Health & Wellness
Healthbeat
| Indents to hold golf benefit
rKThe Katherine Anderson Society (KAS) will
bold Ml fifth annual diant) golf tournament oal
Fndty, May 16 at the championship course at
knglewood Park. KAS is an organization for the
student body of Wake Forest University School of
Medicine Physician Assistant (PA) Program.
KAS recently participated in the Share the
Health fair with WFU medical students. The socie
ty also helped a local agency to prepare for World
AIDS Day, and sponsored a local family during the
holidays. A portion of the tournament proceeds will
ort future KAS community service projects as
as supplement the cost for students to attend
National Conference of the Academy of
'cian Assistants in May 2008. ||l 1
addition, a portion of the event proceeds will
ly to the Amos Cottage Therapeutic Day
Amos Cottage provides an environment
jn ages 3 through 7 who experience emo
or behavioral problems. The program is part
WFU Health Sciences pediatrics department
developmental and behavioral care unit.
The tournament will consist of a shot-gun start
best-ball tournament, silent auction, raffle and din
after the tournament The cost of registration is
1 for a team of four. KAS is also seeking mon
do nations and prizes for the silent auction and
For more information please visit the tourna
I ment website at kasgolf .googlepages.com or con
I tact KAS tournament organizer Mike Davanzo at
I sadavanzo@wfubmc.edu or Carmen Parker, KAS
aistrative assistant at caparker@wfubmc.edu.
professor invited to teach
medicine courses at USF
d F. Martin, M.D., professor of orthopaedic j
Martin
surgery, at Wake Forest
University Baptist Medical
Center, has been invited to
serve later this month on the
faculty of a sports medicine
course being sponsored by the
University of South Florida
Health.
Martin, who is the director
of sports medicine at Wake
Forest Baptist, will teach and
participate in group discus
sions at the 4th Annual
t Advances in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine
?, which is being held March 27 - 30 in
: Springs, Colo.
lies include "Meniscus: Debridement to
and "Patellofemoral: Prox/Distal
t. Reconstruction."
graduated from Dartmouth College in
er, N.H., and earned his medical degree
Hopkins, where he was also chief resi
orthopaedic surgery He completed sports
fellowships at the Hughston Sports
Foundation in Columbus, Ga., and at
Hilemprial Hospital in Baltimore.
joined the faculty at Wake Forest
1 School of Medicine in 1990. He is board
in orthopaedic surgery and serves as the
physician at Wake Forest University.
helps develop TB vaccine
HILL - A new tuberculosis vaccine
ly tested at the University of North
i at Chapel Hill is easier to administer and
just as effective as one commonly used'
at the UNC School of Pharmacy led
' Hickey, Ph.D., vetted a dry powder vaccine
by Harvard University that is adminis
ng an inhaler. The results of the vaccine
are being published this week in the
. of the National Academy of Sciences,
vaccine is spray dried instead of freeze
. Spray drying is the process of spraying a liq
jgh a heated gas such as nitrogen to create
r. Traditional TB vaccines are freeze dried,
refrigerated storage and transportation,
rce of clean water to reconstitute the vac
njection. Spray dried vaccines do not need
i or water to be used.
^ to the Centers for Disease Control
ion, tuberculosis is one of the deadliest
, infecting a third of the world's population,
ir nearly nine million people become side
I and almost two million of them die.
Center
is leaving for DC ||
i deary will step down from her position
e Director for the North Carolina Center
: effective April 1 to accept a position as
.or of the newly created Center- to
Nursing in America based out of the
y Institute at AARP in Washington D.C.
on her work at the NC Center for
?jary will continue her strategic focus on
( the developing nursing workforce short
ing that the state and nation have the
. to meet the healthcare needs of all
the NC Center for Nursing and the
Champion Nursing in America share
to improving health and health care,
.ttions seek to meet the challenges of
, decade by utilizing the strategics of
nursing program capacity, addressing
j faculty shortage, building coalitions,
strategic plans around good data and a
s recruitment and retention of a quality
Sen. Richard Burr is the co-sponsor of the
'Healthy Start' legislation.
