Journal of the American Heart Association Report

Study Highlights:

* Children from socially and economically disadvantaged families and neighborhoods appear more likely to have thicker carotid artery walls, which in middle-aged and older adults has been associated with higher risk for heart attack and stroke.

* The socioeconomic position of a child’s family was more strongly associated with thicker carotid artery walls than living in a disadvantaged neighborhood.

Dallas, TX (BlackNews.com) — Children from socially and economically disadvantaged families and neighborhoods appear more likely to have thicker carotid artery walls, which in adults may indicate higher risk for heart attack and stroke in later life, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

The carotid arteries supply blood to the brain. An ultrasound test of the arteries’ inner layers, the intima and media, may detect the early development of atherosclerosis, or “hardening of the arteries,” which underlies the development of cardiovascular disease later in life.

“We know that socioeconomically disadvantaged people are at greater risk of health problems, including more cardiovascular disease earlier in life, and we also know that atherosclerosis is a life-long process that starts in childhood,” said David P. Burgner, Ph.D., senior study author and senior research fellow at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. “For this study, we wanted to determine if there is an association between socioeconomic position and the thickness of the carotid artery wall in mid-childhood.”

Researchers analyzed both family and neighborhood socioeconomic position data from 1,477 Australian families. Socioeconomic measures included income, education and the occupation of parents, as well as the relative socioeconomic status of the immediate neighborhood. Between the ages of 11 and 12, the children’s right carotid artery was imaged and maximum carotid intima-media thickness measured.

The study found:

* Both family and neighborhood socioeconomic position were associated with carotid artery inner layer thickness, but the family association was stronger.

* Children whose family socioeconomic position was in the bottom fourth (most disadvantaged) at age 11-12 were 46 percent more likely to have thicker carotid measurement, i.e. above the 75th percentile.

* Socioeconomic position as early as age 2-3 years was linked to thickness in carotid artery measurements at age 11-12.

Researchers said that when they considered traditional cardiovascular risk factors, including body weight, blood pressure and exposure to second-hand smoke, their findings did not change.

“It is surprising to see that these traditional risk factors do not appear responsible for our findings,” said Richard S. Liu, M.B.B.S., lead author, resident medical officer and Ph.D. student at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. “There’s a suggestion that there may be additional factors driving this association.”

Based on their other research studies, the authors propose that infection and inflammation may be among the additional underlying factors. Infection, which leads to inflammation, is more common among those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, they noted.

“This doesn’t mean that body weight and blood pressure aren’t important — they are — but there appear to be additional factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease risk beyond the traditional factors,” Burgner said. “So, there may be multiple opportunities for early intervention to prevent cardiovascular disease.”

The authors wrote that, given the link between socioeconomic position in infancy and carotid artery measurements at mid-childhood, it may be that cardiovascular disease risk begins before a baby is born. “Reducing social inequality and poverty before birth, as well as in early childhood, is likely to have a significant impact on later cardiovascular disease,” Liu said.

“Every child needs and deserves the opportunity to grow up healthy,” said Clyde Yancy, M.D., American Heart Association past president and chief of cardiology at Northwestern University in Chicago. “Fortunately, we have the tools to improve heart health across the lifespan by ensuring every child has healthy foods to eat and safe places to be active. Community leaders need to focus on giving kids a healthy start from birth, healthy schools as they grow up, and healthy communities for families to thrive.”

Because this is an observational study, a cause-and-effect association between socioeconomic position and carotid IMT cannot be proved. It is also not yet known whether thicker carotid arteries in mid-childhood are linked to cardiovascular risk in adulthood. All study participants were Australian, which may limit application of findings to other populations.

Other co-authors are Fiona K Mensah, Ph.D.; John Carlin, Ph.D.; Ben Edwards, Ph.D.; Sarath Ranganathan, Ph.D.; Michael Cheung, M.D.; Terence Dwyer, M.D.; Richard Saffery, Ph.D.; Costan G. Magnussen, Ph.D.; Markus Juonala, Ph.D. and Melissa Wake, M.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, The University of Melbourne, National Heart Foundation of Australia, Financial Markets Foundation for Children, and Victorian Deaf Education Institute.

Additional Resources:

* After Aug. 9, view the manuscript link online.
* Atherosclerosis
* Social Determinants of Risk and Outcomes for Cardiovascular Disease
* EmPoweredtoServe.org
* Blacks in all socioeconomic groups have poorer outcomes after heart attack
* AHA statement on social determinants of health
* www.voicesforhealthykids.org/everychildneeds
* Follow AHA/ASA news on Twitter @HeartNews
* For updates and new science from JAHA, follow @JAHA_AHA

Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association’s policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations and health insurance providers are available at www.heart.org/corporatefunding.

