Health & Wellness
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Healthbeat
Sheila Johnson will screen
new AIDS documentary
Sheila Johnson will present her film. "The Other
City" during the upcoming United Stales Conference
on AIDS (USCA), which will be Sept. 12 - 15 in
Orlando. Fla
The film deals with the unseen - and often
ignored - effects HIV/AIDS is having on
Washington, DC., where
infection rates are among
some of the highest in the
world.
Filmmaking is a new arena
for Johnson, who is best
known as the woman w ho co
founded BET (Black
Entertainment Television)
with her ex-husband. Robert
"Bob" Johnson. At the net
work, she created the award
winning program, "Teen
Summit ' ? - .
Johnson
Johnson is CEO of Salamander Hospitality, LLC,
a company she founded in 2005. She oversees a
growing portfolio of luxury properties, including
Woodlands Inn, in Summerville. S.C.; Innisbrook, a
72-hole Golf & Resort Spa in Innisbrook, Fla; and the
much-anticipated Salamander Resort & Spa. current
ly being constructed in Middleburg. Va. As President
and Managing Partner of the WNBA's Washington
Mystics, and a partner in Lincoln Holdings, LLC,
Johnson is the first African American woman to have
a stake in three professional sports teams, including
the Washington Wi/ards (NBA) and the Washington
Capitals (NHL).
Johnson says she will now produce films with
humanitarian messages. Other films she has produced
include "Kicking It," which is about a homeless soc
cer player ?- .
Susan K ing It"
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Start! Shredding event is Aug. 28
Wake Forest Baptist University Medical Center
and Cintas Corporation are learning up to host. Start!
Shredding, a free document shredding event available
to the community on Saturday, Aug. 28.
Start' Shredding will be held in the parking lot of
Wake Forest Baptist's Miller Plaza building, located
at 2200 Cloverdale Ave., from 9 a.m. to noon on
Saturday. Aug. 28. Visitors will be able to look on as
Cintas safely destroys their private, personal data
before it is recycled
While there is no charge for this service, dona
tions will be accepted, with all of the proceeds bene
fitting the American Heart Association's Start!
Tanglewood Heart and Stroke Walk. So whether you
are shredding to get organized or taking steps to pre
vent identity theft, Start' Shredding will help you
clear out some unwanted clutter and aid the fight to
rid the world of heart disease and stroke.
Start! Tanglewood is the American Heart
Association's largest local fundraiser and will take
place on Saturday. Oct 16 at Tanglewood Park in
Clemmons Wake Forest Baptist is the local Start!
sponsor in Forsyth County. For more information on
.Start! Tanglewood. visit www wfubmc.edu/start. For
more information about the American Heart
Association, visit www.heart.org
Protect children from
whooping cough, say experts
Whooping cough is an old disease, hut it's alive
and kicking California has already reported seven
times the number of cases in 2010 that it saw in all of
2009 - a warning that we need renewed vigilance
across the country to pa-vent the disease from spread
ing further
Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is charac
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teri/.ed by coughing so severe
it often causes people to make
a high-pitched "whooping"
noise as they gasp for air. It's a
serious illness in adults and
can be deadly in young chil
dren .
It 's also highly contagious,
which is why experts in North
Carolina are urging people to
get their family members
immunized now.
"Once all the kids go back
to school, they'll he more likely to transmit it back
and forth." said Dr. David Weber, professor of mcdi
cine. pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Immunization is the
way we're really going to try and control this disease
on a population basis."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
recommends all children get the DTaP vaccine, which
protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertuvsis. But
the vaccincs arc not 100 percent effective, so it's
important for everyone to learn the signs of whooping
cough. They are:
? Initially, whooping cough looks similar to
any other flu-like illness, with a runny nose or con
gestion. sneezing ami a mild cough or fever.
? After 1-2 weeks, coughing becomes severe,
causing violent coughing fits that may result in the
characteristic "whooping" sound, or vomiting.
? Coughing continues for severaJ weeks.
? Adults typically need to stay home from
work for 1-2 weeks. Infants and >oung children m?y
need to be hospitalized and are at a higher risk for
pneumonia, convulsions and death.
WFU legal and health partnership
designed to benefit senior citizens
SPECIA1 [O [HE CHRONICLE
Wake Forest University's Elder Law
Clinic and Internal Medicine Geriatric
Section have together joined the National
Center for Medical-Legal Partnership
(MLP), a national network of partnership
sites that are dedicated to improving the
health and well-being of vulnerable popu
lations. including the elderly.
The Elder Law Clinic, part of the uni
versity's law school, and the Geriatrics
Section, part of the medical school, have
worked together for many years to teach
young professionals and to provide holistic
care to older adults. The MLP network
includes programs in more than 200 hospi
tals and health centers nationwide that inte
grate legal assistance into the medical set
ting. seeking to eliminate barriers to health
care in order to help vulnerable populations
meet their basic needs and stay healthy.
