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Valenzuela, Carlos A

Articles by Valenzuela, Carlos A

#SaludTues Tweetchat 4/26/16: Lupus Disease: What Latinos Should Know



Lupus disease widely affects Latinas and other minorities in the U.S. Are you aware of the symptoms and causes? Join us for an hour-long conversation about this disease and how it affects Latinos. Let’s raise awareness! • WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Lupus Disease: What Latinos Should Know” • TIME/DATE: Noon CST (1 p.m. EST) Tuesday, April 26, 2016 • WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues • HOST: @SaludToday • CO-HOSTS: La Red Hispana (@LaRedHispana), SLE Lupus Foundation (@LupusNY), Lupus Research Institute (@LupusResearch) & Dr. Irene Blanco (@IreneBlancoMD). Be sure to use the hashtag #SaludTues to follow the conversation on Twitter! #SaludTues is a weekly Tweetchat about Latino health at 12p CST/1p ET every Tuesday and hosted by @SaludToday, the ...

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Latino Men: How Do Your Habits Impact Your Health?



Although Latinos account for nearly one-fourth all estimated new HIV diagnoses in the U.S, their participation and awareness of HIV testing is low. To improve HIV testing and prevention in the Latino community the University at Albany—School of Education has developed a new study that aims to determine the factors that impact HIV testing.   The three-year project aims to “determine the combinations of individual, sociocultural and community-level factors that must be targeted within the Latino gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men community to maximize HIV testing and prevention efforts.” Study leaders are recruiting Latino men to get insight into their habits. Participation includes three online surveys with gift card incentives for completing ...

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HHS Offers Health Insurance Tips



The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently offered resources on getting the most out of your healthcare coverage. Four essential tips can be utilized to successfully manage health insurance all year long. Pay your first month’s premium. You have to pay your premium each month to keep your health insurance benefits. Turn in your paperwork. All of your information must be submitted for your coverage to take effect. Update your personal and financial information. Make sure you take note of any “life changes” (change of income, change of household size, residence, etc.) as soon as they happen. File your income taxes. If you had a tax credit in 2015, you must file your 2015 federal income tax return. Open enrollment for 2017 health plans begins on ...

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Study: Smokers Earn Less and Have a Harder Time Finding Jobs



Smoking has been associated with cancers and other chronic diseases, but a new study from Stanford School Medicine now links smoking with earning less and having a harder time finding a job, Science Daily reports. For the study, researchers studied job hunters in the San Francisco area between 2013 and 2015. About half were smokers and half were not. After a year, twice as many nonsmokers had jobs. “Among smokers re-employed at one year, on average, their hourly income was $5 less relative to reemployed nonsmokers: $15.10 versus $20.27, a 25.5 percent difference," said Judith Prochaska of Stanford University and colleagues wrote in their report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association's JAMA Internal Medicine. According to researchers, the average cost ...

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CDC: Flu Vaccine 60% Effective This Year


HPV vaccine shot

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests this year’s flu vaccine is one of the most effective in years, Pulse Headlines reports. According to the CDC, those “who got the vaccine were 59% less likely to get sick with influenza than people who didn’t.” "This means that getting a flu vaccine this season reduced the risk of having to go to the doctor because of flu by nearly 60 percent," said the CDC's Dr. Joseph Bresee. "It's good news and underscores the importance and the benefit of both annual and ongoing vaccination efforts this season." The CDC recommends annual vaccination for everyone 6 months or ...

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Sesame Street Teaches Kids About Zika



New 30-second videos produced by Sesame Street and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) aim to teach kids how to avoid contracting the virus, NBC Health reports. The videos uses the famous Sesame Street characters to explain to children the importance of covering and sealing all water containers to avoid mosquitos from breeding. It also reminds children to wear long sleeves whenever possible. Watch video one and video two! Learn more about Zika and summer ...

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Social Media May Help Increase HIV Testing Rates



According to results of a U.S. trial, utilizing social media sites widely used by gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals to promote HIV testing can increase testing rates, AidsMap reports. For the trial, health educators created public profiles and posted information in two forums without intervention (Craigslist and Gay.com) and used intervention in two online communities (Adam4Adam and BlackGayChat). “Our results are surprising because we were not sure that men and transgender persons would readily accept HIV testing information within the social media and social networking sites that some of them use," said lead author Scott D. Rhodes of Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. "But we learned that after trust was built, they were eager for ...

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Study: Memories Lost Can Be Recovered



Patients with early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, a condition that affects Latinos disproportionately, are often incapable of remembering recent experiences or events. However, a new study by MIT indicates that Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t destroy memories; instead “they just can’t be easily accessed,” Univision reports. For the study, researchers stimulated specific areas of the brain of lab rats with blue light and found that they were able to access memories they previously couldn’t remember. “The important point is, this a proof of concept," said Susumu Tonegawa, lead study author. "That is, even if a memory seems to be gone, it is still there. It’s a matter of how to retrieve it.” According to the authors, the results of their study show that there’s ...

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#Every66Seconds an American Develops Alzheimer’s Disease



Every 66 seconds an American develops Alzheimer’s disease and data show that Latinos are 1.5 times more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. To raise awareness and get Americans to learn more about the disease the Alzheimer’s Association has launched the #Every66Seconds campaign. Learn more about the campaign ...

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