Wendy Green [00:00:16]:

Hello and welcome to Boomer Banter, the podcast where we have real talk about aging. Well, my name is Wendy Green, and I am your host for Boomer Banter. And with many years of aging, well experience and plenty more to come, I am here to tackle all of the uncomfortable, unexpected, and life affirming questions you've been pondering to help you make the journey a little less rocky and a lot more fun. So if you want to age well, you are in the right place. I read an article in next Avenue, an online magazine, titled let's talk about colorectal screening after 75. The premise of the article, as articulated by the author, Mary White, said, I'm concerned lack of knowledge about the latest screening guidelines coupled with pervasive ageism may lead to poor screening decisions for some older adults. Well, that definitely caught my attention, and I reached out to Mary. Mary White is an adjunct professor of environmental health at Emory Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, Georgia.

Wendy Green [00:01:37]:

She retired from federal service in 2023 after more than three decades as a senior epidemiologist focused on disease prevention and cancer control. Mary has a doctor of science degree in epidemiology and occupational health from the Harvard School of Public Health. The US Preventive Services Task force recommends that the decision to be screened for colorectal cancer between ages 76 and 85 should be made on an individual basis. I'm sure we would all be grateful to never have to have another colonoscopy, but what are the individual circumstances we should be aware of? And then my gynecologist told me the last time I visited that I no longer needed to have a pap smear. That's a typical recommendation once a woman reaches 65. But what about women in other risk categories? The US Preventive Services Task force recommends that all women get screened for breast cancer every other year, starting at age 40 and continuing through age 74 to reduce their risk of dying from this disease. But what is magic about the age of 74? Does breast cancer no longer show up as we get older? We all want to age well and avoid illness for as long as possible. And today we will gain some knowledge about screenings and caring for our health.

Wendy Green [00:03:20]:

So join me in welcoming doctor Mary White to the Boomer Banter podcast.

Mary White [00:03:27]:

Hello. I'm happy to be here. Thank you for the invitation.

Wendy Green [00:03:30]:

Oh, I'm so glad that you were able to join us, and we did have to reschedule this once, so I'm really glad that this worked out that you're here. So you are a doctor of epidemiology. What does that mean, what does an epidemiologist do?

Mary White [00:03:48]:

Right? Well, yes, I got my degree in a school of public health, and epidemiology is considered basic science of public health. The word has the same root as epidemics. I think, sadly, a lot of people became first introduced to epidemiology during the COVID pandemic. I'm not that kind of epidemiologist, actually. My career, I have focused not on infectious diseases and microbes, but instead have focused on environmental exposures, chronic diseases and things like cancer. And so our tools, when you're looking at chronic diseases, tend to be more data than laboratory samples. So we look at trends over time. We compare one population to the other based on different risk factors, identifying who may be at higher risk, the effectiveness of different interventions to reduce risk, that sort of thing.

Wendy Green [00:04:50]:

I am so glad you cleared that up because I definitely thought about epidemiologists as like, epidemics. Covid and the flu vaccine.

Mary White [00:05:00]:

Yeah, you know, well, the label epidemic gets thrown around a lot. Always talk about an epidemic of this, that or whatever. I think given the fact that we've all lived through the pandemic, happily, we may see that term used a little bit more thoughtfully if I lived through a real pain. Right.

Wendy Green [00:05:24]:

So I wanted to ask you about that next avenue article about screening for colorectal cancer after 75. You know, none of us enjoy that. What would be the things that we would need to consider that might encourage us to say, yeah, I guess we still need to be screened?

Mary White [00:05:48]:

Well, you know, honestly, I was so flattered that you reached out to me about this article. It's a topic near and dear to my heart. As I mentioned in the article, my father had colorectal cancer. But at a time when colorectal cancer screening was not recommended, it wasn't even a thing. And so having lived through the experience of his cancer, and knowing now that that can be avoided if we are successful in identifying cancers early, or you mentioned colonoscopy, if you find a polyp and remove it, you may actually stop cancers from even occurring. I mean, since those resources and tools are now available, I want people to take advantage of those tools if they're appropriate for them. And in my conversations with friends who are in their early eighties and so forth, I'm struck at how little they know about screening and what their doctors are telling them. So that's what prompted me to write the article.

