Archive for August, 2011

Fact Sheet: Latinos & HIV/AIDS

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U.S. Latinos continue to be heavily impacted by HIV/AIDS, accounting for higher rates of new HIV infections, AIDS diagnoses, and people living with HIV than their white counterparts.

Of the approximately 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S, 205,000 are Latinos.

As the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group in the U.S., addressing HIV/AIDS in the Latino community takes on increased importance in efforts to improve the nation’s health.

Learn more about Latinos and HIV/AIDS in this newly updated fact sheet from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Cancer Survivors Help Test Which Exercise is Best to Reduce Recurrence

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The IHPR’s IMPACT study will test how different types of exercise—like Yoga, demonstrated here by Nydia Tijerina Darby of Nydia’s Yoga Therapy in San Antonio—will impact cancer survivors.

This study will test how different types of exercise—like Yoga, shown here by Nydia Tijerina Darby of Nydia’s Yoga Therapy in San Antonio—will impact cancer survivors.

In response to rising obesity and breast cancer mortality rates, a new local study is testing how different types of exercise—like yoga—best improve cancer survivors’ fitness, quality of life and molecular indicators of future cancer risk.

The project, Improving Mind and Physical ACTivity (IMPACT), is led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Over the yearlong IMPACT study, 90 breast cancer survivors will be randomized to participate at least three times a week in: 1) a comprehensive exercise “prescription” featuring an individualized aerobic, strength-training and flexibility program; 2) a yoga exercise program; or 3) general exercise chosen at will.

Study recruitment is underway. For eligibility, call 210-593-2669.

“We expect comprehensive and yoga-focused participants to have better fitness outcomes, less stress and improved biological indicators of future risk of secondary cancers,” said study co-principal investigator Dr. Daniel Hughes of the IHPR. The study, funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, is led by IHPR Director Dr. Amelie Ramirez and features Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) translational scientists.

Participants in all three groups will take a fitness test and undergo measurements at the start and end of the study, and also fill out surveys and exercise logs.

The study team also is testing exercise’s impact on survivors at the molecular level.

Read more about the study on Page 5 of the IHPR’s new E-newsletter, or see this video or this video:

Check Out the Latest in Latino Cancer Survival, Exercise, Obesity, Videos &More

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1 year ago
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Newsletter coverCheck out the latest in health disparities—from new efforts by promotoras to help Latino cancer patients to a new study to see what type of exercise best prevents breast cancer recurrence—in the latest E-newsletter from the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

View the IHPR E-newsletter to see:

  • Story and Video: Promotoras Help Latino Cancer Patients (Pg 1)
  • Story: IHPR Staffer Learns ‘True Meaning of Despair’ in Brazil (Pg 2)
  • Story: Exito! Program Trains Latino Doctoral Hopefuls (Pg 4)
  • Story and Video: Local Cancer Survivors Help Test Which Exercise is Best (Pg 5)
  • Story and Videos: Addressing Texas’ Latino Obesity Epidemic (Pg 6)
  • Story: Like Mother, Like Daughter: Rodriguez Duo Fights AIDS (Pg 7)

Find much more on local and national health disparities-related news, funding, resources and events by visiting the IHPR’s Web site.

2010 Census: U.S. Hispanic Population Grew Four Times Faster Than Total Population

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The U.S. Census Bureau this week released a 2010 Census brief on the nation’s Hispanic population, which shows the Hispanic population increased by 15.2 million between 2000 and 2010 and accounted for more than half of the total U.S. population increase of 27.3 million.

Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43%, or four times the nation’s 9.7% growth rate.

The Hispanic Population: 2010 brief looks at an important part of our nation’s changing ethnic diversity with a particular focus on Hispanic origin groups, such as Mexican, Dominican and Cuban.

About three-quarters of Hispanics in the United States reported as Mexican, Puerto Rican or Cuban origin in the 2010 Census. Mexican origin was the largest group, representing 63% of the total U.S. Hispanic population — up from 58% in 2000. This group increased by 54% and saw the largest numeric change (11.2 million), growing from 20.6 million in 2000 to 31.8 million in 2010. Mexicans accounted for about three-fourths of the 15.2 million increase in the total Hispanic population between 2000 and 2010.

New Census data also shows a growing racial/ethnic divide by age.

Nationally, 80% of seniors are white and only in a few counties are most seniors people of color. But the younger population looks vastly different: the majority of babies born in the last two years were nonwhite, and across the country—from our largest cities to suburbs, small towns, and rural areas—young Americans are increasingly people of color, according to PolicyLink.

Check out PolicyLink’s new animated map illustrating here on this stark racial and generational divide:

A New Generation Gap? The Diverging Demographics of Seniors and Youth from PolicyLink on Vimeo.

‘Exito!’ Welcomes First Class of Latino Doctoral Hopefuls

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The first group of <em>Èxito!</em> graduates

The first group of Èxito! graduates

As she wraps up her master’s degree at the University of South Florida, Mariana Arevalo already has worked on projects to improve health care access for the underserved.

But that early experience is driving Arevalo to do more.

