“Your turkey preparation begins days before Thanksgiving dinner. Consider this sobering fact: foodborne illnesses affect an estimated 48 million Americans yearly, with 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. Kitchen cleanliness isn’t just recommended—it’s essential.

Hand washing comes first, and we mean truly thorough hand washing. Soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds—about the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. Don’t forget between fingers, under nails, and up to your forearms. This isn’t optional; it’s your first line of defense.

Now, here’s where many home cooks go wrong: never wash your raw turkey. This mistake actually spreads bacteria throughout your kitchen instead of removing it [6]. Paper towels work perfectly for patting away anything you want to remove.

Turkey thawing requires planning and patience. Choose one of these safe methods:

• Refrigerator thawing: Allow 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds of turkey. Once thawed, your turkey stays safe in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before cooking.
• Cold water thawing: Submerge the turkey in its leak-proof original wrapping. Change water every 30 minutes, allowing about 30 minutes per pound. Cook immediately after thawing.
• Microwave thawing: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and cook immediately after thawing.

Counter thawing or hot water methods are absolutely off-limits—bacteria multiply rapidly in that danger zone between 40°F and 140°F. Every surface that touched raw turkey needs sanitizing with hot, soapy water. No exceptions.

After thanksgiving dinner is completed:

Proper Storage: Your Step-by-Step Guide

For safe leftover storage, follow these essential steps:

• Divide turkey and other leftovers into shallow containers no deeper than 2 inches
• Carve the turkey into smaller pieces for quicker cooling
• Store in airtight containers or zip-top bags

Ready to make your holiday cooking safer and more confident? Remember, proper food safety practices aren’t just about following rules—they’re about showing care for the people you love. Let’s make sure your Thanksgiving memories focus on what truly matters: great food shared with the people who matter most.”

Always Food Safe (Thanksgiving Food Safety Tips: Avoid Common Kitchen Mistakes This Holiday – Always Food Safe)

Thanksgiving only comes around once a year, so why not go ahead and splurge? Because gaining weight during the holiday season is a national pastime. Year after year, most of us pack on at least a pound (some gain more) during the holidays — and keep the extra weight permanently.

But Thanksgiving does not have to sabotage your weight, experts say. With a little know-how, you can satisfy your desire for traditional favorites and still enjoy a guilt-free Thanksgiving feast. After all, being stuffed is a good idea only if you are a turkey!

Create a calorie deficit by exercising to burn off extra calories before you ever indulge in your favorite foods, suggests Connie Diekman, MEd, RD, former president of the American Dietetic Association (ADA).

“‘Eat less and exercise more’ is the winning formula to prevent weight gain during the holidays,” Diekman says. “Increase your steps or lengthen your fitness routine the weeks ahead and especially the day of the feast.”

Make fitness a family adventure, recommends Susan Finn, PhD, RD, chair of the American Council on Fitness and Nutrition: “Take a walk early in the day and then again after dinner. It is a wonderful way for families to get physical activity and enjoy the holiday together.”

While you might think it makes sense to save up calories for the big meal, experts say eating a small meal in the morning can give you more control over your appetite. Start your day with a small but satisfying breakfast — such as an egg with a slice of whole-wheat toast, or a bowl of whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk — so you won’t be starving when you arrive at the gathering.

“Eating a nutritious meal with protein and fiber before you arrive takes the edge off your appetite and allows you to be more discriminating in your food and beverage choices,” says Diekman.

Whether you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner or bringing a few dishes to share, make your recipes healthier with less fat, sugar, and calories.

“There is more sugar and fat in most recipes than is needed, and no one will notice the difference if you skim calories by using lower calorie ingredients,” says Diekman.

Her suggestions:

• Use fat-free chicken broth to baste the turkey and make gravy.
• Use sugar substitutes in place of sugar and/or fruit purees instead of oil in baked goods.
• Reduce oil and butter wherever you can.
• Try plain yogurt or fat-free sour cream in creamy dips, mashed potatoes, and casseroles.