Mary White [00:07:02]:

Always happy when someone reads it. So, screening, we are talking about finding something before there are symptoms of. So if a person is experiencing symptoms or if they for example, find blood in their stool. Yes, of course. They should seek medical care, get that worked up, see what's going on. That's not screening. That's medical follow up. Right.

Mary White [00:07:30]:

Screening is basically you're looking for something that the patient doesn't know they have. And colorectal cancer is that kind of a cancer that can occur without people being aware that it's there. So the question is, when you get a little bit older, are the risks of finding it greater than the benefits of finding it sometimes better? Just leave well enough alone. So what should you think about as you're approaching that age where routine screening is not recommended for average risk adults? As you mentioned in your intro, it's not that screening for colorectal cancer is actively not recommended. That's true for people aged 85 and over.

Wendy Green [00:08:23]:

Okay.

Mary White [00:08:24]:

But middle ground between, as you said, ages 76 to 85, where the official recommendations say those should be individual decisions based on things like, how long has it been since you were screened? I mean, if you haven't been screened since you were 60, hey, you might want to get tested. You know that things like your own personal risk profile. Have you had polyps in the past? Well, then you're not at average risk anymore. Okay, these recommendations are average risk. So if you have some sort of history like that. Okay, well, maybe these recommendations don't apply to you. You know, like, you really do need to get tested. Things like family history, high on your patient preferences.

Mary White [00:09:14]:

You know, I talked to a number of people who are in their eighties, and there are different perspectives about how aggressive they want to approach some of these decisions, and that's a legitimate issue in and of itself. Sure.

Wendy Green [00:09:31]:

Sure. Because I'll go ahead.

Mary White [00:09:33]:

Well, the other thing I take for granted, but I shouldn't, what a provider often focuses in on is life expectancy, which I think is better thought of in terms of your overall health. Are you healthy enough to undergo the screening exam? And if something's found, does it make sense to medically intervene, given everything else that's going on with you? Those are the kinds of overall health decisions that also should inform these decisions, because, again, we're talking about finding something worthy that isn't causing any problems now. Right.

Wendy Green [00:10:21]:

And those are. Those are tough questions, though, because a lot of times you wonder, is it, as you mentioned in the article, is it ageist that the doctor says, well, you know, we probably don't need to screen you anymore? You know, you're 75, you're 80, you're, you know, maybe you got another ten good years or is it really, how do you, as the individual, know that there's more to this than just, well, we don't need to do this anymore?

Mary White [00:10:51]:

Well, you know, when an ageist. Yeah, there are many components of being ageist, and one of them isn't necessarily always that they're being mean or uncaring here. It's sort of like you're assuming everyone's the same at whatever that age is. So as 75 year old, if you've ever been to a high school reunion, you know that people are very different at whatever the age is. Okay. So if a provider understandably is considering age as one of the criteria for whether or not a person should be screened, hard to blame them, because most of the recommendations are structured around your age. The issue is it should be more than just your age. Right.

Mary White [00:11:48]:

Looking at you as an individual patient, and that's where the decision can be individualized.

Wendy Green [00:11:55]:

Right. And that's a big part of what we wanted to talk about today, is that it's not your age that should determine any of these screenings that we're going to talk about you and your history and your health and, you know, your preference, right?

Mary White [00:12:11]:

Well, yes, that's probably faced not age alone, because, as I said, most of the recommendations are structured around age. And if you have to read the. Yes, and, okay. And a lot of us as we age for one reason or the other, I think you mentioned this, too. Maybe we're not at average risk. Remember, these recommendations are for people who aren't at higher risk for one reason or the other. And there are a lot of those one reason or the others that need to be thought about.

Wendy Green [00:12:45]:

Yeah. Anything else we need to say about colorectal screenings?

Mary White [00:12:50]:

Yes. I would also add you mentioned colonoscopy, and it's not the only test that's approved. So if people are hesitant for colonoscopy for a lot of legitimate reasons, you know, there's the prep. You have to have someone drive you home. You know, your insurance may not cover screening or colonoscopy. I don't know, whatever. Maybe legitimate reasons. There are other options, and one of the ones that is becoming more popular is the cologuard test that gets advertised on tv, where it's something you do at home and you send it away.

