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Valenzuela, Carlos A

Articles by Valenzuela, Carlos A

Apply Now: Èxito! Program Helps Latinos Seek Doctoral Degrees, Research Careers



Editor's Note: Apply by March 15 for the 2013 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Elie Benavidez, a master’s-degree student at The University of Texas at San Antonio, already is making strides to improve the lives of Latinos. She teaches elementary-school students and volunteers her time to increase local access to healthy food. Now Benavidez, inspired by her mother’s cancer battle, is considering seeking a doctoral degree and doing cancer research. That’s why she and 19 other master’s-level students or health professionals joined the Institute for Health Promotion Research’s second-annual Summer Institute of Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training on June 7-11, 2012, in San Antonio. Exito! encourages participants to pursue a doctoral ...

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Video: How You Can Change School Food for the Better



Parent advocates can use RuddRootsParents.org to learn how to improve the food in their children's schools. Watch this video on how it ...

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Infographic: School Food Matters



Check out this infographic on why school food ...

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Is Obesity Triggering Arthritis, or Vice-Verse, among Latinos?



Latinos, African Americans and women are disproportionately affected by both obesity and osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, which is characterized by the breakdown of cartilage that acts as a cushion at the ends of bones. On Sept. 18-19, 2012, Movement is Life will convene for its third annual National Caucus on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Health Disparities. At this year’s meeting, the cause and effect relationship between osteoarthritis and obesity will be at the forefront of discussions. “For patients with osteoarthritis, the friction produced when bones grind against one another causes chronic pain and stiffness. As a result, many limit their physical activity, which often leads to weight gain,” said Dr. Mary O'Connor of the Mayo Clinic Florida ...

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Video: Innovative Program Helps Children Who Face Severe Emotional, Mental Stressors



Children exposed to severe stressors like maternal depression, domestic violence, extreme poverty, or substance abuse, can suffer damage to their emotional development and mental health. Child FIRST, an innovative home-visit program in Connecticut, is designed to stabilize families, connect them with social services, and help develop and support nurturing, responsive caregivers. Watch this Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) video about the program, which features some Latino ...

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For U.S. Hispanics, Cancer Top Killer, Not Heart



Cancer is now the leading killer of Hispanics in the U.S., the latest sign it's beginning to displace heart disease as the nation's top cause of death, the Associated Press reports: The rest of the country may not be far behind, "probably in the next 10 years," said Rebecca Siegel of the American Cancer Society. She is the lead author of a study reporting the new findings. That may be a conservative estimate. Government health statisticians think cancer could overtake heart disease as the top U.S. killer as early as this year, or at least in the next two or three. For decades, heart disease has been the nation's leading cause of death. But cancer has been closing in on it. That's largely because of better heart disease treatments, including statin drugs that lower cholesterol. Why is ...

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Lymphoma/Leukemia Telephone & Web Education Program in Spanish



A free telephone/web education program available in English, Spanish or Portuguese is set for 1-2:30 p.m. EST on Sept. 13, 2012. The program, NHL (non-Hodgkin lymphoma) & CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) Diagnosis and Treatment Update, will feature speaker Dr. Christopher R. Flowers from The Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta. Participants will have the opportunity to ask Dr. Flowers a question during the program. This program is sponsored by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) in collaboration with Abrale and Alianza Latina and supported by a grant from Genentech and Biogen Idec. The continuing education portion is sponsored by LLS. To register, go ...

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Infographic: Updated Nutrition Standards for School Lunches



Check out these new nutrition standards for school lunches, and get tips, policy options, fact sheets, videos and other resources on back-to-school issues from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). And don't forget the upcoming Virtual Back to School Night at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13, hosted by the National PTA and Pew's Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods ...

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Latina Moms/Moms-to-Be, Sign Up for Free Bilingual Health Tips by Text (and Maybe Win Year’s Supply of Baby Products)



Those who sign up for the text4baby service, which sends bilingual health tips to mothers and expectant mothers, from Sept. 1-30, 2012, will be entered to win a year's supply of baby products. The contest coincides with National Infant Mortality Awareness Month in September and aims to demonstrate the importance of women’s health and connect more mothers to health information. Text4baby, which is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, is a free mobile service that sends critical health information to expectant and new moms timed to their pregnancy or baby’s development. Messages were developed by government and non-profit health experts like the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and cover nutrition, immunization, and birth ...

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