• Thanksgiving tables are bountiful and beautiful displays of traditional family favorites. Before you fill your plate, survey the buffet table and decide what you’re going to choose. Then select reasonable-sized portions of foods you cannot live without.

“Don’t waste your calories on foods that you can have all year long,” suggests Diekman. “Fill your plate with small portions of holiday favorites that only come around once a year so you can enjoy desirable, traditional foods.”

• Skip the Seconds.Try to resist the temptation to go back for second helpings.”Leftovers are much better the next day, and if you limit yourself to one plate, you are less likely to overeat and have more room for a delectable dessert,” Diekman says.
• Choose the Best Bets on the Buffet.While each of us has our own favorites, keep in mind that some holiday foods are better choices than others.”White turkey meat, plain vegetables, roasted sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, defatted gravy, and pumpkin pie tend to be the best bets because they are lower in fat and calories,” says Diekman. But she adds that, “if you keep your portions small, you can enjoy whatever you like.”

Most of all Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day!!

1. “Smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers on average.
2. If young people continue smoking at the current rate, about one in every 13 Americans currently aged 17 or younger will die prematurely of a smoking-related illness.
3. Smoking triggers disability and disease and damages almost every organ. Effects include cancer, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lung diseases, diabetes, and certain eye diseases.
4. States are sitting on billions of dollars from tobacco taxes and tobacco industry legal settlements to prevent and control tobacco use.
5. In fiscal year 2019, states will collect a record $27.3 billion from tobacco taxes and legal settlements but will spend less than 3% of that money on prevention and cessation programs.
6. Spending a mere 12% ($3.3 billion) of that $27.3 billion would fund every state tobacco-control program at the levels recommended by the CDC.
7. Not one state funds tobacco-control programs at the CDC’s recommended level at the moment.
8. The tobacco industry spent $9.36 billion on the advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in 2017. That’s about $25 million every day, and over $1 million every hour.
9. Smoking costs the United States almost $170 billion in direct medical care for adults and over $156 billion in lost productivity due to exposure to secondhand smoke and premature death.
10. Every day, about 2,000 people younger than 18 smoke their first cigarette and more than 300 people younger than 18 years old become daily cigarette smokers.”

Walden University (10 Alarming Facts About Tobacco Use, Costs, and Prevention | Walden University)

For many people, the first sign that they may have lung cancer is the appearance of a suspicious spot on a chest x-ray or a CT scan. But an image alone is not enough to tell you whether you have cancer and, if so, what type of cancer it is.

Most people who come to us for a lung cancer diagnosis first meet with a surgeon. He or she will work with pathologists, radiologists, and other lung cancer specialists to determine the specific type of lung cancer you have and how advanced it is. These findings help your disease management team develop the most successful treatment plan for you.

The first step is for your doctor to get a tissue sample using one of several biopsy methods. Then a pathologist — a type of doctor who specializes in diagnosing disease —who focuses on lung cancer studies the tissue under a microscope to determine whether you have lung cancer and, if so, what type. He or she will be able to tell this by looking closely at the cancer cells’ shape and other features.

Knowing which type of lung cancer you have will help your doctors to stage the tumor accurately and to begin identifying the best treatment approach. Understanding what type of cancer you have is also important because each type responds differently to certain chemotherapy drugs.

Testing healthy people for lung cancer

Several organizations recommend people with an increased risk of lung cancer consider annual computerized tomography (CT) scans to look for lung cancer. If you’re 55 or older and smoke or used to smoke, talk with your doctor about the benefits and risks of lung cancer screening.