Mary White [00:13:34]:

So there's no prep involved. So I would definitely encourage people who are hesitant about colonoscopy to at least talk to their doctor about some of these other options for screening purposes. Okay. This is average risk people, right. No other high risk, meaning no symptoms but if you go that path, you need to be prepared that if they find something, you're going to need to have a colonoscopy. Okay. So.

Wendy Green [00:14:03]:

Because that's where they can. Then if they see a polyp, they can remove it and they can do preventative work.

Mary White [00:14:10]:

Right. But the. There are quite a few people who aren't screened or aren't up to date with their colorectal cancer screening. And so the guidance always is the test that works for you is the right test for you. Right. So.

Wendy Green [00:14:29]:

Right.

Mary White [00:14:29]:

Yeah. As long as, you know, be prepared. If they find something, you're going to need to have colonoscopy.

Wendy Green [00:14:36]:

Okay, that's good. Good to know. Thank you. So the next thing I wanted to talk about, Mary, is that when we talked initially, you and I both found out that we are children of mothers that took Des, and a lot of women, for those of you that don't know, a lot of women took Des if they'd had a miscarriage, and this was a drug that was supposed to help prevent a future miscarriage. And then they found out later that daughters of mothers that took destin were at higher risk for cervical cancer, I believe. Is that right?

Mary White [00:15:16]:

Yes. Right. A rare form of cervical and vaginal cancer.

Wendy Green [00:15:21]:

Okay. So like I said in the opening, my gynecologist said, I don't need any more pup smears, but I'm wondering if this is one of the higher risk things. The fact that I'm a daughter of a mother that took Des, that might say, well, maybe you should still have tab smears.

Mary White [00:15:40]:

Yes, it is excellent. The guidance for cervical cancer screening, again, talks about average risk women, and we could touch upon that in a moment. But the footnote clearly says these recommendations do not apply to women who've been exposed in utero for. To this particular drug, Des. Okay, well, what about them? Right?

Wendy Green [00:16:08]:

So what about them?

Mary White [00:16:11]:

Right. I understand right now, there are no formal recommendations for how a woman should be screened. Like the US Preventive Services task force, as you've mentioned, doesn't say anything about how those women should be screened, just that their standard recommendations don't apply to them. This is, I understand, an active area of discussion within the community of gynecologists. And I've been told that there may be a statement coming out fairly soon that offers some more clear guidance now that so many of these women that are often called Des daughters, they were exposed like in the fifties, right?

Wendy Green [00:17:04]:

Fifties, but the big population now, the baby boomers.

Mary White [00:17:09]:

Well, that's right. But for years they were under age 65. So this issue of you don't need to be screened. Well, didn't apply to them. I mean, so they would be screened anyway, right?

Wendy Green [00:17:22]:

Right.

Mary White [00:17:23]:

But their doctor may approach it differently, take extra swabs on the vagina, look at the carefully or whatever. I mean, but at least when they were under age 65, this wasn't the issue that it is today because now many of that birth cohort are well in their sixties and seventies. Right. What about them? Yes. So I would say on this one, stay tuned. But I think your gynecologist would be not correct to say that you didn't need it. But now, what kind of screening is appropriate for you? I think there's some working guidance. My gynecologist follows that sort of thing.

Mary White [00:18:11]:

But it would be too simple, I think, just to say you don't need to be screened. Now, there may be a basis for that recommendation, but it would not be the US preventive services test course because they have not said that.

Wendy Green [00:18:28]:

They have not said that. And I just wanna be clear. I mean, as Mary, she's an epidemiologist, a researcher, she's not a medical doctor. And so she's very careful about giving specific recommendations. But what I'm hearing you say, Mary, is that women who may have been exposed to des in the uterus might want to go back and talk to their gynecologist and say, well, maybe we want to talk about what might be appropriate.

Mary White [00:19:02]:

Yeah. Yes, absolutely. The wise guidance is always talk to your healthcare provider. Yes. And major disclaimer. Major disclaimer. I can't give you medical advice, don't follow my advice.

