Jeff Bridges' Cancer Battle & Efforts To Stop Pollution
- Actor Jeff Bridges, who battled non-Hodgkin lymphoma, was recently featured in a new ad for the Plastic Pollution Coalition, a global alliance dedicated to stopping the distribution of single-use plastic, in an effort to reduce plastic waste across the world and help create a Plastics Treaty.
- Back in October 2020, Bridges announced that he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Approximately one a year later, in September 2021, he was declared to be in remission.
- Bridges had chemotherapy to treat his disease. Other lymphoma treatments include active surveillance, radiation, and bone marrow transplant.
- The two main types of lymphoma are Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is more common, and you’re more likely to be diagnosed with it after age 55. People usually develop Hodgkin lymphoma at a younger age.
Bridges, an activist and actor known for his iconic role as Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski, was featured in the coalition’s latest video ad sharing information on why our society needs to decrease plastic use and how people can support their efforts in creating a Plastics Treaty.
Read MoreIn the Plastic Pollution Coalition promotional video, shared on both the advocacy group and Bridge’s social media pages, the “The Big Lebowski” star warned, “Plastic pollution is a global crisis and right now world leaders have a chance to solve it. Negotiations for a United Nations Plastics Treaty are underway. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for countries around the world to come together and create a strong treaty to tackle plastic pollution throughout it’s toxic existence.View this post on Instagram
“Plastic is made from oil. Plastic pollution begins with fossil fuel extraction and refining of petrol chemicals and then continues through plastic production use and disposal. Microplastics—now, they’ve been found everyone around the world. In the highest mountain peaks to the deepest ocean trenches.”
He continued, “Plastic—it’s in our water, our food, air, soil, and even inside our bodies. Plastic and the chemicals in plastics are linked to cancer, diabetes, obesity, hormone problems, fertility, and more.
“The evidence is clear. Plastic poisons people. For the sake of our own health, future generations, nature, and all life on our beautiful planet, we need a Global #PlasticsTreaty that limits plastic production and supports communities—especially people living near petrochemical, plastic, and waste facilities around the world.”
Bridges insisted that by “polluting nature we are polluting ourselves,” and further urged anyone listening to his video and “everyone involved in these associations” to take immediate action to initiate change and “create a plastics treaty that protects the environment and public health for everyone alive.”
He added, “We need governments supporting the treaty to prioritize people not profits. We need industries to stop making so much plastic and we as a society need to be more mindful about how we use it.
The Plastic Pollution Coalition had shared its’s “Letter to U.S. Government to Take a Stronger Stance on the Global Plastics Treaty,” which has been submitted to U.S. Government Officials involved in UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations.
We’re happy to see Bridges’ continued efforts to help support the Plastic Pollution Coalition, something he’s been helping for nearly a decade.
Speaking to the Plastic Pollution Coalition back in 2016, Bridges revealed what motivated him to support the coalition, saying, “My father Lloyd Bridges worked on a TV show called ‘Sea Hunt.’ He impressed upon me as a child the importance of taking care of the ocean, and working together to do our part to reduce human pollution. Also, that we are all interconnected and responsible for the oceans around the world.”
As for how he reduces his plastic footprint, Bridges said, “Personally, I do my best to drink my water out of metal containers. I use PCC ‘Rethink’ bottles often.
“My family and I don’t purchase plastic water bottles at the store. We have a water filtration system to fill up our bottles.”
Leaving the coalition with some inspirational words, Bridges added, “The way to change the world is through individual responsibility and taking local action in your own community.
“If everyone around the world did this, it would be the first step in solving the problem.”
View this post on Instagram
Link Between Plastic & Cancer Risk
It’s important to point out that using plastic does not directly “cause” cancer, but studies are still being conducted whether there is a link between using these materials, such as plastic water bottles, and increased risk of a cancer diagnosis.
