West Newsmagazine 4-19-17

38 I HEALTH I
April 19, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
@WESTNEWSMAG
WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
The current political situation has left the majority of Americans feeling a
high level of stress, according to an annual survey.
health
capsules
Stressed out by politics
As the U.S. marks National Stress
Awareness Month in April, two-thirds of
Americans say the current political situation
has left them feeling stressed about
the nation’s future and related issues – and
that stress is impacting their emotional
and physical health, according to recently
released survey results.
For the past 10 years, the American
Psychological Association [APA] has
conducted its Stress in America: Coping
with Change survey annually to gauge
the nation’s collective stress level. After
survey results released last fall showed that
the presidential election and the nation’s
political climate were causing significant
amounts of stress among Americans, the
APA commissioned a post-election survey,
which was conducted in January.
Between August 2016 and January 2017,
the average overall stress level of Americans
surveyed rose from 4.8 to 5.1, on a
scale where 1 means little or no stress
and 10 means a great deal of stress. That
increase was the first significant uptick in
national stress measured since the survey
began a decade ago.
While people who identified themselves
as Democrats were far more likely than
Republicans [72 percent vs. 26 percent]
to pinpoint the outcome of the 2016 presidential
election as a major source of stress,
there was more bipartisan agreement as
far as feeling stressed about the country’s
future: 59 percent of Republicans said the
future course of the nation was a significant
source of stress for them, compared with
76 percent of Democrats.
“The stress we’re seeing around political
issues is deeply concerning, because it’s
hard for Americans to get away from it,”
said Katherine C. Nordal, Ph.D., the APA’s
executive director for professional practice
. “We’re surrounded by conversations,
news and social media that constantly
remind us of the issues that are stressing
us the most.”
Other sources of ongoing stress which
increased between the two surveys were
fear about acts of terrorism, which rose from
51 to 59 percent from August 2016 to January
2017; police violence toward minorities,
which increased from 36 to 44 percent
as a stressor; and personal safety concerns,
which rose from 29 to 34 percent as a cause
of stress – the highest percentage reported
since the question was introduced on the
survey in 2008.
As their stress levels rise, more Americans
also said they had experienced physical
and emotional symptoms of stress in
the prior month, which could have negative
implications for national health, the
APA warned. The percentage of survey
respondents who reported at least one
health symptom because of stress rose
from 71 percent to 80 percent between
August 2016 and January 2017. About
one-third of respondents named specific
symptoms such as headaches [34 percent],
feeling overwhelmed [33 percent], feeling
nervous or anxious [33 percent] or feeling
depressed or sad [32 percent].
“While these common health symptoms
might seem minor, they can lead to
negative effects on daily life and overall
physical health when they continue over a
long period,” said Nordal. She added that
the APA’s recommendation for dealing
with the current political climate and the
24-hour news cycle is to know your own
limits and to tune out when necessary as
one way to limit exposure to potentially
distressing information. “Read enough to
stay informed, but then plan acitivities that
give you a regular break from the issues and
the stress they might cause. And remember
to take care of yourself and pay attention to
other areas of your life,” Nordal said.
Cancer survival rates improving
Death rates from cancer are on the
decline for men, women and children,
and for all major racial and ethnic groups,
according to the most recent Annual Report
to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. The
report states that, from 2010-2014, the
most recent five-year period for which statistics
are available, death rates decreased
for 11 of the 16 most common types of
cancer in men and for 13 of the 18 most
common types of cancer in women. However,
death rates increased for cancers of
the liver, pancreas and brain in men and for
liver and uterine cancers in women. Overall,
rates of new cancers decreased in men
but remained stable in women during the
15-year period from 1999-2013.
The annual report began in 1975. It is a
collaboration among the American Cancer
Society, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute
and the North American Association
of Central Cancer Registries [NAACCR].
This year’s report, which appears online in
the Journal of the National Cancer Institute,
includes a special section focused on
five-year survival rates for different types
of cancer. Overall, it showed significant
increases in survival rates on a percentage
basis for both early- and late-stage cancers
diagnosed between 2006 and 2012.
Compared to cases diagnosed in 1975-
1977, five-year survival for cancers diagnosed
in 2006-2012 increased significantly
for all but two types: cancer of the cervix
and uterus. The largest increases in survival
rates, measured at 25 percent or greater,
were reported for prostate and kidney cancers
along with non-Hodgkin lymphoma,
myeloma and leukemia.
Cancers with the highest five-year survival
rate were those of the prostate [99.3
percent], thyroid [98.3 percent], melanoma
[93.2 percent] and female breast [90.8
percent]. The lowest five-year survival
for cases diagnosed in 2006-2012 was for
cancers of the pancreas [8.5 percent], liver
[18.1 percent], lung [18.7 percent], esophagus
[20.5 percent], stomach [31.1 percent]
and brain [35 percent].
“The continued drops in overall cancer
death rates in the United States are welcome
news, reflecting improvements in
prevention, early detection and treatment,”
said Betsy A. Kohler, executive director of
the NAACCR. “But this report also shows
us that progress has been limited for several
cancers, which should compel us to renew
our commitment to efforts to discover new
strategies for prevention, early detection
and treatment, and to apply proven interventions
broadly and equitably.”
On the calendar
Missouri Baptist Hospital, in partnership
with the OASIS Institute, presents
a Stress Elimination Workshop on
Wednesday, April 26 from 1-3 p.m. at
the Grand Glaize Library Branch, 1010