Why Oral Cancer Is a Silent Killer



SaludToday Guest Blogger Jefferson Dental Clinics What disease kills as many people a year as handgun violence? Oral cancer. This silent killer is responsible for 10,000 deaths a year, and half of those diagnosed with oral cancer this year will be not alive in five years—and Latino men are among the most at-risk groups. Why the grim prognosis? Oral cancer is often detected late, because many skip routine dental exams. “The unfortunate reality of oral cancer is that the death rate is particularly high, not because it is hard to diagnose, but because often the cancer is discovered late in its development,” said Leslie Renee Townsend, DDS, regional dental director for Jefferson Dental Clinics. “Screenings for early detection are very important,” Townsend said. “Too often ...

Read More

#SaludTues Tweetchat 4/19/16: How to Solve Latino Health Disparities



April is National Minority Health Month and we’re excited to tweet about ways to prevent the greatest health disparities affecting Latinos across the U.S. today! The rising Latino population is creating an urgent need to tackle disparities in obesity, diabetes, and cancer. The estimated cost of health inequities is over $309 billion! Time to take action! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Taking Action to Address Latino Health Disparities TIME/DATE: Noon CST (1 p.m. EST) Tuesday, April 19, 2016 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludToday CO-HOSTS: The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (@NIMHD), Kaiser Permanente (@kpvivabien) & 100 Million Healthier Lives (@100MLives) We’ll open the floor to your comments, stories and ...

Read More

Latino Men: How Do Your Habits Impact Your Health?


Salud America

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 ...

Read More

Hospitals Establish Latino Health Outreach Programs



According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Latinos have different degrees of health risks, including a 50% higher death rate from diabetes, a 23% more chance of obesity, a 24% chance poorly controlled high blood pressure, and Latinos are less likely to be screened for health issues. To meet the unique health care needs of the Latino population in northeast New Jersey, the Clara Maass Medical Center and the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center have each launched programs aimed at improving Latino health. Clara Maass Medical Center has established the Center for Excellence for Latino Health, while Newark Beth Israel Medical Center has created the Hispanic Health Outreach Program. The Hispanic Health Outreach Program was designed to raise awareness about the health ...

Read More

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 ...

Read More

More Latino Children in Texas Go Uninsured



A new study published by the International Journal for Equity in Health reported on the still-existing gap among the children of Latino parents. According to the findings, reported by The Washington Post, nearly 50% reported not realizing they were eligible for free or low-cost health insurance. This often forced families to make the decision of paying for health care or going without. The study was conducted in Dallas, Tex. (41.7% Latino population) from 2011-2014. During the study, 49% of the parents were unaware that their children were eligible for Medicaid or CHIP; 57% of these were Latino parents. “It tells us that this system is not designed to keep kids on insurance,” says Glenn Flores, a health-policy researcher and pediatrician at Medical Research Institute and the ...

Read More

Las redes sociales pueden ayudar a incrementar concientización sobre la prueba del VIH


Latina-Hispanic-women-healthcare-lgbtq-spanish

De acuerdo con los resultados de un estudio en EE.UU., la utilización de redes sociales ampliamente utilizadas por homosexuales, bisexuales y personas transgénero para promover la prueba del VIH puede incrementar el numero de pruebas, AIDSmap informa. Para el estudio, promotores de salud crearon perfiles públicos y publicaron información en dos foros sin intervención (Craigslist y Gay.com) e utilizaron intervención en dos comunidades en línea (Adam4Adam y BlackGayChat). "Nuestros resultados son sorprendentes porque no estábamos seguros de que los hombres y las personas transgénero aceptarían fácilmente información de las pruebas del VIH dentro de las redes sociales y que ellos utilizan", dijo el autor principal Scott D. Rodas de Wake Forest School of Medicine de ...

Read More

Smokers Earn Less and Have a Harder Time Finding Jobs, Study Finds



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. According to the study, 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 ...

Read More

Fewer Latinos Are Seeking Medical Attention in Nebraska



More and more people are making strides in obtaining health care coverage, partly in response to the passing of the Affordable Care Act. For Latinos, they are still the largest uninsured population in the country. All across the country, Latinos are the fastest growing population. This is no exception in the state of Nebraska. However, Latinos in Nebraska lag far behind in both medical care and health insurance coverage. Over 35% of all Latino adults between the ages of 18 and 64 do not have a personal physician. This has been shown to lead to a host of potentially serious medical conditions. “Lack of medical care. Latinos do not have access to health or mental health services, they don't have a medical home or primary care facility,” said Dr. Aida Maisonet Giachello, research ...

Read More