How to fight cancer: Eat well, examine and exercise
same but that exercise will have the same effect on every kind of cancer.
‘Almost everywhere around the world, the most common cancers are the same,’ she says. ‘The most common cancer is lung, followed by breast, colon and then for men prostate cancer.
‘People who are worried about getting cancer are always asking me, “What should I do?”
‘And the one thing I am sure of is that exercise is the most protective thing we can do.
‘A lot of people want to buy supplements and change their diets — do a Chinese diet, go macrobiotic or vegan, try the Atkins diet, or cut out soya or dairy. But I tell them that we don’t really understand yet how food drives or doesn’t drive cancer. We probably all do eat too much sugar but we just don’t recommend certain diets. The biggest recommendation when it comes to nutrition is that we eat more fruit and vegetables and limit our consumption of red and processed meat. That is all we know.
‘But the data on exercise is becoming stronger every single year. People who exercise develop fewer cancers. And people who have a cancer and exercise develop fewer recurrences.’
In fact, Dr Westrup and her colleagues at the Beacon are so convinced by the data that they have started an exercise programme at called Fit For Life.
‘We are encouraging people to exercise while they are on chemotherapy,’ she explains. ‘We think “let’s not wait” as the exercise data is very clear.
THE one thing I can say to reassure people is that we are able to diagnose cancers better, we are able to diagnose cancers earlier, there are better treatments and they [medical staff] are better at explaining what we are doing and patients are able to get through treatments better with the care we have. But the thing that people can do for themselves is exercise.’
As Daffodil Day falls on Friday, Dr Westrup wants to emphasise that treatments for various cancers are improving all the time. She wants to help take the fear away from those who are facing a diagnosis, too.
‘It’s not just a patient who is scared by that diagnosis — it sends a shockwave through their family.
‘Cancers come in so many different varieties that it is actually hard to have a “one size fits all” answer. We understand cancers better, we have better treatment, — there are now personalised and targeted treatments — and we are able to support patients better when they are undergoing treatment.
‘A lot of people are scared of cancer but what they are really scared of is feeling sick or feeling bad or being a burden having treatment. We are getting better at supporting them and I would like to allay those fears by saying we have things that can help you and we are better at helping now, too.’
If you find yourself in a situation where you are about to get a diagnosis of any illness, Dr Westrup recommends bringing a friend or family member with you to the appointment and get them to write down information because you will then be able to go back over what you have been told.
‘Studies have been done to find out how much a patient hears a doctor saying when they speak to them for the first time,’ Dr Westrup explains. ‘The average patient only takes in about 30% of what a doctor says. The diagnosis sends a shockwave through you and you only hear a third of the explanation. We always tell our patients to bring a family member or friend and to bring a
notebook. That way when we talk to them there is another set of ears listening and they can talk to that person on the way home.
‘They have written notes, and a lot of times I write things down for my patients on their first visits that I want them to know and remember.
‘Other doctors often do the same. We are very aware that there is a lot of information to take in, it is like learning a new language, to sit down and talk about cancer, and not all of it will be taken on board.’
Don’t be afraid to ask your doctor if there is something you don’t understand. And it might be a good idea to avoid the internet unless you know your exact diagnosis.
‘Cancers are all very different,’ Dr Westrup says. ‘I think it’s important that people can read about what they have, but cancers are very complex and unless you are Googling the absolute exact thing you have, you can get a lot of misinformation.
Get your doctor or specialist oncology nurse to write down what you have before you start searching the internet, otherwise you can go all the way out into the left field and be ordering charcoal from Shanghai before someone like me says: “Wait a minute, you took a wrong turn there.”’
If you are facing chemotherapy, Dr Westrup says you shouldn’t worry too much about your diet.
‘If you are going to get chemotherapy, first of all don’t change your diet dramatically. Focus on eating good food and staying well hydrated,’ she says. ‘I recommend exercise to everyone and I also recommend counselling to every patient.
‘You are going to use everything for your physical cancer and use active cancer treatments for that, but you can’t forget to treat the whole patient. A cancer diagnosis is difficult for everyone but I tell patients to use every resource that is available.
‘You might think you are a person who doesn’t need counselling, but in my opinion everybody does. Your doctors might be good doctors, you might have great nurses, you might have a super spouse, family and friends, but they are not counsellors. It is about mind and body.
‘I also routinely recommend second opinions because sometimes patients need to hear their diagnosis from a completely different person in a completely different setting. If they hear it again or somebody says something a bit differently it is easier to take on board and it also allays any concerns they might have.’
Dr Westrup says clinical trials are also a good way of getting new kinds of treatment.
‘Always look and see if there are any clinical trials available for the cancer you have,’ she explains.
‘All the clinical trials here are run by Cancer Trials Ireland. You can look up their website and see what they are doing. It is a great organisation and all oncologists will refer patients to a different centre if there is a clinical trial going on there.’
DAFFODIL Day takes place on Friday. To donate, text 6060660 or visit cancer.ie. For more on clinical trials, see cancertrials.ie