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Black Health Matters > Vitality

Category: Vitality

Alicia Keys Shines Light on Women and HIV

Apr. 16 HIV / AIDS, News, Our Health, Red Ribbon Corner no comments

alicia keys empowered campaignOne in 32 African American women in the United States is likely to be diagnosed with HIV in her lifetime.

“One in 32, think about that,” said singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistic at an event Monday. “Thirty years after we first heard of AIDS, it is really a tragedy that anybody is being infected.”

But people are being infected with the virus in the U.S. and, as Keys said, black women are affected disproportionately. Keys stammered a little as she read the word “disproportionately” from her notes, and then recovered and repeated it with force saying, “It’s a big word and it’s a bad thing. That’s not acceptable.”

Keys’ comments came at the kickoff of the EMPOWERED campaign, an effort to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS among women, a new part of the Greater Than AIDS public information push by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent part of the foundation.)

The CDC statistics on women in general and black women in particular are sobering.

  • There are more than 1.1 million people living with HIV in the U.S., and one-in-four of them are women.
  • The rate of infection for black women was 20 times higher in 2010 than it was for white women (38.1 per 100,000, compared to 1.9 per 100,000).
  • In 2010, 60 percent of women with HIV were African American, 19 percent were Latino, and 18 percent were white, according to the CDC.
  • Newly infected black and Latina women are more likely to be younger, with 23 percent of black women and 21 percent of Latina women in the 13-24 year old age range.
  • In 2009, black women accounted for the greatest share of deaths among women with HIV at 65 percent, followed by white women at 17 percent and Latinas at 14 percent.

One of the main themes of the campaign–which includes videos, public service ads, and social media efforts—is to make the issue personal for women. A video shows Keys interviewing five women living with HIV. “They are just like you and just like me,” Keys says in the video of the women, who all sat in the front row of the foundation’s conference center during Monday’s kickoff.

Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Barack Obama, and chairwoman of the White House Council on Women & Girls, also spoke at the event, making the point that the issue of women and AIDS has long been a personal one for her.

“Every day I carry around the heartbreak of losing my sister-in-law, who died nearly 20 years ago,” Jarrett said. “She went months without being diagnosed because nobody thought to test a married woman at the time.”

Jarrett pointed out that, under the Affordable Care Act, HIV testing is now covered as a preventive service without cost sharing, and beginning in 2014, people with HIV cannot be denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition.

—Diane Webber

This story originally appeared on Kaiser Health News. Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Halle Berry and the Risks of Pregnancy at an Older Age

Apr. 15 Our Health, Vitality, Women no comments

Halle Berry and the risks of pregnancy at an older ageHalle Berry’s pregnancy is making news, not just because she’s Halle, but because she’s also in her mid-40s.

But, she’s not alone. Fellow celebrity moms Nia Long and Mariah Carey also delivered in their 40s, and recent statistics show women are waiting later to have children in general.

“Some reasons include career aspirations, or they just simply haven’t met the right person yet,” says Renee Volny, M.D., an obstetrician and gynecologist.  “There are more and more women of advance maternal age looking into options to conceive.”

The Options

Most women of advance maternal age usually opt for assisted reproductive technique (ART)—treatment options to improve conception—in lieu of natural conception. Through ART, births have been reported in women as old as 70 years old.

“It includes in-vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, and ovulation enhancement drugs, which can increase the likelihood to have a viable egg that can be fertilized and carried to full term,” Volny explains.

ART are used at such high rates in this age bracket, because, as women get older, the question of egg viability or egg quality becomes a concern.

“The reason fertility decreases is because egg quality becomes poorer, so even if you’re ovulating, the chances of getting pregnant decreases,” says Volny.

The fertility rate in women in their mid-40s have less than a 5 percent chance of conceiving. And when they do, they have a higher rate of multiples—twins, triplets and quadruplets.

Rolling the Dice

When a woman waits to conceive, it leaves the door open to complications that could affect not only them but their baby as well.

Complications of pregnancy can happen at any point time, no matter what the woman’s age, Volny says. However with advancing age, the woman can have increased risks of chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and preeclampsia. The risk of miscarriage increases as well.

“More complications would also increase the risk of higher hospitalization rates,” says Volny. “Depending on the complications, they need to have more prenatal visits so they can be monitored.”

But, it’s not clear exactly why older woman have more of a problem carrying a pregnancy.

“Women get older and their bodies are not as equipped to handle the strain of pregnancy due to other chronic diseases they may have,” Volny says.

Read the rest of this article at theGrio.

—Terrance McGill, M.D.

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What Encourages Teen Dating Violence?

Apr. 11 Babies/Children/Teens, Our Health, Vitality 1 comment

teen dating violenceA recent series of studies sheds even more light on what influences teen dating violence. This is important to us given that past data suggests that African-American and Hispanic students report higher rates of this type of violence than their white counterparts.

The first study suggests that what one sees at home can influence how they behave with others—violence is normalized and repeated. Researchers from Iowa State used data from a 24-year-long study and found that psychological violence was more common for children to witness and experience first-hand. This violence had a lasting effect on children as they grew into adulthood and formed relationships with the opposite sex.

“If the parent is more aggressive toward the child, the child is more likely to be in relationships where they’re being victimized or perpetrating violence against their partner a few years or even a decade later,” Lead researcher Brenda Lohman said in a press release.

Lohman and her colleagues also found that this type of violence was perpetuated over and over again from one generation to the next one.

In another study, Lohman found that when it comes to violence, teens are not sure what constitutes violence, therefore they are less likely to report it. She also found that drug use, poor grades and having parents who were less involved were also risk factors for teens being in violent relationships.

These findings are similar to another study that came out earlier this year that looked solely at African-American youth.

Researchers from Michigan State University surveyed over 180 low-income black female teens in Chicago and found that 85 percent of them had witnessed domestic violence in their home; 72 percent were physically abused themselves; 29 percent had been sexually abused; and that there was a strong relationship between teen violent relationships and experiencing these “severe” forms of abuse.

Do you know what abuse looks like? Abuse isn’t just about hitting, biting or smacking.

Here are 10 of the most common abusive behaviors by a partner:

  1. Checking your cell phone or email without permission
  2. Constantly putting you down
  3. Extreme jealousy or insecurity
  4. Explosive temper
  5. Isolating you from family or friends
  6. Making false accusations
  7. Mood swings
  8. Physically hurting you in any way
  9. Possessiveness
  10. Telling you what to do

—Kellee Terrell

Visit bet.com for more about intimate partner violence

Temporary Tattoos May Put You at Risk

Apr. 11 News, Our Health, Vitality no comments

the dangers of temporary tattoosSpring break is on the way, or maybe summer vacation. Time to pack your swim suit, hit the beach, and perhaps indulge in a little harmless fun. What about getting a temporary tattoo to mark the occasion? Who could it hurt to get a temporary tattoo?

It could hurt you, if you actually get one. Temporary tattoos typically last from three days to several weeks, depending on the product used for coloring and the condition of the skin. Unlike permanent tattoos, which are injected into the skin, temporary tattoos marketed as “henna” are applied to the skin’s surface.

However, “just because a tattoo is temporary it doesn’t mean that it is risk free,” says Linda Katz, M.D., M.P.H., director of FDA’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors. Some consumers report reactions that may be severe and long outlast the temporary tattoos themselves.

MedWatch, FDA’s safety information and adverse event (bad side effects) reporting program, has received reports of serious and long-lasting reactions that consumers had not bargained for after getting temporary tattoos. Reported problems include redness, blisters, raised red weeping lesions, loss of pigmentation, increased sensitivity to sunlight, and even permanent scarring.

Some reactions have led people to seek medical care, including visits to hospital emergency rooms. Reactions may occur immediately after a person gets a temporary tattoo, or even up to two or three weeks later.

 

Not Necessarily Safe

You may be familiar with henna, a reddish-brown coloring made from a flowering plant that grows in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and Asia. Since the Bronze Age, people have used dried henna, ground into a paste, to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool. This decoration—sometimes also known as mehndi—is still used today around the world to decorate the skin in cultural festivals and celebrations.

However, today so-called “black henna” is often used in place of traditional henna. Inks marketed as black henna may be a mix of henna with other ingredients, or may really be hair dye alone. The reason for adding other ingredients is to create a tattoo that is darker and longer lasting, but use of black henna is potentially harmful.

