Life-or-death advice on health concerns ranging from cervical and colon cancer to sexually transmitted disease was on the agenda when women peppered two gynecologists on the set of a local TV show.
The setting was last Thursday night’s taping of N’Zinga Shani ‘s (pictured) “21st Century Conversations,” which is aired on Citizens Television (public access TV for New Haven, Hamden and West Haven).
Thursday night’s show featured 15 women full of questions for the two experts, Drs. Peter Schwartz and Tom Rutherford (pictured, left to right), both gynecological oncologists at the Yale School of Medicine.
In preparing her shows, Shani typically brings her audience in an hour early so they can ask additional questions and reach a comfort level with the idea of being on live television. And she brings passion to her mission of providing necessary information to viewers who are unlikely to get it from network or for-profit cable shows.
Shani told her audience that in 2007, 40,000 women will be diagnosed with endometrial cancer, of whom 7,000 will die; 20,000 with ovarian cancer, of whom 15,000 will die; and 10,000 with cervical cancer, of whom 4,000 will die. The doctors confirmed her stats.
One woman asked, “Is colon cancer related to any other cancer?” Yes, and different cancers can cluster within the same family.
That was Important Point Number 1: Know your family history, and share it with your health care providers.
Another woman wanted to know the link between obesity, the foods one eats, and cancer.
Dr. Schwartz responded, “Obesity is a risk factor in almost all common female cancers.”
Important Point Number 2: A healthy diet — high in fiber and unprocessed foods and low in fatty foods with added salt and sugar — is critical to maintaining good health and fighting illness.
Sue Feldman (pictured), who works with a group of women recovering from substance abuse called Village of Power, asked about the role of stress in leading to illness. Dr. Rutherford responded that studies show that stress leads to a marked increase in many kinds of illness.
Important Point Number 3: Exercise is a great stress reducer (and also helps tackle obesity).
And Important Point Number 4: A lively discussion then ensued about cervical cancer, and whether the vaccine against it recently approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (Gardasil) should be given to girls 11 to 15, which is the FDA’s recommendation. The doctors said, emphatically, yes, because 25 percent of young women aged 15 to 19 have already been exposed to the virus that causes the cancer. By then it’s too late for the vaccine to work. (They said it could work partially, depending on how many of the four types of the virus the women had been exposed to.)
It turns out that men are carriers of the virus, and pass it on to their female partners. “And nothing happens to the men,” sighed Suzanna Lengyel (pictured). That’s mostly true, the docs said, although occasionally a man will get a wart on his genitalia.
A woman asked if it was true that having sex with a man is like having sex with all of his previous partners. Alas, it’s true, in terms of many of the sexually transmitted diseases that are out there.
Another Important Point: Smoking increases the risk of many diseases, so anyone who smokes should stop right now.
The doctors also emphasized the importance of patient support, that is, support from other patients who are dealing with the same illness. Schwartz said studies have shown that is the single most effective way for patients to cope — more effective than support from family members or even one-on-one counseling with a professional.
Shani’s website is full of valuable information on women’s health and other topics focused on African-Americans and other underserved populations.
Ms. Shani and the doctors are to be commended for presenting information that was not only new to many of us watching at home, but also literally life-saving. The women who asked questions are also to be commended. The quality of their questions and their eagerness to have this critical information was plain to see.
My question is this: why don't Yale New Haven Hospital, St. Raphael's and other health care providers free some resources to generate an ongoing series of programs to reach and educate the local public on such issues? There're a slew of health conditions we collectively need to learn more about, including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, leukemia, Parkinson's, and more.
I honestly can't think of a better venue to learn this info -- and have it stick -- than from my local health care providers, answering questions from people in the community, on local cable, from the comfort of my own home. I can't imagine it'd be that expensive to produce and it'd be a PR coup for any organizational providers that made a contribution.
Please do this and, in the meantime, THANK YOU, N'Zinga Shani!!