Tests to diagnose lung cancer

If there’s reason to think that you may have lung cancer, your doctor can order a number of tests to look for cancerous cells and to rule out other conditions. In order to diagnose lung cancer, your doctor may recommend:

• Imaging tests. An X-ray image of your lungs may reveal an abnormal mass or nodule. A CT scan can reveal small lesions in your lungs that might not be detected on an X-ray.
• Sputum cytology. If you have a cough and are producing sputum, looking at the sputum under the microscope can sometimes reveal the presence of lung cancer cells.
• Tissue sample (biopsy). A sample of abnormal cells may be removed in a procedure called a biopsy.Your doctor can perform a biopsy in a number of ways, including bronchoscopy, in which your doctor examines abnormal areas of your lungs using a lighted tube that’s passed down your throat and into your lungs; mediastinoscopy, in which an incision is made at the base of your neck and surgical tools are inserted behind your breastbone to take tissue samples from lymph nodes; and needle biopsy, in which your doctor uses X-ray or CT images to guide a needle through your chest wall and into the lung tissue to collect suspicious cells.A biopsy sample may also be taken from lymph nodes or other areas where cancer has spread, such as your liver.

Treatment Options for Lung Cancer Patients

“From 2018 to 2022, nearly half of all lung cancers were diagnosed at a distant stage, meaning the cancer had spread from the lungs to distant parts of the body. More than one-fourth of lung cancers were found at a localized stage (the cancer had not spread outside the lungs) and less than one-fourth at a regional stage (the cancer had spread from the lungs to nearby lymph nodes, tissues, or organs).

Overall, 29% of lung cancer patients had not died from their cancer 5 years later. However, survival rates differed depending on the stage at which the cancer was detected.

Most lung cancers are found after the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, when survival is lowest. Lung cancer screening can find cancer earlier, when treatment works better. Lung cancer screening is recommended for people who are at high risk because of their smoking history and age.”

Center for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (U.S. Cancer Statistics Lung Cancer Stat Bite | U.S. Cancer Statistics | CDC)

“More than 16 million Americans live with a disease caused by smoking.

• Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease, death, and disability in the United States.1

• Cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure cause more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. This is nearly one in five deaths.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cigarette Smoking | Smoking and Tobacco Use | CDC)

When you breathe in, air enters through your mouth and nose and goes into your lungs through the trachea (windpipe). The trachea divides into tubes called the bronchi (singular, bronchus), which enter the lungs and divide into smaller branches called the bronchioles. At the end of the bronchioles are tiny air sacs known as alveoli.

Many tiny blood vessels run through the alveoli. They absorb oxygen from the inhaled air into your bloodstream and pass carbon dioxide (a waste product from the body) into the alveoli. This is expelled from the body when you exhale. Taking in oxygen and getting rid of carbon dioxide are your lungs’ main functions.

A thin lining called the pleura surrounds the lungs. The pleura protects your lungs and helps them slide back and forth as they expand and contract during breathing. The space inside the chest that contains the lungs is called the pleural space (or pleural cavity).

Below the lungs, a thin, dome-shaped muscle called the diaphragm separates the chest from the abdomen. When you breathe, the diaphragm moves up and down, forcing air in and out of the lungs.

LUNG CANCER

There are 3 types of lungs cancer.  The two most common types of lung cancer that exist are 1 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which is the most common, and 2 small cell lung cancer (SCLC), an aggressive cancer that occurs in just over 10 percent of all lung cancer cases.

The third group is 3 lung carcinoid tumors (also known as lung carcinoids) are a type of lung cancer, which is a cancer that starts in the lungs. Cancer starts when cells begin to grow out of control. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer, and can spread to other areas of the body.

Lung carcinoid tumors are uncommon and tend to grow slower than other types of lung cancers. They are made up of special kinds of cells called neuroendocrine cells.

Lung Cancer Symptoms

Both major types of lung cancer have similar symptoms. These symptoms often include a cough that doesn’t go away and shortness of breath.

Sometimes lung cancer does not cause any signs or symptoms. It may be found during a chest X-ray done for another condition. Signs and symptoms may be caused by lung cancer or by other conditions. Check with your doctor if you have any of the following:

• Chest discomfort or pain
• A cough that doesn’t go away or gets worse over time
• Trouble breathing
• Wheezing
• Blood in sputum (mucus coughed up from the lungs)
• Hoarseness
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss for no known reason
• Tiredness/lethargy
• Trouble swallowing
• Swelling in the face and/or veins in the neck

For both conditions, early detection through a low-dose computed topography (CT) scan is especially critical. Identifying lung cancer in its earliest stages even before you have symptoms can reduce the risk of death by 20 percent, according to recent studies.

