28 STUDENT OUTREACH NSU MD students hope to prevent opioid and substance abuse in youth (ages 11–18 years) by addressing high school students through podcasts, as well as in-person and virtual presentations. Youth who attend receive gift cards and community service hours. Every session ends with required survey completion. Community partners include the Boys & Girls Club, Pace Center for Girls, SunServe, Take Stock in Children, and the Urban League. Funding is provided by the Florida Blue Foundation. LISTEN IN! Podcast on simplecast A local high school student joins NSU MD representatives for peer-to-peer outreach. Currents Serving Youth Our true legacy is our children and our grandchildren. So, how do we protect them from diseases like cancer? The simple fact is that we’re only designed to live about 30 years, and we’re living about 90 years. There is an exponential rise in cancer in the fifth decade of life. To avoid it, we need to live more mindfully than our parents did. Our kids need to live more mindfully than we have. Think of it like this. DNA repair in your cells is typing away at your genetic code during cell division and is functioning well—with enough sleep and food. But what happens over time when DNA repair starts to feel like it’s pulling all- nighters with no coffee? Mistypings or mutations occur. Mutations occur over time in your genetic code when you live in a polluted environment. If you’ve inherited a mutation in a cancer-prone gene, then you must be even more careful. What is shocking is the number of carcinogens that steal your ability to tread care- fully. Formaldehyde is a big one. It’s in carpeting. It’s in clothes you buy before washing them. It’s in hair-straightening treatments. There are classic, environmentally driven cancers, such as breast, colon, prostate, and bladder cancer, that rise in probability based on what you put into your mouth or on your skin. Here are a few things you can do for yourself and as a parent, grandparent, or loved one. • Only use BPA-free water bottles/containers. Don’t leave any plastic bottles in a hot car. • If you want to use a microwave, use only microwaveable glass containers. • Avoid nail polish that contains formaldehyde, toluene, or dibutyl phthalate. • Wash your fruits and vegetables well to remove trace amounts of pesticides. • Be sure your child’s dentist applies only BPA-free coatings on your child’s teeth. • Avoid lawn chemicals with glyphosate. JEAN J. LATIMER, PH.D. Director, NSU AutoNation Institute for Breast Cancer Research and Care, and Associate Professor, NSU College of Pharmacy ATTACK CANCER LIKE A SHARK Additional tips, including foods to watch
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