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ÿ
February 28, 2007
it!' I.lnrtLutíi (Obseruer BléiCk H ÎS tO fy M O Ilth
Page B2
Technology Center and n used w ith its permission.
Coffee May be Good for Aging Hearts
D rinking caffeinated beverages
on a regular basis may provide sig
nificant protection against death
from heart disease in the elderly
w ho have norm al levels o f blood
pressure, according to data from a
large U.S. health and nutrition study.
D rinking caffeinated beverages
may induce a "healthy" rise in blood
pressure that counteracts the drop
in blood pressure that occurs after
a meal, a phenom enon that becomes
more pronounced as people age,
researchers note.
For subjects 65 years o f age or
older, the researchers found that
g r e a te r d a ily c o n s u m p tio n o f
caffeinated beverages was associ
ated with a low er risk o f death from
heart disease.
T his apparent protective effect
o f caffeinated coffee consum ption
w as not seen in people with severe
A c u p o f c o ffe e m a y h e lp lo w er b lo o d p r e s s u r e In th e elderly.
high blood pressure or those w ho
w ere younger than 65 years o f age.
Studies on caffeine and heart
disease have yielded conflicting
results, note principal investigator
Dr. Jam es A. G reenberg and co l
leagues from Brooklyn C ollege o f
the C ity U niversity o f New York.
IMMHWMMWMMMMMi
Be part of a Solution Help your
Community Reduce Teen Pregnancy
Are you an African American women w ith a daughter aged 10-14 years old?
Help us evaluate a program designed to reduce the rates of adolescent pregnancy
$ 7 5 fo r y o u r tim e
Fill out two surveys and try a new computer software program.
You must have sole or joint custody of your daughter.
For more information about this research study call:
1-866-730-3211
ask for the Communications Skills Project
* c
Quit Smoking Drug Benefits Come Late
Smokers urged
not to get
discouraged
Sm okers and clinicians should
not be discouraged o r discontinue
cessation m edication w hen su c
cess is not im m ediate.
An O regon H ealth & Science
U niversity researcher has found
smokers taking cessation drugs who
are unable to quit in the first few
w eeks o f treatm ent can quit w eeks
later if they continue taking the
medication.
"O u r re c e n t a n a ly sis sh o w s
sm okers and clinicians should not
be discouraged when total absti
nence is not achieved in the first
w eeks o f treatm ent with sm oking
cessation m edications," said David
G onzales, Ph.D., lead author, direc-
This research is being conducted by the Oregon C enter lor Applied Science, Inc. with funding from
the National Institutes o f Health. There are no sales or m arketing lists involved.
D avid G o n za le s
tor o f the O H SU Sm oking C essa
tion C enter, and clinical investiga
tor in m edicine."W e found that
quitting sm oking was a dynam ic
process that w as im m ediate for
som e, bu, delayed, taking several
w e e k s , fo r o th e r s w h o to o k
varenicline or bupropion."
T ra d itio n a lly , c lin ic ia n s and
Improving
Your
by K imberly
M ayhews
Are you the mother of
a child with ADHD?
OHSU is currently enrolling families in PACT, a research study
geared toward learning the best ways to support families
who are living with ADHD.
Who is eligible to participate?
•
Families with at least one child (age 4-21) with a diagnosis of ADHD
• Families w ho live in the Portland metropolitan area
If you are eligible, you will be randomly assigned to one of two groups:
1. A hom e-based approach where a nurse visits your, hom e at regular
intervals to provide services and support that are unique to you and
your family.
2. An in fo rm ation-base d approach where families will be provided with
literature about ADHD.
There is no cost for participating in the study. Mothers will receive a $50 gift
card every six m onths for 18 months for participating in the study, no
matter to which group they are assigned. Additional family members will
receive $ 10 gift cards each time they com plete a short survey.
For more information, please call 503 418-3603
or email pact@ohsu.edu
OREGON
OHSU is an equal opportunity,
affirmative action institution.
elRB# 2071
Xy
HEALTH L ^ J
&SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY
4
HEALTH
Black H istory M onth is a tim e
to honor the rich culture and his
tory o f the African American com
m unity. W e pay tribute to the
many influential leaders and ev
eryday people w ho paved the way
forequality and freedom . But it is
also tim e to learn from this history
and make a better today.
T hiscom m unity hasovercom e
many struggles, yet there are still
challenges. In O regon, blacks
have the poorest health profile of
any racial/ethnie group. U nder
standing the role food plays is an
essential com ponent in im prov
ing the health and well being of
the black com m unity.