"We do a better job for our older clients
and their families because of our unique
access to medical expertise." said Clinical
Professor Kate Mewhinney, who has been
the managing attorney of the Elder Law
Clinic since its inception at Wake Forest
University Baptist Medical Center in 1991 .
"The geriatricians and the geriatric psychi
atrists, social workers, nurses and other
health professionals at the Medical Center
have helped us to speak the language of
health care. This way. when our clients face
issues related to health, our legal work can
proceed smoothly. My students learn about
a wide range of health law issues, such as
nursing home laws. Medicaid, mental
capacity issues, guardianship and
bioethics. These are just some of the ways
in which the law and health overlap for
older people."
According to Hal Atkinson, M.D., asso
ciate professor and director of the Geriatric
Medicine Fellowship program, joining the
national Ml.P network is a natural step for
Wake Forest. "We have been productively
See Klder < in A9
I _1
Drug
Abuse
The Deadly Truth
Drug abuse and dependence can lead to
devastating health affects or death: however,
the impact of illicit drug use affects more than
the individual user. The consequences of
drug abuse can impact the entire family and
the community and often lead to violence.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental
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Administration
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approximately 43
percent of African
Americans report
ed using illicit
drugs at some
point during their
lives, and 16 per
cent report using during the last year. What is
even scarier is that almost 27 percent of
African American young people between the
ages of 12 and 17 report using drugs at some
point in their lifetime.
It is essential that we work together to
decrease the rates of drug use in our commu
nity. We must educate ourselves so we are
better able to prevent drug abuse, recognize
its signs when it does occur, and help those
who suffer from addiction find appropriate
treatment.
What is drug abuse?
Drug abuse is defined as the use of illegal
drugs or the abuse of prescription or over-the
counter drugs for purposes other than for w hat
they are given or in amounts other than direct
ed. Common illicit (illegal) drugs include
marijuana, cocaine ('crack' and other forms),
heroin, and crystal methamphetamine ('ice').
Sedatives, tranquilizers, and pain medications
are frequently abused prescription drugs
Drug abuse over a period of time can
develop into drug addiction. Drug addiction is
a complex brain disease that consists of drug
craving, physical dependence (needing a drug
to function in daily life), and drug use that can
persist even in the face of dangerous or life
threatening risks. Drug-seeking behavior
often becomes compulsive, which causes
many people to resort to unhealthy and unsafe
behaviors, such as violence or prostitution, to
"feed" their addiction.
The following signs may indicate that you
or someone you know is suffering from addic
tion:
.- Abrupt changes in work or school per
formance
- Unusual flare-ups of temper, change in
normal attitude and behavior
- Deteriorating family relationships
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Bikers to ride to
combat sickle cell
CHRONIC! I STAR Kl FORI
Hikers t n mi across the I nan. arc expected to. take piff? in a i urid< ..i^i-na <:???
Piedmont lit anil >ejcvit;e> and Sickle (. oil Xgericv
On Saturday, Aug. 28 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.. the agency, which is located in
ureensooro at I iu^ t.
Market St.. will host the
Sickle Cell Charity
Ride. Each participating
biker will pay a $15
entry fee to ride.
Proceeds will benefit
Piedmont Health
Services and Sickle Cell
Agency's support serv
ices for clients living
with sickle cell disease.
The community health
agency also offers free
health screenings, edu
cation. counseling and
referrals for diabetes, cholesterol. hypertension. breast and prostate screening. HIV
and syphilis. PHSSCA. which is led by Executive Director Dr Gladys A Robinson,
is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
The charity ride will take bikers from Greensboro through High Point and then on
to the finish at Dudley Cosmetology University campus in Kernersville.
For additional information call 336-274- 1 507 or email Robinson at drobin
son<& piedmonthealthservices .org .
In-School Dietitians?
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U.S. Rep. Danny A. Davis, a
Chicago area Democrat, is
greeted with mementos by
American Dietetic
Association V resident Judith
C. Rodriguez at the
Association's Chicago head
quarters on Thursday. Aug.
19. Davis spoke about the
essential role that registered
dietitians have in addressing
the country's health chal
lenges. He announced he will
introduce legislation in the
House of Representatives in
the fall that will require every
public school in the I nited
States to have a registered
dietitian on staff.
I
Free text service offers tips to new moms
( HRONICl I STAR REPORT
The North Carolina
Healthy Start Foundation
has signed on to promote
Text4baby. a free mobile
service that pro\ ides health
information to pregnant
women and new mothers
from pregnancy through a
baby's first year.
National Healthy
Mothers and the Healthy
Babies Coalition provide
the text service to women
across the nation.
Women w ho sign up for
the service by texting
BABY to 51*1411 (or
BEBE for Spanish) receive
three free text messages
each week tuned to their
due date or baby's dale of
birth These messages
focus on a \ariet> of topics
critical to maternal and
child health, including
birth defects prevention,
immunisation, nutrition.
seasonal flu. mental health,
oral health and safe sleep
Tc\t4baby messages also
connect women to prenatal
and infant care services
and other resources.
Sec Text on