So Arevalo and 16 other master’s-level students or health professionals joined the Institute for Health Promotion Research’s first-ever Summer Institute of Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training on June 2-6, 2011, in San Antonio.

Èxito! encourages participants to pursue a doctoral degree and careers studying how disease—especially cancer—affects Latinos differently.

“Èxito! gave me the resources that I needed to pursue my goal—motivation and pathways,” Arevalo said. “I came in with doubts about my ability to have both. Now I’m confident that with hard work, passion and persistence I can achieve both things.”

Èxito! (English: Success!), led by the IHPR at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and funded by the National Cancer Institute, annually recruits master’s students or master’s-trained health professionals from Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and other states.

Participants take part in a five-day summer institute to provide motivation, skills and resources needed to apply for doctoral programs.

Read the first group of graduates here or visit the Èxito! website for more info.

Why Should Latinos Consider Joining a Cancer Clinical Trial?

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Watch Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, talk about why Latinos should consider participating in a cancer clinical trial.

The video is in Spanish:

Learn more about Latino cancer here.

You can also join Dr. Ramirez’ Redes En Acción network, a National Cancer Institute initiative to combat cancer among Latinos.

VIDEO: Telenovela Spins Plot Twists on Hispanic Obesity, Diabetes

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Skipping the perhaps familiar soap opera themes of betrayal and love spats, a telenovela from the Colorado Health Foundation spins plot twists and cliffhangers on Hispanics and obesity and diabetes.

The foundation’s first telenovela in 2009, “Encrucijada: Sin Salud No Hay Nada,” or “Crossroads: Without Health, There Is Nothing,” which focused on Latino healths issues and informed about health services provided by the state, was successful, drawing 35,000 households one night, Fox News Latino reports.

Taping on a sequel, “Encrucijada 2,” is expected to start filming this fall in Los Angeles.

In the mean time, learn more about the first telenovela here or below.

New Spanish Website Offers Cancer Info, Resources

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LLS

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has launched a new website with increased access to resources and materials in Spanish.

Free education materials in English and Spanish can be read and downloaded or ordered from the website. This includes the easy-to-read, bilingual resource called, Knowing All Your Treatment Options/Conozca todas sus opciones de tratamiento. This booklet guides patients to discuss all treatment options with their doctors and explains clinical trials and informed consent in basic language.

Also on the website is information about financial programs, links to LLS’ new and archived telephone/web education programs, LLS national and chapter support services and printable question guides about treatment and clinical trials that patients can take with them to the doctor.

You can find the new website at www.LLS.org/espanol.

IHPR’s Amelie Ramirez Adds New Leadership Roles

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Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez

Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez

Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has taken a pair of leadership roles that will further her efforts to study cancer and improve the health of residents in South Texas and beyond.

Dr. Ramirez joined the national advisory committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Healthy & Society Scholars Program, effective July 1.

She also was elected director-at-large by members of the American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO), which advocates for cancer prevention and control research.

“I’m very excited to take on these new positions because it will allow me to further my goal to increase not only the health of disadvantaged populations, but also to increase the pipeline of doctors and researchers dedicated to helping those populations,” said Dr. Ramirez, who also is associate director of health disparities at the Health Science Center’s Cancer Therapy & Research Center.

Read more about Dr. Ramirez and her new positions here. Dr. Ramirez’ IHPR is the team behind SaludToday.

New Spanish-Language Guides Inform Decisions about Heart Disease, Other Illnesses

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ischemic_heart_consumer_spanishA free, easy-to-read pamphlet that compares drugs for preventing heart attacks or strokes in people with stable coronary heart disease is one of six new Spanish-language publications from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) that help patients compare treatments for common illnesses.

The publication, Guía para pacientes que están en tratamiento de una cardiopatía coronaria estable (“ACE Inhibitors” and “ARBs” to Protect Your Heart?—A Guide for Patients Being Treated for Stable Coronary Heart Disease), summarizes the benefits and risks of medications called ACE Inhibitors (angiotensin-converting enzyme) and ARBs (angiotensin II receptor blockers). These medications help reduce blood pressure in patients who often take other heart-related medications such as aspirin, blood thinners, or cholesterol-lowering drugs.

“This new Spanish-language guide on heart medications is part of AHRQ’s ongoing effort to give Hispanics the knowledge they need to take a greater role in their health care,” said AHRQ Director Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy.

The other new Spanish-language guides that compare treatment options for common illnesses are:

  • Controle el dolor por una fractura de cadera (Managing Pain from a Broken Hip)
  • Opciones para tratar el desgarro de los músculos y tendones del hombro (Treatment Options for Rotator Cuff Tears)
  • La depresión después de una lesión cerebral (Depression after Brain Injury)
  • Conozca sobre la radioterapia en el cáncer de cabeza y cuello (Understanding Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer)
  • Hormona del crecimiento humano para los niños con fibrosis quística (Human Growth Hormone for Children with Cystic Fibrosis)

Find these and AHRQ’s other Spanish publications here. To order printed copies, e-mail the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse or call (800) 358-9295. For other AHRQ Spanish-language consumer tools, go here.

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