Burr-sponsored
infant mortality
legislation
passes committee
Senator says 'Healthy Start '
saves lives
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
i
The U.S. Senate Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions last week
approved the Healthy Start Reauthorization
Act of 2007 (S.1760), which aims to reduce
infant mortality in the United States.
The legislation was introduced by
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and
Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) in
July of last year. The Healthy Start program
has been successful in addressing the risk
factors that lead to low birth weight and
other health complications in babies and
mothers since the initiative began in 1991.
The bipartisan legisla
tion would extend the
program " through
2013.
"Healthy Start pro
grams, like North
Carolina's Baby Love
Plus, have made great
progress in reducing
infant mortality, pre
mature birth, and low
birth weight," Bun
said. "Healthy Start is
Sen. Brown
a critical program that saves lives and
ensures more of our nation's children stay
healthy. I am pleased my Senate colleagues
took a step today towards ensuring more of
America's children start life in good heal^i."
Sen. Brown agrees.
"The Healthy Start Reauthorization Act
is essential in helping our nation's most dis
advantaged chilidren survive infancy and
live longer, healthier lives," Brown said
"Healthy Start does more than just help
pregnant women cope with pregnancy; it is
there for women regardless of their financial
or living situation. This bill advances the
public health and promotes the common
good."
In 1998, only 42 percent of women in the
Healthy Start program areas received prena
tal care. In 2003, that number reached 72
percent.
Although the Healthy Start program has
been largely successful, much work remains
to be done. North Carolina has the tenth
highest infant mortality rate in the country;
8.35 out of every 1,000 babies born in the
state will not live to be one year old, well
above the national average of 6.9 deaths per
1,000 births.
The bill now awaits passage by the full
Senate.
Big 4 Schools health
initiatives scheduled
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
The city's historically African- American
high schools, known as The Big 4, will be host
ing the 6th Annual Big 4 Walk, Health
Screenings, Kids Fun Run and Golf Tournament
in May.
Alumni of the Atkins, Paisley, Anderson and
Fun Run will be held on Saturday, May 17 at
Winston Lake Park. Shelter #1, located near the
Ray Agnew Field, at 8 a.m. The course for the
walk is two miles around the lake to shelter #4
and back. The Winston-Salem Parks and
Recreation Department will lead the warm-up
exercises before the walk and direct the Kids
Fun Run and competitive games following the
carver are once again joining rorces
to promote awareness of health issues
like diabetes, hypertension, stroke and
heart disease, all of which dispropor
tionately affect African- Americans.
The Big 4 event will focus on pre
vention measures such as education,
examinations, exercise and healthy
eating.
This year, the Maya Angelou
Research Center on Minority Health
of Wake Forest University School of
Medicine is partnering with the
schools to present the golf tournament
and the health screenings:
Dr. Smith
walk. In addition, the YWCA will
provide fun activities for young par
ticipants.
Presenters for file health screen
ings will include personnel from the
Forsyth County Preventive Health
Services Department, Phi Eta Chi
Nursing Sorority, and student nurses
from Winston-Salem State University.
There will be presentations with Q&A
sessions.
Throughout the morning-long
event, there will be drawings for
prizes and recognition will be given to
The event will also focus on Dr. Ian Smith's
50 Million Pound Challenge, a nationwide initia
tive sponsored by State Farm Insurance. State
Farm's Joe Daniels will be on hand to pass out
kits to participants for the challenge.
Smith, a nationally-known fitness expert and
star of Vh-l's "Celebrity Fit Club," started the
challenge to get more Americans into shape. He
wants participants across the nation to "reach out
and lock hands as we join forces to fight the very
real risk that being overweight poses to our
selves, our families and our community."
He continues that, "The Challenge is a com
mitment we're making to ourselves and to each
other and is a chance to leave a legacy to future
generations."
The Big 4 Walk, Health Screenings and Kid's
special groups of participants, including top fin
ishers, the oldest and youngest participants and
the largest group and largest family to complete
the walk.
