2339H Womens's Committee

Committees:

The Women’s Committee is designed to provide components essential for both personal and professional growth. Through education, support, empowerment, and allegiance we will fortify the lives of women and families. Equality is no longer a vision, but a reality that will be obtained through sacrifice and unyielding leadership. It is our responsibility to execute the liberties, innately given to us all, into the fabric of global culture. Our sisterhood will operate as a cohort and cohesive unit with a utilitarian approach that will be unparalleled.

If you would like to volunteer or have a subject you are interested in and would like to share information about it with us, please contact the Local Lodge at 281-449-2233 or by using the email link above.

Sign up to be a CLUW e-Activist

The Coalition of Labor Union Women is America's only national organization for union women. Formed in 1974, CLUW is a nonpartisan organization within the union movement.

The primary mission of CLUW is to unify all union women in a viable organization to determine our common problems and concerns and to develop action programs within the framework of our unions to deal effectively with our objectives. Click here for more information on CLUW.

As a CLUW e-Activist and you'll receive periodic e-mails about important policy issues affecting working women and families. CLUW Action Alerts will also allow you to automatically offer your opinion to decision makers. So stay informed and get involved as a CLUW e-Activist!

Click here to sign up.

8 ways to reduce your risk of breast cancer

Watch your weight, limit alcohol, eat your veggies and hit the gym

By Linda Carroll, contributor with MSNBC.com

The average American woman’s lifetime risk for developing breast cancer is one in nine. While that’s a pretty scary statistic, there are some simple things you can do to lower the likelihood that you will develop cancer. While the biggest risk factors — genes and old age — are beyond your control, there are some lifestyle modifications that you can make that will help you chip away at your risk.

The impact of a single modification won't be huge, but some scientists believe that the benefits of these changes can add up. So, the more modifications you make, the lower your risk of developing breast cancer. Beyond that, many of the lifestyle modifications recommended for breast cancer prevention have the added benefit of protecting you from heart disease, which remains the leading killer of women in the United States.

Watch the scale

If you want to protect your breasts, keep a close eye on the scale. Being overweight or obese can significantly increase your risk of breast cancer, especially if you add on those extra pounds after menopause. Studies have shown that women who become obese after menopause experience a 50 percent increase in their risk of developing cancer.

The greater the weight gain, the higher the risk. In fact, a recent study found that women who gained 44 to 64 pounds had a 56 percent higher risk and those who gained 88 to 108 pounds doubled theirs.

It may also make a difference where you store your extra pounds. Studies have shown that women who put their weight on in the waist area have a higher risk of breast cancer than those who gain weight around their hips and thighs.

Get exercise

Start hitting the gym. Studies have shown that women who work out regularly — and vigorously — have a 20 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer compared to those who rarely exercise. Keep in mind, your workouts have to be brisk — gardening won't do it. Still, experts caution that you shouldn't take a good thing too far. Make sure your heart rate doesn't climb too high. To calculate your maximum healthy heart rate, subtract your age from 220.

Avoid alcohol

Become more of a teetotaler. Studies have convincingly shown that alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer. And the more you drink, both in terms of number of glasses and number of years, the greater the risk. One recent study found that even moderate drinking drove breast cancer rates up by 35 percent. Heavy drinking resulted in an almost two-fold increased risk. Along with cutting back, you might want to take a folic acid supplement: Some studies have suggested that supplementation can mitigate the impact of alcohol.

Avoid HRT

Hormone replacement therapy has been linked to an increase in the risk of breast cancer that is comparable to the risks associated with being obese and heavy alcohol consumption. A Women's Health Initiative study found that women who had been taking a combination of estrogen and progesterone for five years experienced a 28 percent increase in the risk of developing breast cancer.

So, if you're an average 60-year-old woman — with no strong family history of breast cancer — your risk of developing cancer at that particular point your life is about three in 1,000. The risk will rise to about 3.8 in a thousand if you take HRT.

Because the increase in risk is relatively small, experts often suggest that women with severe menopausal symptoms take HRT if their hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms are severe — and that they quit when the symptoms have subsided. Some recent studies have suggested that women who are taking estrogen alone don’t have to worry about increased breast cancer risk. It’s the progesterone in standard HRT that raises breast cancer risk. Women who have had a hysterectomy, and no longer have a uterus, don’t need to take progesterone.

Add soy to your diet

Eat more Asian food — or at least add some soy to your diet. Studies have shown that women who consume soy as part of their regular diet (not just soy supplements), have a decreased risk of breast cancer. A recent study that followed more than 73,000 Chinese women for over seven years found that women with the highest levels of soy in their diets had a 60 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who consumed little soy.

Eat your veggies

Add some veggies and fruit to your diet. A recent report found that women who had already been diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer were less likely to develop another tumor if they consumed more fruits and vegetables. During the six-year study, researchers followed more than 3,000 women and regularly tested the women’s blood for levels of carotenoid, a substance that comes primarily from eating fruits and vegetables.

Drink green tea

Coffee or tea, anyone? Over the years there have been mixed results in studies examining the impact of coffee and tea on breast cancer. But a recent study that looked at more than 2,000 Chinese women found that the risk of developing cancer dropped by 40 percent among women who consumed large amounts of green tea. Another study found that coffee could reduce a premenopausal woman’s risk by 40 percent if she drank upwards of four cups per day. So far, nobody’s found any benefit to drinking black tea.

Quit smoking

If you smoke, quit. If you don't smoke, steer clear of secondhand smoke. Until recently, scientists hadn't found a consistent link between breast cancer and smoking. But recent studies point to a 20 percent increase in the risk of breast cancer among smokers. And non-smokers who have had long-term exposure to secondhand smoke may experience a hike of almost 70 percent, according to a study done by the California Environmental Protection Agency.

The Sister Study Breast Cancer Research Project

The Sister Study is the only long-term study of women aged 35 to 74 whose sister had breast cancer. It is a national study to learn how environment and genes affect the chances of getting breast cancer. In the next 3 years, 50,000 women whose sister had breast cancer, and who do not have breast cancer themselves will be asked to join the study. Read More

Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation