Health & Wellness
Issues concerning the well-being of the African American community
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Eat meat lose weight?
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The high-protein, no-carbohydrate diet con increase cholesterol levels and cause kidney problems or possibly a loss of calcium in the bones.
High protein diet
is an unhealthy fad
BY AMY FRAZIER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA - On a typical
morning, Ron Glasgow con
sumes a three-egg omelet and a
12-ounce package of bacon or a
half-pound of ham. During the
rest of the day. he can eat all the
pork rinds, beef jerky, sausage
and steak he wants.
After following this diet for
11 months, he's lost 95 pounds.
, Glasgow, down to 330
pounds, and others claim a diet
of unlimited meat, cheese and
eggs works - if you lay off the
carbohydrates and sugars. No
sweets, rice, pasta or bread.
Many dietitians and health
experts, 10,000 of Whom will be
in Atlanta this week for the
American Dietic Association's
annual meeting, say the diet is
an unhealthy fad and the weight
loss is temporary. ;
The high-protien, no-carb
plan is "a nightmare of a diet,"
said Kathleen Zelman, a regis
tered dietitian and ADA
spokesperson. "At first, it
sounds so alluring. You get the
green light to eat these foods."
But she said the monotony
soon gets old. Sure, you get the
hamburger, but no bun or fries.
You can eat a big steak, but for
get the baked potato and tossed
salad.
Plus, it's just unhealthy,
t . .
nutritionists say. Along with the
risk of increasing cholesterol
levels, the diet could cause kid
ney problems or possibly a loss
of calcium in the bones, Zelman
said. Limiting the intake of car
bohydrates to such a dramati
cally low level starves the body
of needed nutrients and it caus
es an artificial metabolic state.
"Think of it on a global per
spective - the world at large sur
vives on grains," Zelman said.
"If we didn't have carbohy
drates, we would not be able to
survive. Bread is the staff pf
life
Glasgow, a 39-year-old com
puter support technician from
Cumming, said the diet allows
him to lose weight and continue
to be a "big eater."
"I'm aware of some of the
opponents, but for me right
now, it seems to be working," he
said.
Glasgow said he Idst 100
pounds once before on a low
fat, high exercise diet, but he
couldn't stay on it. While on
that diet, he said he took a two
month leave of absence from his
job and exercised between 6 and
8 hours a day. When he returned
to a more reasonable exercise
schedule, the weight stopped
coming off an<j he went back to
his old ways.
With studies showing that
See Diet on page C4
More blacks die of lung cancer
because fewer have surgery
BY JANET MCCONNAUGHEY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - A big reason
lung cancer is deadlier for blacks
than for whites is that blacks are
less likely to get the cancer cut out
while they have a chance of sur
vival, researchers say.
The researchers said they don't
know exactly why this is So. But
the president of an organization of
black doctors suggested racial
prejudice is at work.
The study was conducted by
doctors at Memorial Sloan-Ket
tering Cancer Center in New York
and published in Thursday's New
England Journal of Medicine.
Early lung cancer has few
symptoms, so many patients do
not learn they have it until it has
spread and it is too late to operate.
Even with surgery, the chances are
poor.
About 34,000 people a year are
diagnosed with non-small-cell lung
cancer - the most common kind -
early enough for surgery to make a
difference.
The study looked at such
patients and found that the overall
five-year survival rate among
elderly whites was 34.1 percent vs.
26.4 percent among elderly blacks.
However, it found that the black
patients were almost 13 percent
less likely to have such surgery
than the whites.
Among those who had the can
cer cut out before it spread, about
39 percent of the blacks and 43
percent of the whites lived at least
five years after the diagnosis.
Without the operation, only 4 per
cent of the blacks and 5 percent of
the whites made it that long.
"Obviously, the opening ques
tion left by this study is what is
going on in that doctor-patient
relationship or interaction" that
leads to the black-white difference,
said Dr. Peter B. Bach, who led the
study.
Doctors have long known that
blacks with lung cancer are more
likely than whites with the disease
to die from it. But the reasons have
been unclear. This is evidence that
different medical treatment is at
least part of the reason, and at
least the second major study this
year to find that blacks get differ
ent medical treatment than whites
Blacks .are also more likely
than whites to die of heart disease
- and earlier this year, a study
found that blacks and women are
less likely than white men to get
the best cardiac testing.
"The data is coming from so
many sources that it is hard even
with the best of conscience not to
think that race is the factor, be it
conscious or unconscious," said
Dr. Walter W. Shervington of New
Orleans, president of the National
Medical Association, an organiza
tion of 20,000 black doctors.
The study looked at 10,984
patients in a National Cancer
Institute database of people in five
states and five cities outside of
those states. To remove the avail
ability of insurance as a factor, the
researchers looked only at people
who were at least 65 years old, and
thus covered by Medicare.
They found that 76.7 percent of
the white patients had surgery, but
only 64 percent of the black
patients did. .
Since poverty makes it harder
to get good care, the researchers
also tried to look at the poorest
patients, black and white. They
looked for people living in an area
where the average income was in
the nation's bottom quarter. There
was still a black-white difference of
nearly 9 percentage points
"Clearly, it's killing people,"
said Dr. Rodney G. Hood of San
Diego, president-elect of the
NMA.
But Dr. Garrett Walsh, a tho
racic surgeon at M.D. Anderson
Cancer Center in Houston, said
the racial gap may be an oversim
plification.
He said the researchers had
"fuzzy" information about income
? See Cancer on page C4
Herbs may be harmful before surgery
BY SUSAN PARROTT
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS - Some, popular
herbal remedies can be dangerous
if taken before surgery, doctors are
warning.
Researchers believe some of
the most common herbal products
might prolong the sedative effect
of anesthesia, increase bleeding
during surgery and cause fluctua
tions in blood pressure.
Patients should tell their sur
geons about all herbal products
they use, along with prescriptions
and over-the-counter remedies, to
avoid dangerous interactions, said
Dr. Charles McLeskey. an anesthe
siologist at Scott & White Memor
ial Hospital in Temple.
At a conference last week in
Dallas of the American Society of
Anesthesiologists, McLeskey pre
sented results of a survey of 979
presurgical patients. Seventeen
percent said they take one of more
herbal products.
The most common herbs listed
were gingko biloba, garlic, ginger
and ginseng all of which may
prevent blood clots from forming
and lead to excess blood loss in
surgery. Two other popular herbs
St. John's wort, an antidepressant,
and kava-kava. a relaxant - may
prolong the sedative effect of anes
/
thesia, McLeskey said.
The ASA suggests that patients
stop taking herbal products at
least two weeks before elective
surgery and keep their doctors
informed.
A spokeswoman for the Coun
cil for Responsible Nutrition,
which represents makers of dietary
supplements, said patients should
try to bring the bottles with them
anytime they visit a doctor or hos
pital.
"Anytime they are taking a
dietary supplement they should
mention that to their doctor,"
Cathy Fomus said. "They can
interact with food, with each other
and other prescription drugs."
Health (t?:
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