Health & Wellness
Healthbeat
Downtown Health Plaza to host
child car seat safety checks
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center's
emergency and trauma department has received a
grant to conduct monthly car seat checks at the
Downtown
Health Plaza.
They will
take place the
third Thursday
of each month
from 2:30 to
4:30 p.m. DHP
is located at
1200 North
Martin Luther
King Junior
Drive.
Grant fund
ing comes rrom the N.C. lX*partment ot Insurance
and the N.C. Governor's Highway Safety Program.
Locally, the Winston-Salem Police Department and
Crumley Roberts, a local law firm, are supporting the
program to prevent childhood injury.
Cancer survivors should exercise
WASHINGTON (AP) Cancer survivors better
work up a sweat
New guidelines are urging survivors to exercise
more, even ? hard as it may sound ? those who
haven't yet finished their treatment.
There's growing evidence
that physical activity improves
quality of life and eases some
cancer- related fatigue. More,
it can help fend off a serious
decline in physical function
that can last long after therapy
is finished.
Consider: In one year,
women who needed
chemotherapy for their breast
cancer can see a swapping of
muscle for fat that's equiva
lent to 10 years of normal
aging, says Dr. Wendy
Demark-Wahne fried of the
Dr. Wendy
Demark
Wahne fried
University ol Alabama al Birmingham.
In other words, a 45-year-old may find herself
with the fatter, weaker body type of a 55-year-old.
Scientists have long advised that being over
weight and sedentary increases the risk for various
cancers. Among the nation's nearly 12 million cancer
survivors, there are hints ? although not yet proof ?
thai people who are more active may lower risk of a
recurrence. And like everyone who ages, the longer
cancer survivors live, the higher their risk for heart
disease that exercise definitely fights.
Hospice of Davidson to
hold motorcycle benefit
Hospice of Davidson County will hold its 3rd
annual "Ride for Angels" motorcycle benefit on
Saturday, July 17. The police-escorted ride departs
from Denton Farmpark in Lexington at 10:30 am.
Gates open at 8:30 am for registration.
Last year, over 200 riders participated and raised
over $8,000 for Davidson County patients faced with
a terminal diagnosis. Hospice of DC, a United Way
agency, accepts patients regardless of their ability to
pay and relies heavily on community support to pro
vide those services.
Pre-registration is $15 per bike and includes a hot
dog lunch. Day of registration is $20. Merchandise
vendors will be on-site, offering a variety of items,
and the public is invited to attend. Attendees will also
have the opportunity to enjoy entertainment provided
by Southern Breeze, a 70s. 80s. Top 40 and Country
band.
In 2009, Hospice of Davidson County cared for
over 500 patients. 200 of which received services at
The Henry Etta and Bruce Hinkle Hospice House, the
county's first and only inpatient facility. An addition
al 150 families received bereavement and grief coun
seling services during that same period. In the first
quarter of 2010, over 200 patients have already
received medical, psychosocial, spiritual and
bereavement services.
Additional information regarding registration or
vendor spots is available on-line at
wwwiiospiceofdav idson .org .
Cholesterol drug for kids Ok'ed
TRENTON, NJ. <AP) - The European Union
has approved a new chewable form of cholesterol
blockbuster Lipitor for children 10 and up with high
levels of bad cholesterol and triglycerides, a type of
blood fat, Pfizer said Tuesday.
The approval
includes children
whose high blood
fats are due to an
inherited disease
that causes
extremely high
cholesterol levels,
familial hyperc
holcstcrolemi.i
New York-based Pfizer Inc. won U.S. approval
for Lipitor use in children 10 to 1 7 with that condition
in 2002
Lipitor is the world s top-selling drug, with 2009
sales of about $13 billion, but its U.S. patent expires
at the end of November 20 1 1 . Pfi/cr. the world's
biggest drugmakcr. will quickly lose most Lipitor
revenue once generic competition hits, so the compa
ny has been trying to boost sales where possible
before then
File Photo
Family Services has dedicated a num
ber of Silent Witness silhouettes.
Domestic violence
'silent' silhouette
honors slain officer
CHRONIC! E SI M I REPORT
Family Services recently held a
small, private ceremony to unveil a
Silent Witness silhouette is honor of
Sergeant Mickey Hutchens, a
Winston-Salem police officer who lost
his life last October after responding
to a domestic disturbance.
Family Services brought the
national Silent Witness initiative to
Winston-Salem
in 1995. Silent
Witnesses are
life-size silhou
ettes that "cannot
speak, yet their
permanent
silence is a pow
erful witness
| that | domestic
violence kills."
The silhouettes
bear the names
Hulchens
of local people who have died as a
result of domestic violence
The unveiling ceremony was held
at the Family Services Shelter for
Domestic Violence. Hutchens' daugh
ter. Jill, and representatives from the
Winston-Salem Police Department
attended the event. Detective Daniel
Clark also attended the ceremony;
Clark was Hutchens' partner. He was
wounded during the incident.
Sergeant Hutchens' silhouette will
he on display at the Family Services
Gateway Center through October
(National Domestic Violence
Awareness Month) with other Siknt
Witnesses from the Family Services
Silent Witness Exhibit.
For more information on the
national initiative, visit
http://ww\v.silentwitness,net/ .