About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – the two leading causes of death in the world. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit www.heart.org or call any of our offices around the country. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact Information: David P. Burgner, Ph.D., and Richard S. Liu, M.B.B.S, may be reached by contacting Inga Feitsma, communications manager, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, 011-03-9936 6336 (office) or 0408 657 741 (mobile); inga.feitsma@mcri.edu.au. (Please do not publish contact information.)

Campaign designed to engage men to join fight to protect women’s reproductive rights, calling out anti-choice politicians and policies

CHICAGO, IL – On August 9, the Illinois-based pro-choice advocacy organizations Personal PAC and Men4Choice have partnered to launch “CallBullshit” or “CallBS,” a first-of-its-kind campaign that employs provocative, creative tactics to empower men to join the fight to advance women’s reproductive health rights.

The campaign and website callbs.org employ creative content to depict an alternate reality in which male reproductive health is under attack, posing the question: “Men don’t have to put up with this BS – why should women?”

Three out of four Illinois men believe that abortion should remain legal and a private matter between a woman and her doctor, according to an April 2017 poll conducted by Public Policy Polling. But that figure has not always translated into grassroots action.

“We built this campaign to engage directly with the 75 percent of Illinois men who support women’s reproductive health access,” said Terry Cosgrove, President and CEO of Personal PAC. “We hope this campaign sparks men to take action and hold our elected officials accountable, creating a bigger wave of support for women’s reproductive rights here in Illinois, across the Midwest and even nationwide.”

In addition to social media engagement strategies, the campaign is organizing men to attend phone banks, canvass for women’s health issues and help raise funds for pro-choice candidates.

“When we talked to men here in Illinois about the challenges women face when they seek reproductive health care, their reaction was, ‘That’s BS,’” said Oren Jacobson, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Men4Choice. “Our campaign strives to build upon that disgust and the disbelief many man share around these unfair polices and scare tactics that rob women of their bodily autonomy and access to abortion.”

The CallBS campaign launches as the General Assembly prepares to send House Bill 40 (HB40) to Governor Rauner’s desk. HB40 would ensure that abortion remains legal in Illinois even if the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade. The bill also would ensure that Medicaid and state employees’ health insurance policies provide coverage for abortion care.

Each year, thousands of women travel to Illinois to access safe reproductive health care unavailable in their home state. Even so, 92 percent of Illinois counties do not have abortion providers.

Launched in 1989, Personal PAC is a non-partisan political action committee dedicated to protecting and advancing reproductive rights for all women by recruiting, electing and holding accountable pro-choice candidates to state and local office in Illinois. Men4Choice is a political action committee created in 2015 to create an entry point where men can get engaged, get educated and take action to support women in the fight to protect reproductive health rights.

Death on the table – rooted in cultural imperialism
By Akbar Muhammad

Nationwide (BlackNew.com) – This article is personal for me. I received a call from my daughter informing me that my 27-year-old niece, Tina, died in the Dominican Republic having surgery to change her physical appearance. She lost her life trying to achieve the appearance of a smaller woman in what is now known and marketed as the Brazilian Butt. Unfortunately, she agreed to have three surgeries including breast implants and a nice little word they call a tummy-tuck (liposuction).

Many people get these procedures done because of low self-esteem and poor body-image. However, for black and brown people there is a driving factor that I call cultural imperialism where a foreign culture imposes its standards on another people and culture.

A new report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reveals that Americans spent $16 billion – more than ever before – on cosmetic plastic surgery and minimally-invasive procedures in 2016. The truth is some of it like the liposuction can be achieved with more disciplined dietary habits and exercise.

Many of our young men and women want a quick fix by going under the scalpel (knife) to surgically alter features inherited from their parents. They gamble with their life.

Much of this is rooted in the lack of self-knowledge, self-love and accepting how God has made and validated them.

The late Barry White sang it in “Just the Way You Are” where he said “Don’t go changing, trying to please me… Don’t go trying some new fashion… I love you just the way you are.” Whether Barry White was thinking about what we are doing to ourselves, one would never know; but the lyrics appropriately fits what is going on now.

People from all walks of life suffer with this problem.

Celebrities like professional baseball player Sammy Sosa, who is from the Dominican Republic was not happy with his dark skin complexion and medically lightened his skin tone.

It’s a search for validation in a world that has redefined, corrupted and then marketed standards of beauty and cultural expression. But the physical alterations in hope for love, acceptance and validation is shallow and temporary.

