Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a preventive double mastectomy continues to be the topic for public debate three weeks after she announced in a New York Times editorial that she had the surgery. Jolie is hardly the first woman to make this very difficult choice, and it’s one that women who already have breast cancer face as well. A recent study presented at the American Society … [Read more...]
On Wednesday, the American Heart Association (AHA) sponsored National Walk to Work Day to encourage sedentary workers to unhitch themselves from their desks and get their heart pumping by walking at least a half hour of their day, whether it was part of their commute, during their lunch hour or after the work day. Yet the health benefits of walking extend long beyond April 4. The results of … [Read more...]
by Renée Canada With more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the United States in 2011, it isn't hard to find numerous resources and a great number of women willing to speak about living with this disease. One of those women I interviewed in 2000, Doris Dietart, then 50, surprised me when she told me that she had been living with the disease for more than 28 years. Dietart was 22 when … [Read more...]
by Renée Canada Imagine being driven by the desire for connection and love, yet finding yourself nearly incapable of sustaining either. Some struggling single folks might relate to this feeling in some bittersweet way. Yet for those born with the rare genetic disorder, Williams Syndrome, this is not the material for self-deprecating, bitingly humorous blogs or heartbreak-with-a-happy-ending … [Read more...]