“The way the plastic chemicals work is they’re referred to as endocrine disrupters, so they’re not carcinogens in the traditional sense of causing mutation,” Dr. Robert Wright, chair of the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at Mount Sinai, told SurvivorNet in an earlier interview.
RELATED: Understanding the Environment’s Role in Cancer Risk Diet, Exposure & Genetics
Endocrine refers to hormones and endocrine disrupters work by changing the way the hormones work. “So the ability of your body to respond appropriately to a damaged, mutated cell is affected,” Dr. Wright explained. “So, endocrine disrupters can affect that part of your body’s response and potentially increase your risk of cancer.”
While there is no definitive answer yet about whether these single-use plastics cause cancer, Dr. Wright says that it’s a subject that’s being seriously studied in order to find evidence behind the myth.
Dr. Sagar Lonial explains how we can prioritize cancer prevention
Jeff Bridges’ Cancer Battle
Jeff Bridges was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2020 and started chemotherapy treatment right away. Although Bridges hasn’t personally specified which type of lymphoma he was diagnosed with, AARP noted that his cancer was, in fact, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, cancer of a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are part of the immune system.
While cancer treatment was going well, he was also diagnosed with COVID-19 in January 2021, and due to his cancer treatment having weakened his immune system, Bridges wound up spending months in the hospital.
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According to AARP, Bridges’ cancer went into remission quickly after he was put through chemotherapy infusion, which was followed by an oral chemo protocol.
He dubbed his wife as being his “absolute champion” as she stayed by Bridges’ side as he recovered from covid in the hospital. “She really fought to keep me off a ventilator. I didn’t want to be on it, and the doctors didn’t necessarily want that. But Sue was adamant,” he told the news outlet.
He was ultimately treated with a blood plasma called “convalescent plasma,” which consists of viral antibodies.
Despite his struggle, like so many cancer survivors, Bridges was left with a renewed appreciation for life.
“I’ll be honest. I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” he told Esquire in an earlier interview. “I was on death’s door there for a while in the hospital. When I finally went back to work, after a two-year hiatus, it was the most bizarre kind of thing. It felt like a dream.”
“I came back after all that time, and saw the same faces [while shooting ‘The Old Man’], the same cast and crew,” he added. “It was like we had a long weekend. I gathered everyone and I said, ‘I had the most bizarre dream, you guys.’ I was sick and out, but all that feels like a gray mush now.”
Understanding Lymphoma
Jeff Bridge’s battled non-Hodgkin lymphoma, one of the two most common types of lymphoma.
Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system that affects infection-fighting cells called lymphocytes. And there are more than 40 different types of lymphoma.
Sneaky Lymphoma Symptoms Often Lead to a Late Diagnosis
“Lymphoma is split up into a number of different categories,” Dr. Elise Chong, a medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, previously told SurvivorNet.
“The first distinguishing breakpoint, if you will, is non-Hodgkin lymphoma versus Hodgkin lymphoma,” she added, “and those sound like two different categories. But non-Hodgkin lymphoma comprises the majority of lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma is a single specific type of lymphoma.”
Hodgkin lymphoma has distinctive, giant cells called Reed-Sternberg cells. The presence of these cells, which can be seen under a microscope, will help your doctor determine which of the two lymphoma types you have.
There are a few other important differences between non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma to note. For one thing, non-Hodgkin lymphoma is much more common. And you’re more likely to be diagnosed with it after age 55, like Jeff Bridges. People usually develop Hodgkin lymphoma at a younger age.
It should be noted that another difference between these two types of lymphoma is that non-Hodgkin lymphoma is more likely to spread in a random fashion and be found in different groups of lymph nodes in the body, while Hodgkin lymphoma is more likely to grow in a uniform way from one group of lymph nodes directly to another.
These two different types of lymphoma behave, spread and respond to treatment differently, so it’s important for you to know which type you have.
Age, Race, and Exposures Might All Factor Into Lymphoma Risk
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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