Skin whitening products are widely sold in Africa and the Caribbean. A recent Washington Times article said statistics from the World Health Organization say, “roughly 75 % of Nigerian women, 27 % of Senegalese women and 33 % of South African women regularly use skin-lightening products.” The article said, over half of all cosmetic products sold in India are skin-lightening products. This is what I call Cultural Imperialism.

I say to young women and some men, don’t gamble with your life thinking that the change will make you more than what you are.

Some will reject what I am writing about. My niece was a beautiful young lady with a 9-year-old son. If my writing on this will save one life, then it is worth it.

I was asked to speak at her funeral service and Allah (God) willing, I will read this article and hope it will discourage another young lady from going abroad to change her appearance thinking it will make life better.

It is better that you love yourself and live to love and raise your children in self-love, and not try remaking your body to attract a man or a woman or love outside of you.

Akbar Muhammad may be reached at: aakbar314@yahoo.com

Photo Caption: Tina, niece of Akbar Muhammad

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed more than 40 deaths in 2017 due to a powerful, new opioid.

The office has confirmed that from January through April 8, 44 deaths were attributed to acrylfentanyl, a new fentanyl analog whose potency is still being studied.

The data for 2017 is not a real time number, as toxicology testing can take several weeks.

In 2016, seven deaths were attributed to acrylfentanyl.

The Medical Examiner’s Office has seen a marked increase in deaths from fentanyl and fentanyl analogs since 2015.  The office has determined its recent findings require notice to the general public and to first responders.

“Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues are very powerful drugs that are likely to be lethal,” said Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, Cook County’s Chief Medical Examiner. “Just one dose can easily stop a person from breathing, causing immediate death.”

“These high-potency opioids and opioid analogs are thousands of times stronger than street opioids like heroin and are far more likely to cause death,” said Dr. Steve Aks, emergency medicine physician and toxicologist at the Cook County Health & Hospitals System’s Stroger Hospital.

“In many cases, one dose of naloxone, the heroin antidote, will revive a person who has overdosed on heroin. But we are seeing people in our emergency department who need increased doses of naloxone – in some cases as many as four doses – for the patient to be stabilized after ingesting fentanyl, or a heroin/fentanyl combination. The EMS and emergency medicine community needs to be aware of the potential need for additional naloxone in such cases.”

In 2016, a total of 1,091 people in Cook County died, at least in part, because of an opiate-related overdose. In 2015, 649 people in Cook County died, at least in part, because of an opiate-related overdose.

Of the opiate-related overdoses in 2016, 562 people died, at least in part, after using fentanyl or fentanyl analogs, which are illicit versions of fentanyl, a powerful drug used by physicians to treat severe pain.

The most common fentanyl analogs in Cook County include furanyl fentanyl and a precursor/metabolite of fentanyl called despropionyl fentanyl or 4-ANPP. Toxicology tests show decedents have used fentanyl and analogs alone, as well as with heroin and with other drugs such as cocaine.

Secretary of State Jesse White’s legislation that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to register for the state’s First Person Consent Organ/Tissue Donor Registry when they receive their driver’s license or identification card passed the Illinois Senate.

SB Bill 868, sponsored by state Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) passed the Senate 56 to zero.  It now goes to the House for consideration.

“Our goal is always to save lives,” White said. “Thousands of Illinoisans are waiting for an organ. Many of those who wait are someone’s mother, father, daughter or son. This legislation, which the vast majority of other states have implemented, is an important step in reducing the number of those on the waiting list.”

The legislation amends the Illinois Anatomical Gift Act allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to join the First Person Consent Organ/Tissue Donor Registry.  Under current law, an individual must be at least 18 years old to join the registry. Those who join the registry will receive a letter from the Secretary of State’s office thanking them for joining. White encourages 16- and 17-year-olds to use this letter as a basis for discussing their decision with their parents.

By joining the First Person Consent Organ/Tissue Donor Registry, 16- and 17-year-olds will be giving consent to donate their organs and tissue at the time of their death, with a single limitation. The procurement organizations, Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Network and Mid-America Transplant, must make a reasonable effort to contact a parent or guardian to ensure that they approve of the donation. The parent or guardian will have the opportunity to overturn the child’s decision. Once the 16- or 17-year-old turns 18, his/her decision would be considered legally binding without limitation.

There are 47 states that have enacted this legislation including Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, New York, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

In 2016, 121,553 16-year-olds and 132,852 17-year-olds were issued driver’s licenses as well as 41,250 16-year-olds and 54,362 17-year-olds were issued identification cards.