Wendy Green [00:19:22]:

She's not a medical doctor.

Mary White [00:19:23]:

Right.

Wendy Green [00:19:24]:

Okay. Are there other reasons besides des that a woman over 65 might be at higher risk that might want to consider continuing screenings? Screenings?

Mary White [00:19:38]:

Well, yes. I mean, the recommendations for cervical cancer specifically, they're written in a way that actually describe a woman age 65 as being at low risk because she's had negative tests before age 65. So it's more than just age on this one. Women can, this is average risk women. I'm going to pull up this statement. Average women, according to the experts, don't need to be screened for cervical cancer after age 65 if they have had an adequate prior screening history and are not otherwise at high risk. So what is the screening history and it has to do with, let me see if I can get the exact wording.

Wendy Green [00:20:39]:

What is with screening history and what is high risk?

Mary White [00:20:42]:

Well, yes, screening may be clinically. I'm reading from the guidance screening may be clinically indicated in older women with an inadequate or unknown screening history. Recent data suggests that one four of women aged 45 to 64 may not have been screened for cervical cancer in the preceding three years. So if you haven't had a pap test for a long time, that's another reason why. Well, you know, you might need to be tested in particular, like women with limited access to care, women from certain minority groups, women from countries where screening is not available, they are more likely to not have had adequate prior screening. The idea is, if you've had multiple negative tests up to age 65, it's highly unlikely that it's going to benefit from further screening. So it's more than just age. Right.

Mary White [00:21:42]:

And so the other high risk categories really relate to the woman's medical history. If she's had high grade precancerous lesions in the past, for example, you mentioned her DES exposure. The other thing to keep in mind, too, is if you've had a hysterectomy and you are otherwise not at high risk, your hysterectomy wasn't because of cancer, for example, and your cervix was removed, you don't need to be screened even if you're under 65.

Wendy Green [00:22:18]:

Okay, yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. I want to move on to the breast cancer. So all three of these screenings, cervical cancer screening, colonoscopies, and breast cancer screenings, can be unpleasant and uncomfortable. But the guidelines say after 74, you don't need to be screen for breast cancer anymore.

Mary White [00:22:42]:

Well, actually, they don't say that. Yes, there's a fair amount of careful wording on this one.

Wendy Green [00:22:50]:

Oh, good.

Mary White [00:22:51]:

Now we're talking about the US Preventive Services task force recommendations. And what they actually say is they say nothing. They don't say yes, they don't say no. Instead, they give it an insufficient evidence. So here what they say is they've concluded that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening mammography in women 75 and over. So it's neither pro or against. Insufficient evidence. That's it.

Mary White [00:23:35]:

Okay.

Wendy Green [00:23:36]:

No guidance at all.

Mary White [00:23:37]:

Exactly. Well, I'm sure to say no guidance at all may be too broad a brush.

Wendy Green [00:23:46]:

Podcast host. I can say that they have a.

Mary White [00:23:51]:

Thoughtful documentation that discusses clinical considerations and this sort of thing.

Wendy Green [00:23:55]:

Right.

Mary White [00:23:55]:

Okay. So, you know, but they're not the only game in town. And you and I talked about. The American Cancer Society has its own recommendations. Okay, so the American Cancer Society says that you had mentioned already the. Well, actually the recommendations are different in many different ways. So they recommend, I'm assuming maybe some of your viewers could be in their fifties. If they are, the advice is if you are age 45 to 54, you should get mammograms every year and not every other year.

Wendy Green [00:24:37]:

Okay.

Mary White [00:24:38]:

Okay. So, and then the American Carrington says that women 55 and older. No, no. Should switch to mammograms every two years or can continue yearly screening. And then they say screening should continue as long as a woman is in good health and is expected to live ten more years or longer. There you go. So again, this is the issue. Like, if you felt a lump, that's, you need to get that worked up.

Wendy Green [00:25:14]:

Right?

Mary White [00:25:15]:

We're talking about people who otherwise have no reason to think anything's wrong, you know, and how long after a certain age should they continue screening?

Wendy Green [00:25:30]:

And I guess in some way there's an individual choice, right. If you look back and you say, well, I don't have a family history of breast cancer. I haven't had any kind of lumps or anything that has shown up in my previous screenings, and I'm over 70, maybe I can stop. But that's your individual choice. You have to discuss that with your.

