Healthy Festive Gifts and Giving

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Paper of the Year 2018: CMO Dr Catherine Calderwood

We are delighted that our Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood as provided us with some thoughtful reading and indeed future horizons which cover both screening and prevention.

Paper of the Year 2018: Professor Callum G Fraser

Continuing with our series of recommended reading Professor Callum G Fraser (University of Dundee) has a very clear recommendation with significant practical application

Title: Symptom or faecal immunochemical test based referral criteria for colorectal cancer detection in symptomatic patients: a diagnostic tests study.

Authors: Herrero JM, Vega P, Salve M, Bujanda L, Cubiella J

Paper of the Year 2018: Ann Gates

One of the SCPN favourite tasks is sharing current science and evidence relating to factors that influence cancer prevention and screening. Whilst many people are exploring favourite reads of the year for Christmas reading we ask some of our SCPN friends to tell us about their recommended read or paper of the year for sharing. This year we start with our recommendation from Ann Gates – perhaps better known as @Exerciseworks. Increasing physical activity is a key pillar in reducing cancer risk and finding ways to support and encourage active lifestyles is crucial to healthy ways of life..

Giving – Fun and festive ideas without hangovers

The festive season is fast approaching and that can only mean one thing; our social calendars will become jam-packed with various Christmas celebrations, often involving alcohol. But for almost a third of under 25’s, other teetotallers across various age groups and designated drivers, this year will be a dry Christmas. Attitudes towards drinking are clearly changing which is excellent news because drinking less alcohol could prevent 12,800 cancer cases per year in the UK. Even for those wanting to drink a little less over the festive period, non-alcoholic drink choices are quickly becoming mainstream so it’s never been easier to get into the Christmas spirit without the hangover! Here are some brilliant alcohol-free suggestions covering all the festive celebrations you’ll encounter this December.

Medical student: What the 12 codes against cancer taught me about cancer prevention

During first year of medical school, I walked in to my nutrition tutorial eating chocolate buttons and I was told off by the person undertaking the session. I proceeded to place the chocolate in my bag, listen to how we need to eat our “five a day” and minimise sugar intake and then left the class to finish off my chocolate. During the first three years of medical school, we are taught about a long list of conditions that result from an unhealthy lifestyle. This comes in contrast with the very little teaching we get on lifestyle modification. So, if my teaching on this topic is limited, how am I expected to embrace this lifestyle myself and subsequently deliver it effectively to my patients?

Save Water, Drink Kombucha

I think most of us are aware by now that alcohol is harmful, in fact a survey in 2013 showed that 84% of Scots thought alcohol causes either a ‘great deal’ or ‘quite a lot of harm in Scotland.’ They’re correct to think this, however what may be less well known is the link between alcohol and cancer. Alcohol is carcinogenic, which means it causes cancer and in 2015 more than one in four alcohol related deaths were from cancer in Scotland. It is important to understand that no amount of alcohol is ‘safe’ and no type of alcohol is better or worse than another. Additionally drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancer whether you drink it all in one go or a bit at a time. Therefore for cancer prevention it’s best not to drink any alcohol.

Alcohol – Finding the off switch #SoberOctober

In casual conversation amongst a bunch of friends I recently heard three accounts of people (all aged over 65) who changed their thoughts about drinking… so I asked them to retell their stories for our blog. In sober October I find these tales of inspiration, and a reminder that moving to being a non drinker may well solve many of the challenges about drinking limits.

Here is Margaret’s journey….

Healthy Halloween

Because without doubt, one of the scariest things about Halloween is the amount of sugar consumed…

In 2016, 65% of people in Scotland were overweight or obese and strong evidence shows that the consumption of processed foods high in sugar is a cause of weight gain, overweight and obesity. The main sources are confectionary (chocolate and sweets) and sugary drinks. On average, adults in Scotland consume 14.1% of their daily intake from sugar, when the recommended upper intake is only 5%. This is a contributory factor in more people being overweight- toddlers, children and adults!

Being overweight or obese increases the risk of 13 different types of cancers, so to reduce this risk we need to aim for healthy choices, like lowering the amount of added sugar in our diets.