That’s because the extra ingredient used to blacken henna is often a coal-tar hair dye containing p-phenylenediamine (PPD), an ingredient that can cause dangerous skin reactions in some people. Sometimes, the artist may use a PPD-containing hair dye alone. Either way, there’s no telling who will be affected. By law, PPD is not permitted in cosmetics intended to be applied to the skin.

You may see “black henna” used in places such as temporary tattoo kiosks at beaches, boardwalks, and other holiday destinations, as well as in some ethnic or specialty shops. While states have jurisdiction over professional practices such as tattooing and cosmetology, that oversight differs from state to state. Some states have laws and regulations for temporary tattooing, while others don’t. So, depending on where you are, it’s possible no one is checking to make sure the artist is following safe practices or even knows what may be harmful to consumers.

A number of consumers have learned the risks the hard way, reporting significant bad reactions shortly after the application of black henna temporary tattoos.

  • The parents of a 5-year-old girl reported that she developed severe reddening on her forearm about two weeks after receiving a black henna temporary tattoo. “What we thought would be a little harmless fun ended up becoming more like a nightmare for us,” the father says. “My hope is that by telling people about our experience, I can help prevent this from happening to some other unsuspecting kids and parents.”
  • The mother of a 17-year-old girl agrees. “At first I was a little upset she got the tattoo without telling me,” she says. “But when it became red and itchy and later began to blister and the blisters filled with fluid, I was beside myself.” She explains that as a nurse, she’s used to seeing all manner of injuries, “but when it’s your own child, it’s pretty scary,” she says.
  • And another mother, whose teenager had no reaction to red henna tattoos, describes the skin on her daughter’s back as looking “the way a burn victim looks, all blistered and raw” after a black henna tattoo was applied there. She says that according to her daughter’s doctor, the teenager will have scarring for life.

This article is from FDA Consumer Health Information.

A Room With Ah-choo! Tips to Avoid Hotel Germs

Apr. 10 Our Health, Vitality no comments

tips for staying germ free in your hotelYou’re about to check into your hotel room, but somewhere in the back of your mind a thought keeps popping up: Is this room clean? And what can I do to protect myself?

Most hotels do well with basic cleaning, like dusting, vacuuming and disinfecting every day, but deep cleaning doesn’t happen very often. That means bedspreads, light switches, desk pens, TV remotes, faucets, telephones, clocks and that clean-looking bathroom can harbor all kinds of nasties. So it’s smart to protect yourself and stay as germ-free as you can during your stay.

Here’s how:

Bring sanitizing wipes to wipe TV remotes, other items in the room and everything in the bathroom.

Take off the bedspread. Most are not cleaned between guests. Ditto for blankets.

Bring your own sheets, washcloths and towels. Using your own items might help you feel more relaxed.

Request an allergy-free room. Some hotels oblige people with allergies and may have rooms that keep germs to a minimum.

Wear flip-flops or slippers in the hotel room. Walking barefoot is not a good idea on those well-traveled carpets.

Wash your hands regularly and often.

Study Links Gene to Doubled Alzheimer’s Risk in Blacks

Apr. 10 Aging, Our Health, Vitality no comments

Gene linked to Alzheimer's in blacksAfrican Americans with a particular gene are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease in old age as those without it, says a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This finding is a result of the largest database search for Alzheimer’s genes among African Americans.

“Until now, data on the genetics of Alzheimer’s in this patient population have been extremely limited,” said Dr. Richard Mayeux, chair of neurology at Columbia University Medical Center and senior author of the study.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia—a brain disease that affects memory, personality and the ability to reason. At age 65, only one percent of people have Alzheimer’s, yet over 80 years of age, it increases to 30 percent.

A new discovery

A gene called APOE is associated with one in every five cases of Alzheimer’s–known to be a major genetic risk factor for whites and blacks. Yet, in this new research, Mayeux and his team identified an additional gene variant linked to a doubled risk in African Americans alone, called ABCA7.

“ABCA7 is the first major gene implicated in late-onset Alzheimer’s among African Americans,” said Dr. Christine Reitz, assistant professor of neurology and lead author of the study.

To reach this conclusion, researchers examined samples from nearly 6,000 African-American men and women collected between 1989 and 2011–2,000 had a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer’s disease and the other 4,000 had no cognitive difficulty.

Read the rest of this article on theGrio.

