Reality Check! LGBT’s Risk of Cancer!

by Kamala Parker, C.P.T.

We interrupt this program for a reality check from your OIA personal trainer.

This week my partner’s father entered hospice to continue his battle against metastasized prostate cancer. I don’t like to talk about cancer, but I recently heard a bio-chemical scientist express the notion that our country is in a state of denial regarding its causes. With the progression of my “father-in-law’s” disease, I feel compelled to write about cancer this month and how fitness plays a role in its prevention.

If just one of my gay brothers is made aware and becomes pro-active in the prevention of prostate cancer, it will be worth my deviation from my usual upbeat and light-hearted encouragement to get fit and stay fit.

A few years ago my father-in-law was overweight, but seemed healthy. Then he had an elevated PSA test, and due to extenuating circumstances did not follow up on the test for three years. By the time the test was done again, what could have been a manageable and beatable cancer had already spread to his lungs, liver, and lymph.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by the cells of the prostate gland; a PSA test measures the amount of PSA in a man’s blood. Yearly screening is recommended for men over age 50, and between 40 and 45 if those individuals are at high risk

Prostate cancer is just one cancer of the many that can occur. I am a cancer survivor, and a fortunate one! I make my living as a Personal Trainer, and like most self-employed individuals I don’t set money aside for health care, and I try to avoid doctors and hospitals as much as possible. Fortunately, a nurse I was training noticed a dime-sized irregular black mole on my shin and encouraged me to see her doctor-husband about it.

I’ll never forget the call at work when he asked, “Are you sitting down?” That dark spot was Melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer. After a deeper and wider surgery to create “safe” boundaries in the area of the cancer, he told me I should live 5 more years. 5 more years?! If I had not listened to my client the nurse, (I had ignored another nurse 2 years earlier), that cancer would have killed me.

That was seven years ago.  The good news is I’ve had no reoccurrence, so now my prognosis is unknown. I may live forever.

This is the real deal: The LGBT community is statistically at a higher risk of death from cancer than the general population. According to recent information available at the American Cancer Society’s website, reliable findings about health in the LGBT community are now coming in. These are some of the findings:

- Lesbians appear to possess more risk factors for breast cancer including nulliparity (having no children), alcohol abuse, and obesity.

- Lesbians and bisexual women had more breast cancer than heterosexual women, despite similar use of screening mammograms by study participants of any sexual orientation.

- Among gay men, liberal use of tobacco raises the risk for more than a dozen types of cancer. A 1999 survey found 41.5% of gay men were smokers, far higher than the tobacco use rate for men in general, which was 28.6%.

- Other surveys have found that 59% of LGBT youth reported smoking cigarettes at the time when the teen smoking rate overall was 35%.

- Due to difficulties obtaining health insurance and lack of care due to prejudice, the gay and lesbian community is medically underserved.

In addition to these specific reasons the LGBT community may be at a higher risk, research has concluded that obesity, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition are major risk factors for cancer, second only to tobacco use.

Genetic inheritance may play a role in some cancers, but for the most part pursuing a healthy lifestyle greatly reduces our risk. Avoiding tobacco products, maintaining a healthy weight, staying physically active throughout life, and consuming a healthy diet can substantially reduce one’s lifetime risk of developing cancer (as well as cardiovascular disease.)
 
It’s encouraging that a mainstream organization like the American Cancer Society is making an effort to inform the LGBT community about our elevated risk of cancer and the lifestyle changes we need to make to lower that risk. Ironically, the recommendations for preventing cancer happen to be the same changes I’ve encouraged you to make to get fit: exercise, eat right, burn fat and become a non-smoker!

Research has confirmed that a healthy lifestyle and a low-fat body, combined with routine tests to detect cancer early, really can save your life. In fact, researchers estimate that half of all cancer deaths could be prevented by these measures.

I know from personal experience that cancer isn’t a joke; ignoring it doesn’t make it go away! Consider taking action to live a longer healthier life. It’s time for a new body! A lean you! Resilient and strong! Start today!

Do you have questions or comments? Send them to for Kamala Parker, B.A., C.P.T. at kamthetrainer@yahoo.com.