Non-small cell lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of cancer in lung tissues. Your risk of developing this disease increases if you are a longtime or former smoker, have been exposed to passive smoke, or have had environmental or occupational exposure to radon, asbestos, uranium, and other substances. The primary types of NSCLC are named for the type of cells found in the cancer:

• Squamous-cell carcinoma (also called epidermoid carcinoma)
• Adenocarcinoma
• Large-cell carcinoma
• Adenosquamous carcinoma
• Undifferentiatiated carcinoma

Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC)

In small cell lung cancer (SCLC), small cancerous cells arise in the airway, usually in a central location. This is an aggressive cancer that spreads quickly throughout the body through the blood and lymphatic (node) systems. Typically occurring in people who smoke or who used to smoke, SCLC accounts for just over 10 percent of all lung cancers.

“From 2018 to 2022, nearly half of all lung cancers were diagnosed at a distant stage, meaning the cancer had spread from the lungs to distant parts of the body. More than one-fourth of lung cancers were found at a localized stage (the cancer had not spread outside the lungs) and less than one-fourth at a regional stage (the cancer had spread from the lungs to nearby lymph nodes, tissues, or organs).Overall, 29% of lung cancer patients had not died from their cancer 5 years later. However, survival rates differed depending on the stage at which the cancer was detected.

Most lung cancers are found after the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, when survival is lowest. Lung cancer screening can find cancer earlier, when treatment works better. Lung cancer screening is recommended for people who are at high risk because of their smoking history and age.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (U.S. Cancer Statistics Lung Cancer Stat Bite | U.S. Cancer Statistics | CDC)

You may be surprised to learn that the most deadly cancer among both men and women in the United States isn’t breast cancer: It’s lung cancer.

Although the rate of new lung cancer cases has dropped in recent years along with the smoking rate, lung cancer still accounts for more deaths than any other cancer in both men and women, according to the American Cancer Society.

So even though you’ll probably never see professional athletes sporting pearl-colored gloves and shoes (pearl is the color of the lung cancer ribbon) to raise awareness, it’s important to learn about the disease: who is at risk — not just people who smoke tobacco — how it’s treated and why early detection is the best defense.

Here, Mary Jo Fidler, MD, a medical oncologist at Rush University Medical Center, discusses five things everyone should know about lung cancer.

1. It’s often caused by a combination of factors.

“It’s natural to associate lung cancer with cigarette smoking,” Fidler says. “Although it’s true that smoking is responsible for 80 percent of all lung cancer cases, lung cancer among people who have never smoked is the sixth leading cause of cancer death worldwide.”

These are some of the leading causes of lung cancer among nonsmokers:

• Exposure to radon gas released from soil and building materials
• Exposure to asbestos, diesel exhaust and/or industrial chemicals
• Exposure to secondhand smoke (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says secondhand smoke increases a nonsmoker’s lung cancer risk by as much as 20 to 30 percent)
• Air pollution

And while any of these factors can cause lung cancer on its own, the disease is often the result of interacting factors.

For instance, according to the National Institutes of Health, there is a greater risk for lung cancer when smokers are also exposed to radon gas. And research studies have shown that the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure greatly increases a person’s risk of developing lung cancer vs. both nonsmoking asbestos workers and smokers who are not exposed to asbestos.

Occupational exposures — including asbestos, uranium and coke (a type of fuel used in smelters, blast furnaces and foundries) — can also increase a person’s risk of dying from their lung cancer, according to another study.

2. Genes may play a role in lung cancer risk.

Scientists have discovered that another culprit may be responsible for some nonsmokers getting lung cancer: genetics.

A study published in the journal Nature Genetics identified three genetic variations — two on chromosome 6 and one on chromosome 10 — that are associated with increased lung cancer risk in Asian women who have never smoked.

Findings have shown that the risk of lung cancer among people who never smoked, especially Asian women, may be associated with specific genetic characteristics that distinguish it from lung cancer in smokers.