Mary White [00:25:51]:

I talk to your doctor. Yeah. Because there's not only sometimes you can do more harm than good, you start interventions that may not work, there might be some other health conditions that really you should be worried about. I mean, whatever. You have to talk to your doctor about that. Yes. We both had mothers who lived into their nineties. I remember shocking my colleagues when I would tell them that my mother, age 80, something, had just gone for her mammogram, and they were like, but she felt this is how she was taking care of herself.

Mary White [00:26:35]:

And I remember when one of her doctors told her that she didn't need to be screened any longer. She didn't take it as we think you're going to die tomorrow. She took it instead as well. That's a relief.

Wendy Green [00:26:50]:

Yes, that's right.

Mary White [00:26:52]:

Right.

Wendy Green [00:26:53]:

Which is how I would take it, too, if they told me I didn't need to be screened anymore. I was like, oh, gosh. So let's switch gears, though, okay? We've been talking about all this screenings of preventative and. But as you told me when we first met, the focus of this screenings is on finding the disease and then treating the disease. Right? So you want to switch the lens to health. So tell me more about that. What you mean by that?

Mary White [00:27:25]:

Right. So, yeah, you want to. Most of these screenings, with the exception of colonoscopy, colonoscopy where you find polyps and the polyps are removed, arguably is a form of prevention, but mammogram is not going to prevent anything. It benefits only women who already have breast cancer by allowing their doctors to find it earlier or the treatment could be better. Okay, so what you really want is you don't want to get breast cancer at all if you can avoid it. Right? That's. And easier said than done. There are recommendations along those lines.

Mary White [00:28:04]:

They often focus on personal risk factors, and they may provide guidance saying that alcohol actually is a risk factor for not only breast cancer, but other forms of cancer.

Wendy Green [00:28:18]:

There's one article about that, like even one glass of alcohol.

Mary White [00:28:22]:

That's right.

Wendy Green [00:28:23]:

Your risk.

Mary White [00:28:23]:

Well, yes, that's right. Yes. Anne. I was on an advisory committee for a project that was looking at ways to prevent breast cancer, and they identified 23 different factors that can contribute to breast cancer. I mean, it's a complex disease. The thinking is that many different factors over the course of many years can contribute to the development of any cancer. All right, so most of the advice on how to reduce your risk of breast or any other cancer usually falls along the lines of all those things you already know are good for your health, be more physically active, you know, eat more fruits and vegetables, get good rest, you know, the whole thing. And I, anything you do along those lines.

Mary White [00:29:20]:

My sense is, we had the conversation earlier is a good thing because you can't blame yourself if you get cancer. It's never a result of something you did or didn't do. You can do what you can, that these risk factors are measured on a population level, not what happens to you individually. So we all know people who seem to be models of perfect health behavior, and yet, you know, they receive a cancer diagnosis. So it's much more complicated than that. So my sense is, yes, you do these things. Yes, in theory, you're lowering your risk of cancer by some of these things, but I, there's no downside because treatment outcomes are always better or seemingly more likely to be better, maybe not always more likely to be better if the patient's in otherwise good health at the time of their diagnosis. So there's reasons to just at this point in our lives, give yourself permission to focus on your own health, realizing that it's all benefit, it's all good.

Mary White [00:30:44]:

There's no guarantee that anything you do at this point in your life is necessarily going to keep you from receiving some kind of cancer diagnosis. Unfortunately, the likelihood is at this point that you're more likely than not, not to get cancer. Okay. But if you do, it's not your fault.

Wendy Green [00:31:03]:

But say that again. You're more likely than not because we've reached this age and we haven't had.

Mary White [00:31:09]:

Yeah, that's right. Because if you look at the probability of developing certain cancers in the next ten years for someone in their sixties or seventies, it's less than 50%. So that's how. More likely than nothing, you know? But anyway, the rates are high enough to be the reason for you to do what you can to lower your risk, be screened, follow up on any problems you may experience quickly. Miscellaneous.

