Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Muriel Lights' Candle Designs: Black Women Most At Risk For Stage 4 Breast Cancer...

Muriel Lights' Candle Designs: Black Women Most At Risk For Stage 4 Breast Cancer...: The National Cancer Institute release a study that state black women have been diagnosed with the highest rate of breast cancer triple nega...

Black Women Most At Risk For Stage 4 Breast Cancer

The National Cancer Institute release a study that state black women have been diagnosed with the highest rate of breast cancer triple negative " stage four.

This , new "nationwide" data may help doctors identify which patients are most at risk ... and which treatments are best. For the first time, researchers examined the four major types of breast cancer, "including" triple negative … then determined how often ethnicity and race, poverty levels, age, and other factors played a role.

“This is just such a complex disease. We used to think of breast cancer as you were before or after menopause. It really is more about the biology of the cancer,” says Dr. Joanne Mortimer of City of Hope.

The research found non-Hispanic blacks had a higher rate of triple negative breast cancer and late stage disease than other racial groups.

“What kind of treatments are involved?”

“So, usually, chemotherapy is a major component of it.”

The study also looked at other cancers and found lung, colorectal, and prostate cancers are down, but incidence of thyroid, kidney, and liver cancers are up for both men and women.

These findings newly released may be a surprise to others, but I find this news that should not surprise anyone in our community that ethnicity and race, poverty levels, age, and other factors played a role. When you have several family members who have died from cancer late stage

Non Hispanic, Black women
Healthcare finding out diagnosis late stage/Health Education knowing how to examine breast /Health prevention getting annual cancer check up black women are usually more obese and have more breast density
Factors such as heredity/ reconstructive choices

tTriple negative is one of four subtypes of breast cancer, and a new report emphasizes how important it is for doctors to identify the risks and treatments for each. For example, triple negative cancers do not respond to certain hormonal therapies that can help other women.

The nationwide data -- published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and co-authored by the American Association of Central Cancer Registries, the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health -- may help doctors identify which patients are at most risk for each type of breast cancer and which treatments may be most effective.

The data also also confirmed the previous finding that non-Hispanic white women are more likely to develop HR+/HER2- breast cancer, the least aggressive subtype, than women of other races and ethnicities. The study found that rates of HR+/HER2- breast cancer increased with increasing levels of poverty for every racial and ethnic group.

References

http://www.ktvn.com/story/28653901/improved-breast-cancer-screening
ttp://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/staging#stage0

Monday, March 16, 2015

Muriel Lights' Candle Designs: Screening for Colorectal Cancer March 2015

Muriel Lights' Candle Designs: Screening for Colorectal Cancer March 2015: Add caption

Screening for Colorectal Cancer March 2015

Infographic titled Colorectal Cancer Screening: It’s the Right Choice. The text on the infographic is reproduced below.

Add caption

Muriel Lights' Candle Designs: March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Muriel Lights' Candle Designs: March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month: Among cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer (cancer of the colon or rectum) is the second leading cause of cancer d...

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Among cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer (cancer of the colon or rectum) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Every year, about 140,000 Americans are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and more than 50,000 people die from it. But this disease is highly preventable, by getting screened beginning at age 50

Things you should know

· Screening should be done between the ages 50 t0 75 regularly. Screening tests help prevent colorectal cancer by finding precancerous polyps (abnormal growths) so they can be removed. Screening also finds this cancer early, when treatment can be most effective.

· Be physically active.

· Maintain a healthy weight.

· Don’t drink too much alcohol.

· Don’t smoke.

Fast Facts

· Risk increases with age. More than 90% of colorectal cancers occur in people aged 50 and older.

· Precancerous polyps and colorectal cancer don’t always cause symptoms, especially at first. You could have polyps or colorectal cancer and not know it. That is why having a screening test is so important. If you have symptoms, they may include—

o Blood in or on the stool (bowel movement).

o Stomach pain, aches, or cramps that do not go away.

o Losing weight and you don’t know why.

These symptoms may be caused by something other than cancer. If you have any of them, see your doctor.

· Some people are at a higher risk than others for developing colorectal cancer. If you think you may be at high risk, talk to your doctor about when and how often to get tested.