The Golf Tournament will be held on
Saturday, May 10 at the Winston Lake Golf
Course. Tee time is set at 9 a.m. Registration
brochures are available at the Winston Lake Golf
Course. Early registration is recommended in
order to provide ample T-shirts and refreshments
for participants.
To insure the legacy of the Big 4 and to honor
the students and educators of these schools, "The
Big 4 Scholarship Fund" has been established at
Winston-Salem State University jrom proceeds
from the Big 4 Walk and individual donations.
The Anderson High School Alumni Association,
Inc. contributed $2,500 in 2007.
Wake Forest Medical implements
new program for stroke survivors
Initiative will strive to prevent future strokes
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
o
The Comprehensive Stroke Center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, in conjunc
tion with the North Carolina Stroke Association, is offering a new educational program for stroke sur
vivors.
Called "Beyond the Hospital" the educational series is designed to help patients understand the
health issues they may be confronted with upon discharge from the hospital, said Sharon Pettiford, R.N.,
M.S .N., Wake Forest Baptist's stroke coordinator. "The program is administered to our psitients while
they are still in the hospital. Our
goal is to ultimately prevent our
patients from having additional
strokes and to educate them about
their recovery period." *
Patients receive a telephone
follow-up questionnaire designed
by the North Carolina Stroke
Association three months after
discharge to see how they are pro
gressing and whether they have
retained the information learned
in the program. Patients are asked
about their medications to see if
they are taking them properly,
whether they have been re-hospi
talized, and their level of disabili
ty after stroke.
Stroke strikes about 700,000
people each year in the United States, leaving tnousanas aisaoiea ana is tne leaaing causc 01 serious
long-term disability. People living in what is called the stroke belt, including North Carolina, South
Carolina and Georgia, have higher mortality rates from stroke than other parts of the country.
"The Beyond the Hospital program is a real step forward in patient education and stroke care," said
Charles Tegeler, M.D., a neurologist and the director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center. "Previous
hospital stroke education and quality improvement activities really only measure whether the education
occurred, without measuring how effective the education was to the patient. This program allows an
opportunity for real quality improvement to better educate patients and their families about stroke and
how to avoid another one."
Beyond the Hospital works with multiple resources in the hospital, including pharmacists, physical,
occupational and speech therapists, nutrition therapists, nurses and physicians to answer any questions
patients may have about their care and recovery period.
For more information about the Beyond the Hospital program, call 336-716-2255 or visit,
wwH.wfubmc .edu .
HIV Prevention & Circumcision
Baby's First Surgery
Circumcision is not a popular
topic of conversation. Even among
new parents, the decision about
whether to circumcise may escape
attention until doctors seek consent
to perform the operation. The pro
cedure typically occurs a day or two
after childbirth, before the baby
leaves the hospital. Newborn sur
gery, however, is a serious matter,
and no elective operation should be
assumed without closely examining
risks and benefits.
History
Ancient Egyptians were the first
societies we know to perform cir
cumcisions routinely, predating the
Jewish and Christian religions often
credited with spreading the ritual.
Today the African continent is
again focused on a circumcision
effort. Some AIDS researchers and
prevention advocates in Africa have
begun to promote the procedure for
boys and men as a way to combat
the HIV epidemic. Findings from
recent research done in Kenya,
Uganda, and South Africa indicate
that, among groups who agreed to
be circumcised, HIV infection rates
were as much as 60 percent lower
than rates among comparison par
ticipants who were not circumcised
Beliefs about Circumcision in the
United States
More than half of all men living
in the US are estimated to be cir
cumcised; 88 percent of non
Hispanic White men, 72 percent of
Black men. and 42 percent of
Mexican-American men are
believed to be circumcised. US
doctors have long counseled par
ents that circumcision may help
prevent urinary tract infections and
penile cancer. However, the
American Academy trf Pediatrics
(AAP) does not consider the evi
dence conclusive enough to recom
mend the routine circumcision of
all newborns. Until relatively
recently however, there has been
little scientific evidence to justify
the procedure as a hygienic or
health-promoting intervention.
Religious beliefs add value to this
See Circumcision on A13