—Tyeese Gaines, M.D.

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Walgreens Becomes 1st Retail Chain to Diagnose, Treat Chronic Conditions

Apr. 08 Our Health, Vitality no comments

Walgreens to treat chronic conditionsIt’s not just sore throats and flu shots anymore. Walgreens today became the first retail store chain to expand its health care services to include diagnosing and treating patients for chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and high cholesterol.

The move is the retail industry’s boldest push yet into an area long controlled by physicians, and comes amid continuing concerns about health care costs and a potential shortage of primary care doctors.

“Those two words, diagnosis and treatment, are big words. They show [Walgreens] is coming out of the closet and saying we really are going to do primary care now,” said Tom Charland, chief executive officer of Merchant Medicine, a health care consulting firm.

Other retail store clinics, such as those at Walmart, CVS and Target stores, help customers manage chronic illnesses but generally do so only after they have been diagnosed elsewhere. More than a year ago, Walmart outlined plans to provide primary care in a leaked confidential document—but then appeared to back away from the idea.

Walgreens officials say they will have nurse practitioners and physician assistants at more than 300 Take Care Clinics in 18 states and the District of Columbia to do tests and make diagnoses—and also write prescriptions, refer patients for additional tests and help them manage their conditions.

“We’re not trying to take over primary care, but we think we can help support physicians and transform the way care is delivered to provide more access points at a time when people need it the most,” said Heather Helle, a division vice president at Walgreens.

But that offer was not welcomed by the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, who said it is more difficult to manage patients’ care if they are treated in various settings—and that the clinics may not have some specialty services needed to treat those with complex diseases.

“It ends up being riskier for patients and costlier for the country,” said AAFP President Jeffrey Cain, a family doctor in Denver.

Helle said that in a perfect world all patients would have their own primary care doctors, “but, in reality, they simply do not.”

She said physicians will help oversee Walgreens’ clinics—and the clinics can transmit test results and other information electronically to doctors’ offices. She noted that clinics could help people find doctors too.  Many would have an affiliation or other link with the stores’ clinics.

Retail clinics generally appeal to consumers looking for convenience and cost savings.  Costs are roughly 30 percent to 40 percent less than similar care at doctor’s offices and 80 percent cheaper than at an emergency room, according to a 2011 study published in the American Journal of Managed Care.

At Walgreens, services will range from about $65 to $122 and will be offered in all Take Care Clinics except in Missouri, where state laws restrict services provided by non-physicians, the company said.

Walgreens’ move puts it in the potentially lucrative business of treating customers with long-term medical problems, which often require prescription drugs or other supplies that could be purchased at its stores.

Expanding services to diagnosis and treatment of chronic conditions that affect millions of Americans is a logical step, because the clinics can not only grow their own business, but also partner with hospitals and doctors’ groups to gain new customers, said Ronald L. Hammerle, president of Health Resources, a Florida consulting firm.

“Everyone is trying to figure out how to get into that space,” he said. “The sophisticated player recognizes that whoever controls point of entry [to health services] manages the downstream referral business.”

In addition to its in-store clinics, Walgreens runs about 350 health clinics at worksites, which are paid for by employers. The retailer also has a program to link patients leaving hospitals with Take Care Clinics and Walgreens pharmacies.

At least one physicians’ group that had been briefed on the expanded clinics took a more conciliatory stance to the retailer’s announcement.

“We understand retail clinics are here to stay and likely to be expanding,” said Steven Weinberger, executive vice president of the American College of Physicians. “We need to figure out how the patient can be best served … in terms of safety, access and communication with the primary care physicians.”

—Julie Appleby

This story, produced in collaboration with USA Today, originally appeared on Kaiser Health News. Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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Diagnosed With ADHD

Apr. 06 Babies/Children/Teens, Our Health, Vitality no comments

diagnosed with adhdIt was the headline of the week: Rates of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children are skyrocketing. This data, from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, said 11 percent of children aged four to 17 have the disorder, a 16 percent jump since 2007 and a 53 percent rise over the last decade. The most dramatic increase was among high school boys; one in five are said to have ADHD, which is characterized by an inability to pay attention for extended time periods, impulsive behavior, hyperactivity and difficulties forming relationships.

Another study of nearly 850,000 5-to-11-year olds found that African-American children are diagnosed with ADHD at much higher rates than children of other races and ethnicities.