A&T to host forum for
Alzheimer's caregivers
CHRQNK LE STAFF REPOR1
North Carolina A&T Slate University will host a caregiver education forum entitled
"Exploring the Journey" on Saturday. July 24 It will take place from 9 a.m. -4 o.m. in the
Memorial Student Union- Stallings Ballroom
The N.C. A&T Department of Biology,
which is currently conducting research on the
effects of Alzheimer's in African Americans,
is sponsoring the event, along with the
Western North Carolina Chapter of the
Alzheimer's Association and New York Life
Insurance Company.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common
form of dementia. It destroys the parts of the
brain that control memory, thinking, language
and judgment. According to the Alzheimer's
Association, it occurs more among African
Americans than whites.
The forum will feature a variety of ses
sions by various experts in the field of cogni
tive disorders from across the state. Family
caregivers, health care professionals, coun
selors and facility administrators are encour
aged to attend
The key objectives of the forum will be to
describe the current assessment, treatment
and care options available for those with
dementia, explore communication and care
giving techniques and identify resources to
meet the needs of people with dementia and their caregivers.
There is a registration fee of $25 for family caregivers and $50 for professionals/CEUs
that is required by July 10. A limited number of scholarships are available.
You may register online at huh .caregiverforum.kintera.org/greensboro or contact
Jennifer Bynum at 336-2S5-2J 5H for more information
Minority communities bad for boys' health, says study
SPEC! \l III IHI CHRONIC! I
New research funded by The California
Endowment finds thai African-American and
Latino boys and young men are much more
likely to experience poor health outcomes than
white boys and young men. Most of these dif
ferences in health are directly related to the
neignrx>rhoo<Js where thev grow
up.
To improve health outcomes for
boys and young men. researchers
suggest the need for systems-based
solutions that are implemented at
the community level.
"It's not just that there's a high
er incidence of African-American
and Latino children living in
poverty," said Susan Eaton,
research director at the Charles
Hamilton Houston Institute at
Harvard Law School, "It's thai poverty is gen
erally harsher for African-American and
Latino children."
The research examined how neighbor
hoods where African-American and Latino
children live and go to school create and exac
erbate the poor health outcomes they experi
ence .
Researchers examined the racial and ethnic
disparities for boys and men of color. While
boys and young men generallv suffer worse
health outcomes than girls, it was found that
health and social Outcomes for bovs and young
men of color are far worse than they are for
white boys and young men
For instance. African-American boys and
Dr. Rich
young men are 2.5 times more likely to suffer
from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
Latino boys and young men are 4.1 times more
likely to suffer from PTSD. Some of the great
est disparities in the research were for African
American homicide-related death rates. Young
African-American men have a homicide death
rate at least 16 times greater than that of young
while men: young Latino men have a
homicide rate five times greater than
that of young white men
A key theme of the research is
whether or not the institutions that
are meant to serve the health needs
of boys and young men of color are
actually successful in meeting them
For instance, the Center for
Nonviolence and Social Justice at
Drexel University found that trauma
is seldom explored by the array of
systems - including schools, juve
rule justice, courts, health care anil mental
health -assigned to help boys and young men
of color. li\en worse, those institutions often
take a punitive approach to these young men at
precisely the time when they need them the
most .
"When young men suffer from trauma,
their symptoms are interpreted as a sign that
they are delinquents or sociopaths rather than
a sign of physical and emotional traumatic
injury." said Dr John Rich, director of the
Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice at
Drexel University. "The \ery systems that are
charged with caring for their trauma inadver
tently reinforce their trauma rather than
address it."
Must black women choose
between beauty and health?
Consuelo
Wilkins
Guest
Columnist
(St. Louis American/
NN'PA) - Recently, in the St.
Louis American's "Your
Health Matters" section,
there was an intriguing piece
about Black women and
weight management written by
our health journalist Sandra
Jordan
"Are you working your
hairdo or is your hairdo work
ing you- on the scales?" exam
iries the complex relationship
between exercising and main
taining hairstyles that compli
cates the lives of many black
women.
As reported by l)r Michael
Railey. associate dean of mul
ticultural affairs at Saint Louis
University School of
Medicine. African- American
women have the highest inci
dence of being overweight in
(he I'nited States and they are
least likely to have a regular
exercise routine In Dr
Railey's publication in
October 2<XM). percent of
(he overweight African
American women reported that
hair care directly affects their
exercise patterns
I'm sure it's not surprising
to the Black women reading
this that half of the women in
the study reported that main
taining their hair affected their
likelihood of working out. I'm
actually surprised that the
number isn't higher! I often
hear black women sa> the>
can't exercise because the\
will sweat their hair out."
Think about this issue as it
relates to cultural competence
in healthcare Virtually no
other group of women (or men I
is faced with such a dilemma.
Do I choose to be beautiful
now (by maintaining my hair
style) or do I choose to main
tain my weight lose weight
(and have all the other positive
effects of exercising)1 This is a
difficult concept for many doc
tors and other health profes
sionals to grasp because other
cultures do not understand the
complex issues of hair mainte
nance and hairstyles for
African- American women.
There are many issues to
consider when discussing hair
and Black women, but proba
bly most important is that for
man\ Black women, their hair
style is a big form of self
expression A Black woman's
hair makes a statement and is
often the subject of many con
versations.
As depicted in Chris
Rock's movie, "Good Hair."
for many black women, their
hair is also the source of con
flict. Although Black hair can
range from tightly coiled to
wavy curly to straight. Blacks
tend to have hair that is more
coiled and not straight com
pared to other groups In the
United States, many non
Blacks (and some Blacks) con
Scc VVilkin* .w M