tagged w/ Lance Armstrong
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You might call Maarten van der Weijden the anti-Lance Armstrong. Last week, the Dutch Olympic long-distance swimming champion and cancer survivor told the British newspaper The Telegraph that he didn't want to be compared to the American cycling star.
"Armstrong says that positive thinking and doing a lot of sports can save you. I don't agree," said van der Weijden. "I even think it's dangerous because it implies that if you are not a positive thinker all the time you lose ... The doctors saved me. I am just lucky."
Van der Weijden's comments cut to the heart of an ongoing debate in the medical community. Can patients really improve their chances of survival by staying upbeat and happy? Experts say the American public has largely accepted this as fact. But, scientifically speaking, questions remain regarding whether this works, how it would work, and what such a connection would mean for patients who don't get better.
Appeal and promise:
There certainly is an appeal to believing that you have some level of control over a debilitating illness. "I think it's part of the American spirit," said James Coyne, director of the behavioral oncology program at the Abramson Cancer Center and professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "There's this idea that you can succeed and conquer anything, even illness, on the basis of your character."
And studies showing a possible connection between positive thinking and health are frequently in the news. For instance, work by researchers at Ben-Gurion University in Israel suggested that women who've faced several life challenges, such as a death in the family or divorce, are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than peers who've had more stable, happy lives. The results were detailed in the Aug. 21 issue of the journal BMC Cancer.
The same study also found that women with cancer were more likely to report that, prior to diagnosis, they had been anxious or depressed and that bad things had happened in their lives.
Ronit Peled, one of the Ben-Gurion University researchers, said this was evidence for a relationship between emotional well-being and the risk of contracting cancer. "The main message from my point of view is that young women who have severe life events at a young age should be considered a risk group for breast cancer and treated accordingly," she said. "But general feelings of happiness and optimism in one's life can play a protective role."
Coyne said the public often takes news like this to mean that positive thinking has been unequivocally proven to be good for your health.
But the truth is a little more complicated.
How do you feel?
In reality, there is no clear-cut answer yet on whether being upbeat can keep you healthy or cure anything, Peled and Coyne both said. Research on the subject is divided between studies like Peled's and studies like the one Coyne did, detailed in December 2007 in the journal Cancer, which found that emotional well-being wasn't an accurate predictor of whether or not patients with neck and head cancer survived.
Coyne is particularly skeptical of positive thinking's power over cancer. "The problem with cancer is that it's so complex. By the time you're diagnosed it may have been building for decades," he said.
For other diseases, though, the scientific outlook is sunnier. Coyne said there's evidence that mood can predict whether someone who has had one heart attack will have another. And he said there is a biological explanation for why this might be possible.
Little research has been done on the biological basis of positive thinking as a therapeutic treatment for illness, but Coyne said scientists know the brain and the immune system communicate. Given that scientists also know the immune system plays a role in inflammation of the arteries, which can play a role in heart attack, it's reasonable to think that heart attacks could be tied back to things going on in the brain.
(Continued)You might call Maarten van der Weijden the anti-Lance Armstrong. Last week, the Dutch... more
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The Lance Armstrong Foundation and Demand Media, a social media company, are launching a Web site today with 600,000 pages of content on health, fitness and wellness. The site has a library of 15,000 articles and videos, 350,000 nutritional food profiles and 50,000 health and fitness-related questions and answers.
The site, www.livestrong.com, includes information from doctors and other experts, exercise tips on everything from flattening flabby abs to improving overall workouts, and an array of help on such topics as quitting smoking and dieting, including a "daily plate," which tracks calories for those on the path to lowering their weight.
The site is free, and unlike livestrong.org, which is dedicated to cancer survivors and their families, livestrong.com is for anyone who wants to make change, Armstrong said.
"The polls will tell that 85 (percent) to 90 percent of Americans want to change something about their life or their lifestyles, but only 40 percent of them get started doing it," Armstrong said. "The obesity epidemic, soaring diabetes rates and other unhealthy trends have America heading to a perfect storm the health care system is not prepared to handle."
The site enables people to work in groups, like the one with 100 women who tested the "daily plate" to collectively lose 1,000 pounds and got messages when they needed to step up their exercise to counteract their daily calories, said Larry Fitzgibbon, general manager of livestrong.com.
"We think this is one of the killer (applications)," Fitzgibbon said. "There are sites for this on the Web, but they cost money."
Articles on the site, such as "Four Ways to Treat Bacterial Infections," or "Five Things You Need to Know About Lipomas," are delivered in a short, simple style. The Lance Armstrong Foundation and Demand Media, a social media company, are launching... more
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I really was hoping that this rumor wasn’t true, but it looks like it might be! Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong were photographed together in Monaco. They exited the car separately but by then the photographers already got the money shot! Excuse me while I cry!!I really was hoping that this rumor wasn’t true, but it looks like it might be!... more
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I can’t believe this is really true … Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong! I totally loved Kate and Owen Wilson together, and I was hoping they were engaged. Here’s the story out of Cannes though …
The pair kissed and danced to old Madonna songs and other ’80s favorites. “They were beaming at each other,” a source [says]. “So cute.”
That’s just crazy talk I tell you!I can’t believe this is really true … Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong! I... more
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One of my favorite Blogs, the Bike snob NYC (*big apple bike commuter/biker/crit/fixie love-hater/bikes/bikes/bikes/ that has very direct sense of verbally describing bikes and peripheral issues, it is a must read, fellow blog readers*) makes it from the big apple to Austin TX, to check out Lance's Mellow Johnny's opening Party.
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"I am supportive of any new bike shop, even if it is part-owned by a celebrity and doesn't really need my support. I'm even supportive of Chari & Co., who also had an opening party this past weekend in New York City, and I wish them nothing but success. (Even though the pictures I see kind of make me sick.) So I figure a new shop in Austin that's actually well-stocked, well-staffed, and worth a visit merits a little attention. I mean, it's no Dah Shop, but it's pretty sweet. After all, where else can you not only buy bike stuff but also look at Tour de France memorabilia and modern art, drink gourmet coffee, and take a free shower all under the same roof? Just add a retired cyclist in Nikes pawing at you and you'll know exactly what it's like to be Ashley Olsen."One of my favorite Blogs, the Bike snob NYC (*big apple bike commuter/biker/crit/fixie... more
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Their kid is destined to become the best bike messenger San Francisco has ever seen.
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Ashley Olsen and Lance Armstrong. AAAH!
"The 21-year-old twin showed up to the Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel Monday night with Tory Burch's ex, Lance Armstrong, 36. Our bar spy said, 'They came together with a group of friends. Ashley drank red wine, sat on his lap and they were making out all night. They left together around 2 a.m.'"
Please don't be true. That would be gross. Ashley Olsen and Lance Armstrong. AAAH!
"The 21-year-old twin showed up to... more
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Landis lands the U.S.A. its 8th consective win in the Tour de France.
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dgahr
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added this
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5 years ago
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I get the feeling that without Lance Armstrong in the hunt, cycling is doomed to go the way of soccer, here in the States.I get the feeling that without Lance Armstrong in the hunt, cycling is doomed to go... more
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