A ccording the M ichael Byrd
and Linda C layton, the authors o f
An Am erican Health Dilemma: A
Medical History of African Ameri
cans and the Problem s o f Race—
B e g in n in g s to 1 900, “ T h e
|inadequate |health care and poor
nutrition afforded to slaves set
the paradigm o f dim inished soci
etal expectation for black health.”
L aw p r o f e s s o r V e r n e llia
R andall arg u es that that the d e
p lo rab le state o f b lack p eo p les'
h ealth can be d irec tly traced to
slav ery . D ue to the long an d a r
d u o u s w o rk in g days, fo o d w as
b asic b ut fillin g , m ade from the
p o o rest q u ality o f a v a ila b le food.
Foods
su ch
as
gu m b o s,
co rn b rea d , and c h itlin s (c h itte r
lings) b ecam e d ie tary stap les: the
high fat co n ten t and low n u tri
tio n al v alu e w ere co u n tered by
the d em an d in g p h y sically a c tiv
ity o f the day . T h e p ro b lem is the
fo o d s listed above and m any o th
ers are still an ev e ry d ay p art o f
the d iet.
T raditional foods, soul food,
should rem ain a part o f the African
A m erican diet; it’s a living part of
history, how ever we now know that
these traditional foods can be pre
pared in a healthier way.
“Fat, salt and sugar are the m ajor
threats in the way A frican A m eri
cans eat,” says registered dietician
Roniece W eaver. "Studies show
that 49 percent o f A frican-A m eri
can w omen are overw eight, as co m
pared with 32 percent o f w hite
women, and 3 million African-Ameri
cans have diabetes, but half o f them
don't know it."
smokers have expected fairly im m e
diate positive results from sm oking
cessation m edications, according
to G onzales.
"If sm okers on m edication don't
quit in the first w eek or tw o follow
ing their target quit date, clinicians
often will instruct their patients to
discontinue their medication. C lini
cians consider this a failed attempt,"
said G onzales.
The study data suggest that
quitting is ad y n am ic process and if
sm okers are encouraged and sup
p o rte d d u rin g tre a tm e n t w ith
varenicline or bupropion, they can
quit over a period o f weeks, not
only quit on their target quit day,
and clinicians should consider con
tinuing to encourage their patients
to stay on their m edications b e
yond the first w eeks o f treatm ent
even if they are unable toquit im m e
diately.
Roots
of Black
Nutrition:
Soul Food
A re you ready to sta rt m ak
ing h ealth y c h a n g e s? A h ealthy
co m m u n ity sta rts w ith you. T he
A frican A m erican H ealth C o ali
tion Inc. has a n u m b e r o f p ro
g ram s to help turn y o u r fav o rite
tra d itio n s in to h e a lth y tra d i
tio n s. T h ese reso u rce s are at no
co st to the B lacks in the P o rt
land m etro area.
The A A H C offers a healthy
cooking class focusing on ad d
ing healthy tw ists to classic soul
food dishes. T he A A H C also of
fers that series o f classes aim ed at
im proving overall health on vari
ous topics including w eight loss,
general nutrition, and seasonal
eating. In addition, the AA HC
periodically holds “ Food T alks”
that include cooking dem onstra
tions and discussions focusing
on im proving health.
If you are interested in any o f
these program s, please contact
Christie T aylorat 5 0 3 -4 13-1850or
at ehristiet@ aahe-portland.org.
K im b e rly M a th e w s is an
A m ericorps V ista program coor
dinator for the A frican A merican
H ealth Coalition.
Herpes Drug May Curb HIV
T reating genital herpes can also
help keep the AID S virus under
control in w om en with both infec
tions, and might reduce the spread
of HIV, too, the first m ajor study to
test this strategy suggests.
Many people with HIV are also
infected with the herpes type 2 vi
rus. and scientists have long known
that herpes sores on the genitals
can m ake it easier to becom e in
fected with the AIDS virus and
could increase the risk o f transm it
ting HIV to others.
In the latest study, conducted in
A frica and published in T hursday's
New England Journal o f M edicine,
w om en w ho took the herpes drug
valacyclovir had less HIV in their
bkxxl and in their genital secre
tions.
Best Method for Weight Loss
A new study debunks the widely
held belief that diet plus exercise is
the m ost effectiv e w ay to lose
weight. R esearchers report that d i
eting alone is ju st as effective as
dieting plus exercise.
“ For w eight loss to occur, an
individual needs to m aintain a d if
ference between the num ber o f calo
ries they consum e everyday and
the num ber o f calories they bum
through m etabolism and physical
activity," Dr. Lcannc Redm an of
the Pennington B iom edical Rc-
search Center in Baton Rouge, Loui
siana, explains in a press release.
“W hat we found was that it did
not m atter w hether a reduction in
calories was achieved through diet
or burned everyday through ex er
cise.”