What’s almost as troubling as these diagnosis statistics? About two-thirds of the children diagnosed with ADHD are being treated with stimulants such as Adderall, Concerta or Ritalin, which come with significant side effects, including addiction, anxiety, suppressed growth and serious weight loss.

 

Is There Really Such a Dramatic Increase in ADHD Diagnosis?

Experts caution that these numbers may need closer study. The CDC data was collected via phone interviews with parents, not from more reliable medical or school records.

“We think the numbers are not growing,” said Rahn K. Bailey, M.D., chairman of Meharry Medical College’s psychiatry department. “They’re [holding steady] at about 5 percent. The numbers aren’t substantially different in boys and girls. They’re not substantially greater in blacks.”

This discrepancy highlights a problem: If the numbers in this new report are wrong, a significant chunk of children are being misdiagnosed. This misdiagnosis could lead to improper treatment with dangerous medications.

 

ADHD Treatment

An appropriate diagnosis (the American Academy of Pediatrics recently updated its guidelines) should include evaluation from a physician and input from the child’s parents and teachers. Often these evaluations aren’t covered by health insurance, which leads some pediatricians or primary care physicians to pull out their prescription pads instead of seeking effective non-drug treatments, such as behavior therapy.

Both Ritalin and Adderall are stimulants commonly used to treat the symptoms (inattention and hyperactivity) of ADHD by boosting levels of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. Though they relieve symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic, they don’t cure the disorder. In addition to the side effects of these stimulants, some experts are concerned that early use of behavior-modifying medications might alter a child’s social development.

Just as worrisome as misdiagnosis and overmedication is underdiagnosis. In areas where mental health services are scarce, ADHD diagnoses are less common. Children in rural or urban areas with a legitimate diagnosis of the disorder are less likely to be treated properly, putting their long-term health at risk. Studies also show roughly 60 percent of children with ADHD have a learning disability, and 60 percent could go on to develop another mental illness by age 19.

“If children legitimately have ADHD, they need treatment,” Dr. Bailey says. “They need good quality care to have good quality life.”

 

How to Help a Child With ADHD

If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD, follow these tips:

  • Focus on good qualities. “Catch” your child behaving well at least three times a day and tell them you noticed.
  • Tell your kid what you want them to do, instead of what you don’t want them to do. (Say “Walk” instead of “Don’t run.”)
  • Provide immediate, constructive feedback often throughout the day.  Keep it brief, specific and descriptive.
  • Make sure your child gets regular meals and snacks of healthy food. (They may have difficulty sitting still long enough to eat because of hyperactivity and side effects from medication.)
  • Make sure your child is safe. Kids with ADHD may need to be watched more closely than other kids their age because they can be active and impulsive. There are certain things you should do to keep them safe, like make sure they wear a helmet when biking or rollerblading.
  • Make sure your child’s caregivers are familiar with daily routines and behavioral goals.

FDA Approves New Diabetes Drug

Apr. 04 News, Our Health, Vitality no comments

FDA approves Invokana for type 2 diabetesInvokana, the first in a new class of type 2 diabetes drugs, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Taken in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise, the tablets work by blocking the reabsorption of sugar by the kidney and increasing glucose excretions in urine. “We continue to advance innovation with the approval of new drug classes that provide additional treatment options for chronic conditions that impact public health,” Mary Parks, M.D., director of the division of metabolism and endocrinology products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an FDA release.

The Invokana approval is based on nine clinical trials of more than 10,000 patients, but the drug is not designed for people with type 1 diabetes or those with type 2 diabetes who have increased ketones in their blood or urine, severe kidney disease, kidney failure or who are on dialysis, the FDA said.

According to the FDA, roughly 24 million Americans have type 2 diabetes, and it accounts for more than 90 percent of diabetes cases. Uncontrolled blood sugar levels can lead to increased risk for serious diabetes complications, including heart disease, blindness, and nerve and kidney damage. African Americans make up 18.7 percent of diabetes cases (diagnosed and undiagnosed) in this country.

The Cost of Obesity [Infographic]

Apr. 02 Obesity, Our Health, Vitality no comments

How much does the obesity epidemic really cost?


The cost of obesity

Courtesy of MPH@GW:Master of Public Health Online