Jacqueline, a clever and crafty breast cancer survivor made this shirt -- pictured at right -- especially for the 2006 Susan G. Komen walk in Central Park. She didn't like the over-sized, over-advertised shirts passed out to the masses, so she designed her own. Notice the songbird stripe on the right side of the shirt? This seamstress renovated the piece to create visual balance for women who have lost a breast and wish to forgo mastectomy and prostheses.

Jacqueline, who has named her clothing line Rhea Belle, had a right-side mastectomy in January 2004. She knew she would leave her body as is, but her existing wardrobe didn't "fit" her new shape. When she realized she could either accept her changed architecture or camouflage it, she chose the former.

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), the world's most comprehensive cancer study being conducted in establishing the link between diet and cancer risk has been going on for over a decade and few people hear about it. Over 80 scientific papers based on the study have been published in journals such as the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the Lancet, the Journal of Nutrition.

The study -- called the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) -- is an enormous undertaking involving 521,483 individuals in 10 different European countries. EPIC is unique because the populations being tracked are so diverse in eating habits. But this is precisely what gives the study the advantage it has in making comparisons and noting trends.

According to EPIC, a few of the emerging results found in the link between diet and cancer are:

• Consumption of meat sharply increased risk of stomach cancer and esophageal cancer. For every 100 grams of meat consumed by subjects, risk for stomach cancer more than tripled. The association between meat intake and stomach cancer was considerably stronger among subjects with populations of H. pylori bacteria in their stomachs.
• Two indicators of abdominal obesity, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio, were strongly associated with colon cancer risk in both sexes. Men with the largest waist circumference had 39 percent higher risk of colon cancer than men with the smallest, for example, while women in the study with the largest waist circumference has a 48 percent higher risk than women with the smallest waists.
• Blood samples of women with breast cancer were compared to blood samples of women without breast cancer. Women over 60 whose blood was given under non-fasting conditions, high levels of serum C-peptide, that could reflect insulin resistance -- long suspected of contributing to cancer risk -- was associated with a doubling of breast cancer risk.
• The risk for oral and pharyngeal cancers drop by 9 percent for every 80 grams of fruits and vegetables consumed per day.
  

Researchers are beginning to come to some conclusions involving the data they have to date that clearly shows that globally, diets that are high in fruits, vegetables, fiber and fish are associated with greater cancer prevention -- with obesity and sedentary lifestyles much larger factors in increasing cancer risk.

An unavoidable and unfortunate side effect of most chemotherapy drug treatments is hair loss. In making the best of a bad situation, Chemo Chicks features tattoo kits to adorn your head, re-create your eyebrows and have some fun with your temporary baldness.

The product, Earth Henna Body Painting Kits, is based on Mehndi, the art of henna painting on the body, practiced for thousands of years in India, Africa and the Middle East. For a bit of fun folklore, Chemo Chicks shares that the crushed leaves of the henna plant used to make henna are believed to bring love, luck and prosperity. Henna tattoos are painless and not permanent -- the henna tattoos fade gradually over weeks.

According to the Earth Henna tattoo kit product description, the henna paste lasts 4-6 weeks once mixed; contains enough henna to do two head tattoos or many eyebrows; and comes with head patterns and eyebrow stencils -- or you can create your own.

The body painting tattoo kit is based on a formula created after Artsy Chick Jen -- who is a scenic artist and painter for film and television -- after spending hours researching this ancient art. Together with Jana Rosenblatt, founder of Chemo Chicks and ovarian cancer survivor, they created a kit that other cancer patients can have fun using to lessen the trauma of chemotherapy hair loss. According to Jana, her head tattoo makes every one who sees it smile -- which makes her smile.

Oh hello! Here's a little study that I am certain many parents are going to shake their collective heads at when it comes to the published results. First, this study is based on a questionnaire so I am not at all convinced there are hereditary genes at work -- simply because the researchers did not do an under-the-microscope study to find out if there are genes, and identify which ones, affecting our food preferences.

From my understanding, I believe genetics are a primary determining factor in what we do and do not inherit. I could be wrong. In the meantime, I am standing by my initial concept of genes in the role of heredity. Back to food preferences.