A New Day

in Minden
Newsletter Date:
January 2011
No matter what happens, each day is a new day!
www.relayforlife.org/kearneycone

TO DO LIST:
1/2 OFF IN JANUARY!
Next committee Jan 10 As we have New Year’s Resolutions of losing
weight, your Relay For Life of Kearney
meeting (1:00 @ Brewer’s)
County is also slimming down—the team
registration fee that is! Usually, when a team
Relay work day Jan 15 registers for a Relay For Life event, they ask
in Kearney (9:30-2:15) for a $10/team member registrant fee. On
Saturday, January 15th, our Relay will be
Relay Night @ Jan 15 cutting that registration fee in half. During the
MHS basketball
(1/2 off team registration!)
Minden vs. Alma basketball games, you’ll notice several of your
Relay committee members sitting at a table outside of the gym.
Not only will they have information about Relay, but they’ll hand out team packets, and if you return your registra-
tion to our chairman, Toni Bockerman before January 31st, you don’t need to have your team members pay the full
$10. This will hopefully entice more teams in our area (last year we only had 4 teams plus the “Survivors”).
You can always register your team online at www.relayforlife.org/kearneycone too.
Sometimes committee members hear complaints about having team members pay any registration fee at all. Let’s
remember why we Relay! All the money goes to the ACS. Having registration money helps to motivate team
members to raise money and not just sit idly by as the summer goes along. Register today!
Why Relay?
One in three people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. The funds raised at Relay save lives by funding cutting-edge cancer
research, early detection and prevention education, advocacy efforts, and life-affirming patient services. It is because of your involvement that we
are able to save lives, help those battling cancer, and empower all to fight back against the disease.

We are in desperate need for more Relay For Life volun-

teers. If you can offer assistance in any way, please let “Your own resolution to
our Relay Chair, Toni Bockerman, know at succeed is more important
P!
R HEL tonibockerman@yahoo.com (or 832-7520).
O than any other one thing .”
LF
A CAL
~Abraham Lincoln
You can always come to our next committee meeting on
Monday, January 10th at 1:00 at Brewer’s Coffee House
in Minden!
Page 2

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

When it comes to preventing cervical cancer, screenings are crucial. Over the
past 50 years, the death rate from cervical cancer declined 74 percent
according to the American Cancer Society, in large part due to regular
screening of women patients for the disease.
Women should regularly undergo a Pap test for early detection and prevention of cervical cancer. The first
Pap test should start at age 21 and be done every two years after that until a woman turns 30. Although the
American Cancer Society reports more than 10,000 new cases of cervical cancer in the United States each
year, only one to two cases of cervical cancer occurs per 1,000,000 girls who are ages 15 to 19. Women who
are 30 and older should be screened once every three years.
Cervical cancer risk factors

Anything that increases a person's chance of developing a disease is called a risk factor. Researchers believe that, in
many cases, cervical cancer develops when two or more risk factors act together. Though the precise cause of cervical
cancer is unknown, the following risk factors may increase the likelihood of developing cancer of the cervix:

 Infection from the human papillomavirus (HPV) – The greatest risk factor for cervical cancer is having this sexually
transmitted virus, often passed to partners who are under age 18 for their first encounter or if they have had numer-
ous partners.
 Age – The average age of women newly diagnosed with cervical cancer is between 50 and 55 years, though this can-
cer can appear in women as young as in their twenties. The risk of developing cervical cancer does not go down as
women age.
 Sexual behavior – Intercourse at an early age, having many sexual partners, and/or having unprotected sex at any age
can increase the risk.
 Smoking – Smoking exposes the body to many cancer-causing chemicals that affect more than the lungs. Women
who smoke are twice as likely as nonsmokers to get cervical cancer.
 HIV – Testing positive for the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). A cervical precancer
might develop into an invasive cancer faster than it normally would.
 Nutrition – Diets low in fruits and vegetables are associated with an increased risk of cervical cancer and several
other cancers.
 Family history – Women whose mother or sisters have had cervical cancer are more likely to develop the disease
themselves. Some researchers suspect this familial tendency is due to an inherited condition that makes some women
less able to fight off HPV infection than others.
 Diethylstilbestrol (DES) – DES is a hormonal drug that was prescribed between 1940 and 1971 for some women
thought to be at increased risk for miscarriages. Of every 1,000 women whose mother took DES when pregnant with
them, about one develops clear-cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina or cervix. (It is no longer given to pregnant
women.)
Low socioeconomic status – Women who do not have ready access to health care ser-
vices, including Pap tests and treatment of precancerous cervical disease, are at an
increased risk.

While there is some statistical evidence that long-term oral contraceptive (OC) use for
five or more years may slightly increase the risk of cancer of the cervix, there is no
definitive link between using OCs and an increase in the risk of cervical cancer.
Research is underway to resolve this issue.