Another study, published in Cancer, found that a variant in the NFKB1 gene was associated with a 21 to 44 percent reduced risk of lung cancer. Because a protein produced in part of the NFKB1 gene is known to play a significant role in inflammation and immunity by regulating gene expression, cell death and cell production, the study suggests that inflammation and immune response may be associated with lung cancer risk.

Further research is needed, however, to determine whether there’s a cause and effect relationship between this variant in the NFKB1 gene and lung cancer. Future studies may also shed more light on the exact role inflammation plays in lung cancer risk.

3. If you’re at high risk, CT scans are an effective screening tool.

As with other cancers, the key to surviving lung cancer is catching it in the earliest stages, when it’s most treatable.

The five-year survival rate for people whose cancers are diagnosed when they’re still localized — meaning they haven’t yet spread to the lymph node drainage system or other areas of the body — can be as high as 80 to 90 percent; the survival rate plummets to 2 percent if the diagnosis happens after the cancer has spread to other body parts.

Unfortunately, because symptoms (including persistent cough or coughing up blood, unexplained weight loss, persistent chest pain and shortness of breath) don’t usually appear until the later stages, lung cancer is tough to diagnose early.

Low-dose spiral computed tomography (CT) has proven to reduce lung cancer deaths in patients at high risk for lung cancer. In fact, the National Lung Screening Trial found a 20 percent reduction in deaths from lung cancer among current or former heavy smokers who were screened with low-dose spiral CT (versus those screened by chest X-ray).

However, because the scans can also yield false positive results — by mistaking scar tissue or benign lumps for cancer — they’re recommended only for people at high-risk, for whom the benefits of early detection outweigh the risks of potential false positives and repeated exposure from the scans.

Lung cancer screening is recommended for people who meet these criteria:

• Are between the ages of 55 and 77 (for Medicare coverage) and 55 and 80 (for commercial insurance coverage)
• Have at least a 30 pack-year smoking history (an average of one pack a day for 30 or more years)
• Are in good health and have no signs of lung cancer (weight loss or coughing up blood)
• Have not had a chest CT in the past year.

“Talk to your doctor if you’re in this high-risk group,” says Fidler. “The best evidence we have available tells us that while CT scanning isn’t right for everyone, for those at high risk it does prevent lung cancer deaths by enabling earlier diagnoses.”

We have had a historically huge amount of FDA approvals in a relatively short amount of time for lung cancer therapies, which is good reason for optimism.

4. Some tumors can be removed minimally invasively.

Tumors that are caught in the early stages can often be surgically removed, giving patients a good chance of being cancer-free.

The standard procedure to remove the lobe of the lung in which the tumor is located, known as a lobectomy, typically requires a six-inch incision in the chest through which the ribsare spread apart.

But at a handful of medical centers, including Rush, roughly 80 percent of lobectomies can be done using a minimally invasive approach.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomies are performed through small incisions (and without spreading the rib cage) using a tiny video camera and specialized surgical instruments. There are many benefits to a VATS lobectomy vs. open surgery — including less pain and fewer complications after surgery, less time in the hospital and a speedier recovery — and the results are comparable, making it a good option for many tumors.

5. Newer treatments pack a targeted punch.

Research has yielded a wealth of information about how lung cancer cells change and grow, enabling scientists to develop drugs to specifically address those changes.

These “targeted” drug therapies, used alone or in combination with chemotherapy, are typically less toxic and have fewer side effects than chemotherapy because they zero in on specific genes or proteins more often found in cancer cells then in healthy tissue.

These are some of the targeted therapies currently available for lung cancer

• Monoclonal antibodies (bevacizumab, ramucirumab)
• EGFR inhibitors (erlotinib, afatinib, gefitinib)
  • Osimertinib, an EGFR inhibitor that also targets cells with the T790M mutation
  • Necitumumab, an EGRF inhibitor for squamous cell non-small cell lung cancer
• Drugs that target the ALK gene (crizotinib, ceritinib, alectinib)