radiation and/or chemotherapy, can leave you vulnerable to “late effects,” problems that don’t show up until many years later, according to the Children’s Oncology Group, an international research organization. Late effects can involve nearly every part of the body. They could be chronic health conditions affecting your heart, liver or other key organs, your bones and even your senses, as well as other types of cancers.
There’s no cause to live in perpetual anxiety, but it seems that a bit more realism would help. And for childhood cancer survivors, that means…
Maintain long-term follow-up cancer care. Keep up with all the screening recommendations for your particular type of cancer as well as for other types (colon, skin, breast if you are a woman, etc.). Depending on the type of childhood cancer you had, you might need screenings more often than someone with an average cancer risk—ask your doctor.
Work with a registered dietitian if you’re not at a healthy weight. Some childhood cancer survivors have trouble gaining weight, while others struggle with being overweight. A nutrition professional can help you develop a plan that includes the foods you like to eat in the correct portion sizes for your weight goals and any unique nutritional needs.
While the components of a healthy diet are the same for you as for everyone else, following it is more important because of your cancer history.
It also helps to pay attention to specific foods linked to cancer risk, according to the National Cancer Institute. For example, while just about everyone knows that cured, smoked and grilled foods are linked with increased cancer risk, few of us really make a point of avoiding them—but you really should.
Exercise at a vigorous pace. A study published in JAMA Oncology followed 15,000 childhood cancer survivors for nearly a decade. Researchers found that people who exercised vigorously in their 20s and 30s and increased the amount of exercise they did over an eight-year period had a 40% lower risk of dying compared with those who never or rarely exercised. And exercise can reduce the risks of developing some new cancers later in life, said Jessica Scott, PhD, of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, lead author of the study. Vigorous activity is aerobic activity that makes you sweat or breathe hard…such as dancing, brisk walking, jogging and playing basketball or tennis, Scott said. Note: More research is needed to find out more about the health benefits of exercise for cancer survivors as they age, but this study provides the impetus to start and stay with a vigorous-exercise program.
If childhood cancer left you with physical limitations and that is a reason why you don’t exercise vigorously, get some professional help to overcome the barrier—because just about anyone can exercise vigorously with the right tools and training. Ask your doctor for a referral to a physical or occupational therapist, for example, who can work with you to adapt your favorite activities to your ability level…and perhaps get you set up with special equipment through your insurance company if it’s needed.
