By Brenda Garza
Austin, Texas, Cancer Survivor I moved to Detroit, Michigan, newlywed to an engineer, in 2003. Because we moved during December we didn’t do many outdoor activities or exercise something that we used to do in Mexico all the time. Gabe and I met at a spinning class and we became boyfriend and girlfriend after few dates. We both loved the outdoors. We were very excited about new opportunity and challenge to live in a new country but we definitely weren’t ready for such long, harsh winters in North America. But once spring and summer began, we were happy doing outdoor activities like cycling. Michigan has beautiful state parks, with water, hills, hiking trails, biking trails and green vegetation, something we didn’t have in Mexico. We soon learned to ...
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez and her team at Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio have won three Spring 2019 Digital Health Awards for promoting Latino health equity! Digital Health Awards are given each spring and fall to recognize the world’s best digital health resources. The awards are given by the Health Information Resource Center. The Center is a national clearinghouse for professionals who work in consumer health fields.
The Three Big Awards Bronze, Spring 2019 Digital Health Award, Social Media—Twitter, @SaludAmerica Twitter by Salud America!
Merit, Spring 2019 Digital Health Award, Web-Based Digital Health—Websites, Salud America! Latino Health Equity Website
Merit, Spring 2019 Digital Health Award, Digital Health Media—Blog Posts, Salud Hero Story: ...
Rules on the age for smoking cigarettes are tightening up across the nation. Texas (19.6% Latino) legislators have taken a significant step in this issue — passing legislation that will raise the legal minimum age to purchase cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and other goods to 21. Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 21 into law earlier this month and will go into effect on September 1. Government officials and medical professionals hope passing tobacco 21 bills across the country—and other e-cig bans—will make significant shifts in addiction rates. “Any teen using any type of tobacco product or e-cigarette raises their harm from zero to a level that is unacceptable,” Jeffrey Hardesty, research program manager at Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Global Tobacco ...
Under the Trump Administration, U.S. health leaders are proposing to weaken the Affordable Care Act’s ban against discrimination in healthcare. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revision to ACA would erase references to protections against discrimination by health care programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability. The revision, according to Health Affairs, would remove: Certain definitions (such as terms like “on the basis of sex”);
Nondiscrimination protections based on sex, gender identity, and association;
Language-access requirements (such as translated taglines on notices and communications to consumers), affecting people with limited English proficiency
Requirements for a compliance coordinator and ...
A skin disease is harming the health of children — and causing them to fall behind in their education. Latino and black children are more likely than white children to miss school due to eczema, according to researchers are the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. "Most people don't realize the serious impact eczema can have on a person's life, and our research shows minorities may be disproportionately affected," said the study's senior author Dr. Junko Takeshita, assistant professor of dermatology and epidemiology, according to Penn Medicine News.
What is Eczema?
Eczema, or atopic dermatitis (AD), is a common inflammatory disease that causes red and itchy skin. It affects 30 million Americans, including up to 20% of all children, according to the ...
Life after cancer is not easy. Survivors face many concerns. Will my cancer come back? Have my family and work relationships changed? What do I eat and how should I get exercise? What happens if I were to die? Healthcare providers rarely focus on all these areas, together. Dr. Daniel Carlos Hughes and his research team are out to change that. Hughes, a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, the team behind Salud America!, is leading a new pilot intervention that takes a holistic approach to improve cancer survivors' quality of life, thanks to $50,000 in funding from the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio and SA Cancer Council Circle of Hope. Hughes and his team have designed a holistic intervention to optimize ...
By Kimberly Hernandez
San Antonio Cancer Survivor One night exactly one month after my 31st birthday, I was taking off my bra getting ready for bed and felt a lump. I told my ex wife about it and told me “don’t worry, it’s probably fatty tissue”. I knew it was something more and could tell it was different. We know our bodies. The next day I called my family doctor and made an appointment. When I went in, the physician assistant felt the lump. She asked the usual questions about my age and family history. There is no family history of cancer in my family and she did not think much of it but if I wanted to pursue further testing she would set it up. We proceeded to mammograms, sonograms, x-rays, scans and biopsies within a week’s time. A lot of the time entering the ...
The rate of uninsured childbearing-age women in Texas (39.4% Latino) is more than double the national average. Over 25% of women ages 18 to 44 are not covered, according to a new study from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. The national average? 12.3%. This disparity reflects the state's Medicaid expansion policy choices, Joan Alker, the center’s executive director, told KUT News. "Low-wage workers don’t have offers of affordable health insurance in a state like Texas, perhaps more so than other states," Alker said.
Insurance Access and Overall Health
Researchers set out to discover whether or not state Medicaid expansions through the Affordable Care Act would impact the rate of insured women. Their results illustrate a clear message: Where ...
Cancer, mortality rates continue to decline for men, women, and children, according to an annual report released by the National Institutes of Health. Great news, right? Not so fast. In a special section of the report, researchers found that cancer development and mortality rates increased between 2011 and 2015 for women ages 20 to 49 — whereas men, who historically have higher rates than women, did not experience such gains. The data also shows continuing disparities among Latinos and other racial/ethnic populations. “We are encouraged by the fact that this year’s report continues to show declining cancer mortality for men, women, and children, as well as other indicators of progress,” said Betsy A. Kohler, executive director of North American Association of ...
