THE POLITICS OF BREAST FEEDING
The Medicine Man
Michael A. LeNoir MD.

Hypocrisy has taken a major step forward in the controversy that is emerging over the advocacy of Michelle Obama for breast-feeding and providing breast pumps as a benefit for breast-feeding mothers. Wow..if there was any health issue in America that I thought would unite us…Democrats and Republicans..Caucasians, African Americans, Latinos, Asian, Indians and others….it is breast feeding. But, I was wrong.

This week, the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services issued the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. My only question! What took them so long? The recommendations include eating more fruits and vegetables, watching portion sizes, go low with the carbohydrates, high with the fat free foods and cut back on the salt. The same advice has been around for a long time.

The impact of obesity on the health of African Americans is devastating. Hypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer have been linked in one way or another to, too much of the wrong food There’s no question, that obesity is increasing in this country. I see more and more children in my office who are significantly overweight.

• Medical Information

Thursday, January 27, 2011
Related MedlinePlus Pages
African-American Health
Genes and Gene Therapy
Heart Diseases
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some black Americans have a gene that protects them from heart disease, researchers said on Thursday.

About a quarter of African-Americans carry the protective gene, and if they are lucky enough to have two copies, one from each parent, their risk of heart disease is 10 times lower that of other blacks.

• Health Disparities
• Heart Aches

Broad Racial Disparities Seen in Americans’ Ills
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: January 13, 2011

White people in the United States die of drug overdoses more often than other ethnic groups. Black people are hit proportionately harder by AIDS, strokes and heart disease. And American Indians are more likely to die in car crashes.

To shed more light on the ills of America’s poor — and occasionally its rich — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released its first report detailing racial disparities in a broad array of health problems.

• Health Disparities
• Health Disparities

On January 12, 2011 in a National Health Statistics Report, the US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on the prevalence of asthma from 2005 at 2009 (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs). This data suggests that despite improvements in the evaluation and management of this disease, outcomes are disappointing. This is especially true, for African Americans. The data was gathered from a number of reputable national institutions and organizations.

• Health Politics
• Asthma

January 10, 2011 - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a federal proposal to reduce the recommended level of fluoride in drinking water to prevent a discoloration and pitting of the teeth known as dental fluorosis. Why has it taken so long?

• Dental Health

Bowl Games and Modern Slavery:

A few nights ago, I watched the Sugar Bowl with Ohio State and Arkansas. Five Ohio State players who have been suspended for the first five games of next year’s season were allowed to play in a bowl game. That they were allowed to play at all represents to me one of the most blatant forms of modern slavery that exists in America today.

• Health Politics
• Health Disparities

According to Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D of the Mayo Clinic, diet DOES play a role:

The risk of an enlarged prostate, also called benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH, increases about 4 percent a year after age 55. By age 60, half of men will have BPH. That number jumps to 95 percent by age 85. And, yes, diet does seem to be related.

A recent article in a medical journal looked at the effects of diet and supplements on prostate health. The article found that the following lifestyle factors were associated with a lower risk of BPH:

High level of physical activity and no "belly fat"
A low-fat diet
Five or more servings of vegetables a day
Two glasses of alcohol a day

• Medical Information

Almonds are the way to go:

Eating almonds could help prevent diabetes and heart disease, according to a study.

Researchers found that incorporating the nuts into our diets may help treat type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90 to 95 per cent of all cases.

As well as combating the condition, linked to obesity and physical inactivity, it could tackle cardiovascular disease, said the report published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

• Diabetes
• Diabetes