by Sarah Cawley PA-C, IFMCP
Co-Founder of Practical Healing
There are very few words that have the ability to strike fear into a person, quite like cancer. Most of us have had some level of personal experience with this diagnosis. Whether it’s a family member or friend who has been diagnosed, fought the battle, or heartbreakingly lost to this disease, most of us live wondering if and when this will affect us personally.
Cancer has also been called the “great equalizer,” sadly affecting many individuals that we would consider to be “healthy.” There is certainly a portion of risk that is out of our control- inherited genetics and environmental exposures contributing to the development of cancer. However, there are known risk factors for cancer development that we can control, and chiefly among them is metabolic health.
Metabolic health is defined as having blood sugar, waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides within normal ranges (1). Several studies have proven the correlation between metabolic health and cancer development, specifically increasing the risk for colorectal, breast, endometrial, liver, pancreatic, ovarian, and stomach cancer (3).
Each component of metabolic health is significantly influenced by nutrition and lifestyle factors. While there are some inherited conditions that impact metabolic health, how we live our day to day lives can greatly reduce the impact of such conditions.
A study published in 2019 (2) showed that only 12% of Americans have what is considered to be optimal metabolic health. While metabolic health is addressed in traditional medicine, many patients seek out Functional Medicine care to garner a more personalized approach to mitigating risk. We are uniquely positioned with time, tools, and training to help navigate your personal risk factors and help patients work to improve their metabolic health.
If you are interested in taking steps to address your metabolic health, we have several resources to support you at Practical Healing! Everything from advanced assessment tools such as an InBody Scan or Resting Metabolic Rate test to proven weight loss programs and the personalized support of certified Functional Medicine Practitioners- we are here to partner with you. Let us help you take back the fear and turn it into motivation to measure, manage, and master your metabolic health.
References
- https://www.january.ai/blog/what-is-metabolic-health#:~:text=Metabolic%20health%20is%20defined%20as,set%20by%20scientists%20and%20doctors.
- https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/met.2018.0105