Wendy Green [00:31:45]:

Yeah. And I like what you said, that even if it doesn't, your lifestyle choices don't prevent you from getting the cancer. If you're in better health, your chances of a recovery and handling the treatments are going to be probably better if you were. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mary White [00:32:10]:

And cancer is just one of several conditions 1 may encounter is the age. So usually the recommendations. I'm struck at how the recommendations for Alzheimer's prevention sound so much like the recommendations for cancer prevention.

Wendy Green [00:32:30]:

Yes. It's about the lifestyle, I think is what we hear all the time about where we eat and movement and.

Mary White [00:32:38]:

Yes.

Wendy Green [00:32:38]:

And functionalization and all that.

Mary White [00:32:40]:

Well, yes, yes. I would say yes. As an epidemiologist who doesn't focus only on an individual patient, but looks at these things population wise, there are a lot of factors in our culture and in our environment that can make it very difficult to always make the healthy choices. Right. And so there is more that can be done on a policy level to make those healthy choices easier, to make more affordable, easier to make.

Wendy Green [00:33:17]:

Give me an example of what that would look like.

Mary White [00:33:19]:

There are people who live in communities that are considered food deserts. They don't have access to affordable fresh food, for example, or places where it's not safe to walk. You can go down the list. And then we have a culture and marketing that encourages people to consume products that we know are harmful to them. We've got all kinds of substances that are harmful in our consumer, products that are not regulated. Yeah, you go on. Yeah. I'm always quite hesitant about the lifestyle label because that seems to put the onus squarely on the individual and personal responsibility.

Mary White [00:34:12]:

And as a society, we have responsibility for all of us and our communities to see what collectively we can do to make the world healthier and easier for people to live healthy lives.

Wendy Green [00:34:25]:

So when you're looking at populations, what I think I hear you describing is that the greater risk may be in populations that may be lower income because they have less access to healthy foods and fresh foods, let's say, and walking areas, and more stress. I mean.

Mary White [00:34:54]:

Yes. And more air pollution and other forms of environmental contamination and. Yeah, yeah. The whole nine yards.

Wendy Green [00:35:03]:

So you find that when you were doing your research, that the population of where you live and the environment you live in.

Mary White [00:35:11]:

Yes, yes. It's not a unique finding. I mean, that's been documented by many people to the point that there's this saying, your zip code is more important than your genetic code. So.

Wendy Green [00:35:25]:

Wow.

Mary White [00:35:26]:

Place matters. Absolutely. And if you look at the geographic distribution of these different chronic diseases, yes, it does vary a lot. And what's driving those geographic variations? It's not individual willpower, right?

Wendy Green [00:35:46]:

No, it's not. So. And your zip code matters more than your DNA, is that right?

Mary White [00:35:55]:

Well, that's one of those quotes. I think it was originally Doctor Jim Marks who said that, but I've heard that stated a lot. Maybe it's. Well, you're a podcaster, so you can live with oversimplifying things, but, yeah, there's a fair amount of truth to that. Yeah. They often say that genetics, inherited genese, represent, like, a small fraction of most cancers, 10% or something. And then the 90. What's the 90%? Is something else then.

Wendy Green [00:36:30]:

Yeah. And I hear that number also with Alzheimer's. Yeah. So it's very interesting that we, you know, we fear these things because we say, oh, well, my mother had this or my father had that, and maybe that's really not where the fear should be placed. Should be.

Mary White [00:36:49]:

Well, you know, you don't want. No, go ahead. No fear. It's all about hope. Hope, that's right. You want to aim for what you want. Health. Right.

Mary White [00:37:03]:

So, you know, you want to be cautious and informed, but you don't want to. You can't enjoy life if you're living with fear. I would say you can be hopeful from your podcast is an example of that. Practicing active hope.

Wendy Green [00:37:19]:

Active hope that. I like that, Mary. Thank you. So are there federal initiatives that you're aware of to help us address some of these environmental issues or geographic issues or zip code issues?

Mary White [00:37:39]:

Well, yes, you'd probably need to invite somebody who still works for the federal government to speak to that point, and I'm sure many of them would welcome the opportunity to talk about what they're doing and would probably welcome some more secure financing, funding for those activities. Yeah, but, you know, it's not just the federal government. There's a lot that happens at the state and local level, and people may want to get involved in their own community, to see what's going on there and what they might be able to do to help advocate for some of these positive changes.

