Yoga   Yoga: For Health and Much More

Anne Feeley, a 55-year-old mother and brain cancer survivor, began a 3,781-mile ride across the country today to raise money and awareness for brain cancer research and support.

The effort, called Brains on Bikes, kicked off from the University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay campus following a celebration that included remarks by Dr. Michael Prados, director at the UCSF Division of Translational Research in Neuro-Oncology and Russ Pieper, vice chair at the UCSF Department of Neurological Surgery.

Feeley is scheduled to ride into Washington, D.C. for a finish-line celebration in early July. She is joined in the journey by her friend and trainer Gundula Hennig and dog Walter. She aims to raise $3 million on behalf of UCSF’s Brain Tumor Research Center, as well as Stand Up 2 Cancer, the American Brain Tumor Association, Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, and other charities.

After being diagnosed in 2006 with a glioblastoma multiforme tumor — the same type of brain cancer that afflicted the late Senator Ted Kennedy — Feeley was told by doctors she would be lucky to see another year. According to the National Brain Tumor Society, the life expectancy of a person with this cancer is 12 to 14 months — the same as it was almost one hundred years ago. Now she’s giving back the time she never thought she’d have.

After working with a trainer for months on gentle walking, lifting and eventually jogging, Feeley ran a half-marathon and started doing yoga. During the course of radiation treatments, she started riding a bike back and forth to the hospital. Eventually cycling became a major part of her exercise program.

Together with Gundula, Feeley has now climbed the three highest mountains in the United Kingdom in 24 hours, competed in the International Indoor Rowing Championship, and ridden 135 miles across Britain. These challenges, in addition to running a business and raising a family, have prepared her for the cross-country feat of Brains on Bikes — a 3,781-mile journey.

With the costs of the campaign already covered, every dollar raised will directly fund badly needed research. Less than 5 percent of patients diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme tumor live more than three years. This mortality rate has been unchanged for a decade.

For more information, visit brainsonbikes.org.

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Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world’s leader in cancer diagnostics, announced today that the company has received CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation™ from The CEO Roundtable on Cancer. This prestigious designation recognizes Quest Diagnostics for taking important actions to reduce the cancer risk of its employees and their families.

William C. Weldon, chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson, chairs the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a nonprofit organization of cancer-fighting CEOs who created the CEO Cancer Gold Standard, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, many of its designated cancer centers, and leading health non-profit organizations and professionals.

CEO Roundtable executives work collaboratively to develop and implement initiatives that reduce the risk of cancer, enable early diagnosis, facilitate better access to best-available treatments, and hasten the discovery of novel and more effective diagnostic tools and anti-cancer therapies.

The CEO Cancer Gold Standard is a series of cancer-related recommendations, developed by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, to fight cancer in workplaces in the United States. The Gold Standard has three objectives that support the fight against cancer: risk reduction, early detection, and quality care.

Since 2005, the Quest Diagnostics HealthyQuest employee wellness initiative has focused on fostering a workplace culture that encourages healthy behaviors. To reduce the risk of lung cancer and other smoking-related illnesses, the company introduced a 100% subsidized tobacco cessation program, which to date has supported more than 4,000 participants in their fight to quit smoking. Annual business unit nutritional audits and the Shrink for Health HealthyQuest Weight Loss Challenge support and motivate employees toward healthy living, and employees have had the opportunity to participate in an array of fitness programs, including the HealthyQuest Pedometer Challenge, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training marathons, running and walking clubs, yoga classes, sports leagues, self-defense classes, bowling and golf tournaments, bike clubs and fitness safety programs.

At the heart of the HealthyQuest program is the company’s Blueprint for Wellness™ health risk assessment service. The service is available at no charge to 42,000 domestic employees as well as their spouses or domestic partners, 36,000 of which participated in 2009. Each Blueprint for Wellness participant receives a patient-friendly report that includes laboratory test results, a health assessment and a health quotient score. An optional PSA test for the early detection of prostate cancer is offered as part of the Blueprint for Wellness service, and employees, spouses, and domestic partners age 50 and older, as well as those at any age considered to be at high risk for colorectal cancer, are offered the InSure® FIT™ fecal immunochemical test for colorectal cancer screening, 6,000 of which returned the test kit in 2009.

Quest Diagnostics offers employees intranet access to information on quality treatment options and clinical trials, and helps employees find quality healthcare providers through links to the Commission on Cancer accredited programs and the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Links are also provided for the National Cancer Institute home page as well as their website “Taking Part in Cancer Treatment Research Studies.”

The CEO Cancer Gold Standard recognizes organizations that maintain a culture that encourages healthy lifestyles and provides the support needed when a diagnosis of cancer becomes a reality. Today, nearly one and a quarter million employees and family members are benefiting from the vision and leadership of employers who have chosen to become Gold Standardaccredited. For Quest Diagnostics, achieving this accreditation affirms that its employees receive the benefits and programs that help to prevent cancer, detect it earlier and provide access to high-quality treatment, including cancer clinical trials.

For more information, visit questdiagnostics.com.

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An all-new health and wellness series — The Fall Wellness Series — will take place September through December 2010 at The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Maui. Both physical and spiritual wellness practices and modalities will be featured weekly during four-day wellness weekends.
The four-day wellness weekends include one-on-one casual sessions and appointments with a choice of inspiring masters in Qigong, Reiki, Pilates, Energy Healing, Meditation, Sound & Vibrational Healing, Fitness, and Green Lifestyle with opportunities to learn about the healing powers of aloha, tarot reading, life coaching and much more.

Continually enhancing the guest experience in every facet of the operation, Four Seasons Resort Maui’s added wellness events compliment an already noteworthy spa menu. Often named “America’s #1 Spa” by leading national publications, The Spa has led the industry in forward trending quality offerings.

“No longer a new concept, wellness is a lifestyle choice. Many of our guests are already practicing preventive healthcare through yoga, body work, alternative medicine, organic food and skincare options,” said Pat Makozak, senior spa director at The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Maui.

For more information, visit fourseasons.com/maui.

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