· There are several screening test options. Talk with your doctor about which is right for you.

o Colonoscopy (every 10 years).

High-sensitivity fecal occult blood test (FOBT), stool test, or fecal immunochemical test (FIT) (every year).
Sigmoidoscopy (every 5 years, with FOBT every three years). Reference http//cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/resources/featurescoloroctalwareness/

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Celebrating Black Scientist & Inventors

Black Scientists & Inventors

Benjamin Banneker, Thomas Jennings, other exceptional scientists

by Ann Marie Imbornoni

Madame C.J. Walker

RelatSarah Breedlove Walker

(Madame C. J. Walker)
businesswoman, philanthropist
Born: 12/23/1867
Birthplace: Delta, La.

After a series of bereavements that left her orphaned at 6 and widowed at 20, she and her daughter A'Lelia moved to St. Louis to start over. She worked days as a washerwoman and went to night school before inventing (1905) a process for straightening the hair of African-Americans. Her process, combining her unique formula with brushes and heated combs, caught on, and with the money from her successful business she and her daughter moved to Denver. She married Charles J. Walker, and began promoting her product and process under the name of Madame C. J. Walker. She opened a permanent office in Pittsburgh in 1908, which her daughter ran, and in 1910 she formed Madame C. J. Walker Laboratories in Indianapolis, where she developed products and trained her beauticians, known as “Walker Agents.” The agents and the products were recognized in black communities throughout the U.S. and Caribbean for promoting the philosophy that cleanliness and loveliness could advance the plight of African-Americans. At her death, the multi-million dollar estate was left to various philanthropic organizations and to her daughter, whose philanthropic endeavors were key to funding the Harlem Renaissance.

Died: 5/25/1919

During slavery, most black slaves were denied formal education and in fact many laws were passed in the South prohibiting slave literacy in the aftermath of various slave rebellions. Even free blacks in the century before and after the Civil War were limited in their access to mainstream, quality education and vocational training.

This limited education and training meant that, for the most part, blacks were shut out of professional occupations and confined to working in industries deemed acceptable for them, such as domestic services, some manual trades, and agriculture. Nevertheless a small number of exceptionally talented blacks were able to obtain an education and, through their life's work, make significant contributions to American life.

Scientists

Two early African-American scientists, namely mathematician and astronomer Benjamin Banneker and agricultural chemist George Washington Carver, have become legendary for their intellect and ingenuity.

Born free in Maryland, Banneker was largely self-taught. He constructed the first striking clock to be made in America, helped survey the boundaries for Washington, D.C., and published an almanac

Born free in Maryland, Banneker was largely self-taught. He constructed the first striking clock to be made in America, helped survey the boundaries for Washington, D.C., and published an almanac, which he compiled based on his own astronomical observations and calculations.

Carver was born into slavery at the very end of the Civil War. He attended Iowa State College of Agriculture, where he received degrees in agricultural science. During his career as a researcher and educator, he advocated innovative agricultural methods and developed hundreds of applications for certain agricultural products, such as the peanut.

Although Banneker and Carver are probably the best-known black scientists, they were not the only ones. The achievements of a selection of pioneering black scientists, including Banneker and Carver, are outlined in the list of African American Scientists below.

Inventors

Unlike black slaves, free blacks prior to the Civil War were entitled to receive patents for their inventions. Though, again, because blacks lacked educational and vocational opportunities, few had the necessary skills or experience to develop their inventive ideas or patent them.

Despite these constraints, there were a number of successful black inventors whose inventions proved useful and important. Thomas Jennings, the first known African American to hold a patent, used the money he earned from his invention to fund abolitionist causes.

Some slaves, who were skilled craftsmen, did create devices or techniques that benefited their masters' enterprises. According to a decision by the federal government in 1858, though, neither the slave nor the slave owner could claim ownership rights to such an invention. In 1870, following the Civil War, the U.S. patent laws were revised so that anyone, regardless of race, could hold a patent. Consequently the number of patents issued to African Americans soared. Below is a list of some notable African-American inventors.

Reference

Muriel Lights' Candle Designs

MURIEL LIGHTS' CANDLE DESIGNS