Wendy Green [00:38:18]:

I am aware of some local community.

Mary White [00:38:21]:

Gardens where that's a perfect example. Yeah.

Wendy Green [00:38:25]:

People can grow some of their fresh vegetables. And it's fun because it's social, too. Yeah. Give me. Based on what we've talked about, the screenings and being proactive about the choices we make and understanding that it's not totally up to us about what happens to us, but we do have hope. And we do.

Mary White [00:38:49]:

Yeah. You have agency, you have agents.

Wendy Green [00:38:51]:

There you go. Give me two to three takeaways that you'd like to leave with the audience.

Mary White [00:38:59]:

Oh, okay. So one takeaway would be take advantage of the screening modalities that are available and check, make sure with your provider that you're up to date with the various tests and talk to them about any questions you may have about the tests that are appropriate for you given your situation in your age. So that's one. Another one. I would just echo what you were saying. Please don't ever think that if you get a cancer that is in any way a result of a failure on your part, something that you did or didn't do, it's just. It's too complicated for you to think that way. Just go forward.

Mary White [00:39:46]:

Knowing that there are always advances in treatment options for a number of cancers and science progresses, are cautiously optimistic about that. But we don't want to put all of our eggs in the treatment basket, which is why prevention is so important. So to the extent that people can get engaged in their community, in specific organizations, and forgive me for saying you have a voice in the ballot box as well, get involved in that. Prevention is, I think, would be recognized by all the medical authorities. They'd much rather have these illnesses prevented than have to be treated well, for sure.

Wendy Green [00:40:31]:

And it would save a lot of money. So Mary writes for several publications, one being next avenue. And I'm going to share all of the links that she gave me to next avenue and to the American Cancer Society and to the National Institute of Cancer. Right. National Cancer Institute, National Cancer Institute for Guidelines and for, you know, because as we were talking about, it's not always clear what the guidelines are and who they're for and what our decisions should be. That's all personal, individual choice. I'm going to put all of the links in the show notes for people to be able to do a little more research on their own to find out what they might choose to do for cancer screenings. Mary, this has been very helpful.

Wendy Green [00:41:35]:

Thank you so much.

Mary White [00:41:36]:

Well, thank you. It's really always fun talking to you. Thank you, Wendy, for all the good work that you're doing.

Wendy Green [00:41:42]:

Oh, my pleasure, my pleasure. I also want to remind people that if you want to be part of Boomer banter, you can sign up to be on the newsletter distribution list where you will find out all about what's going on. And I also share really relevant articles about things that relate to us in this stage of our life. You can go to Heyboomer.biz and click on Connect with us. I also wanted to mention that we have an Alzheimer's walk team, the walked in Alzheimer's, and our team is walking on October 5. We've set a goal of raising $5,000 and we're about 40% there. If Alzheimer's has affected you or someone you know, Or, if you want to support the organization, we would greatly appreciate you supporting our team and the wonderful work that the Alzheimer's association is doing. You can do that by going to act.alz.org/goto/heyboomer or join our team.

Wendy Green [00:42:54]:

Join us and walk. So who's coming next week? Next week we're going to meet Deborah Edgar. And Deborah has a long tale of loss and family dysfunction that created years of insecurity and self doubt. But in 2022, she suffered an unbelievable and almost unbearable loss. Her journey of recovery is now part of a small yet helpful book titled Good Grief. Some of it is directed at the person who is grieving and some of it is directed at society in general. How we deal with grief individually and as part of the larger community can help with the healing process. So I hope you will join us for that next Monday and point other people to the show.

Wendy Green [00:43:51]:

If you are not able to listen live, I hope you will enjoy the podcast and rate and review us. Mary, thank you so much.

Mary White [00:44:02]:

Well, thank you, Wendy.

Wendy Green [00:44:03]:

Each episode of Boomer Banter is an invitation to listen, learn and apply the wisdom gained to your own life. We are a supportive community, so join us as we age well together. Boomer Banter is produced by me, Wendy green, and the music comes from purple planet music. Thanks so much.