Approximately 4,700 people are on the waiting list and about 300 people die each year waiting for an organ transplant. One person can improve the quality of life for up to 25 people. Currently, 6.1 million Illinoisans are registered with the state’s registry.

Illinoisans can register with the Secretary of State’s Organ/Tissue Donor Registry at LifeGoesOn.com, by calling 1-800-210-2106 or visiting their local Driver Services facility.

Similar legislation, House Bill 1805, sponsored by state Rep. Deb Conroy (D-Villa Park), passed in the House of Representatives earlier in the legislative session. Both bills are now pending in the House and Senate pending approval.

Company voluntary recalls products

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter Company, headquartered in Illinois, is voluntarily recalling its SoyNut Butter products after 12 cases of E. coli O157 in five states were preliminarily linked to the products.  There are no cases reported in Illinois.  Product testing is currently underway.  SoyNut Butter is a nut-free substitute for peanut butter.

“Some infections of E. coli are mild, but others can be severe or even life-threatening, especially for young children,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Nirav D. Shah, M.D., J.D.  “If you have recently purchased soy nut butter, please check the label for the brand and throw it out if it is part of this recall.”

IDPH recommends consumers do not eat any variety or size of I.M. Healthy brand SoyNut Butter or granola coated with SoyNut Butter produced by SoyNut Butter Company.  Child care centers, schools, and other institutions should not serve I.M. Healthy brand SoyNut Butter or granola coated with SoyNut Butter.  Multiple varieties and sizes of I.M. Healthy brand SoyNut Butter and granola coated with SoyNut Butter are sold nationwide in stores, online, and to institutions.

Symptoms vary but often include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting.  People typically develop symptoms in 3-4 days after ingesting the affected product, but it could be as short as one day or as long as 10.  Most people get better within 5-7 days.  Contact your healthcare provider if you have diarrhea that lasts for more than three days, or is accompanied by high fever, blood in the stool, or so much vomiting that you cannot keep liquids down and you pass very little urine.  People who have E. coli O157-like symptoms should see a health care provide and not take antibiotics or antidiarrheal medications as they could increase the risk of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).

You can become infected with E. coli O157 by eating contaminated food or drinks, or through contact with feces of an infected person.
To avoid E.coli:

• Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water after using the bathroom.
• Cook meats thoroughly and use a thermometer to indicate “doneness.”
• Prevent cross contamination in food preparation areas by thoroughly washing hands, counters, cutting boards, and utensils after they touch raw meat.

For more information, log on to https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2017/O157H7-03-17/index.html

CHICAGO, IL – Illinois State Rep. Juliana Stratton, D-Chicago, is opposing a new Rauner Administration proposal that will reduce the health benefits for 40,000 elderly residents by causing them to change to a new, untested program, remove criminal background check requirements for caregivers and increase administrative bloat.

“Many low-income seniors live in my district, and ensuring they have access to high quality health care services that do not make them go bankrupt is a major part of my promise of social and economic justice,” said Stratton. “That is why reading proposals that cut the health care programs low-income seniors benefit from is sickening.”

Gov. Rauner’s Department on Aging released a proposal recently to remove 40,000 seniors from the state’s Community Care Program and place them in a new program called the Community Reinvestment Program (CRP). Since CRP lacks the standards critical to ensure senior health outcomes and financial security, senior groups expressing concern include AARP and the Illinois Association of Community Care Program Homecare Providers.

The administration’s draft rules for CRP also remove regulations requiring caregivers to undergo criminal background checks. Under the Community Care Program, companies must screen caretakers to ensure they do not have a history of engaging in fraud, and that all employees in contact with seniors do not have criminal or sexual convictions.

“The Department on Aging’s proposed Community Reinvestment Program is a cost cutting, political tactic at the expense of over 40,000 of Illinois most vulnerable senior citizens, and their loved ones,” said Ryan Gruenenfelder, AARP Illinois Director of Advocacy. “The proposed program hinges on service availability by geographic regions, on the continuation of budget appropriations, and the sole authority of the Department to amend eligibility standards with zero legislative oversight. The proposed program is a catalyst for seniors to face premature nursing home placement. Our state can implement common sense, compassionate and cost-effective reforms to maintain our state’s current Community Care Program without jeopardizing the lives and well-being of thousands of Illinois’ greatest generation.”

Rauner’s Department on Aging is using an administrative rulemaking process to advance their plan without receiving input or approval from the Legislature. Stratton is urging residents to call the Department on Aging at 800-252-8966 and speak out against the proposed cuts to the Community Care Program.