Newspaper Page Text
Number of AIDS
among minority
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
(AP) AIDS prevention resourc
es have been pumped into Kan
sas City’s gay white community
for 15 years; apparently with suc
cess.
But although the number of
new AIDS cases in the metropol
itan area has stabilized, the ra
cial composition is shifting. AIDS
workers said if current trends
continue for just a few more
years, AIDS victims will be pri
marily racial minorities.
“The face of AIDS has changed.
It’s now in communities of color,”
said Torean Walker, a health
educator with the Kansas City
Free Health Clinic. Walker is
working to get AIDS-prevention
messages to the black communi
ty, both to gay men and to teen
agers engaging in unsafe sex.
In 1987, about 83 percent of
the new HIV infections in the 11-
county area were diagnosed
among white men and women;
black men and women account
ed for 13.5 percent of the new
cases.
This year, the percentage of
new HIV cases among whites
has dropped to about 60 percent.
Blacks account for 36.6 percent.
There were only eight AIDS or
HIV cases reported among His
panic men during the first six
years of the AIDS epidemic, be
ginning in 1983. Lastyear alone,
there were 20. AIDS is virtually
negligible among Hispanic wom
en.
Of the 426 people whose cases
were diagnosed through early
December this year, 250 were
white men, 22 were white wom
en, 108 were black men and 32
were black women.
More than 4,800 people have
been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS
in the Kansas City area since
1983. About 2,000 of them have
died.
Nationwide, whites accounted
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cases growing
population
for 60 percent of AIDS cases in
the United States in 1981-87. In
1993-95, they made up only 43
percent.
In Kansas City, the number of
AIDS cases among gay white
men, the group most at risk, has
not fluctuated much since the
late 1980 s. There were 250 cases
among white men through Dec.
4, compared with 244 cases in
1989.
“What we would hope is that
the preventive efforts we’ve had
since 1987 and ‘BB are beginning
to take effect,” said Judy Moore-
Nichols, director of the Kansas
City Health Department’s AIDS
program.
Mark O’Dell, a Health Depart
ment AIDS educator said its eas
ier to reach the white gay com
munity because they are more
open about their sexual orienta
tion.
“In the black community
they’re less open. It’s harder to
find places to target the mes
sage,” he said.
Health workers can often reach
gay white men at bars or other
hangouts, or through gay orga
nizations. Gay life among blacks
and Hispanics, however, is less
formally structured.
“You have to meet people where
they’re at,” O’Dell said. “That
involves culture, economic sta
tus, everything that affects their
life.”
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SEARS
Black women battle heart disease
STARKVILLE, Miss.
(AP) African-American wom
en are in greater danger of dying
from a heart attack than any
other group, a health education
specialist says.
Linda Patterson, extension
health education specialist at
Mississippi State University,
said the death rate from heart
attacks among black women is
1.4 times higher than for white
women.
Patterson said a factor is that
fewer young women (pre-meno
pausal) have heart disease, and
when symptoms occur, they are
harder to recognize.
“One problem is that few peo
ple think of heart disease first
when a woman has warning
symptoms,” Patterson said. “Any
delay in identifying the problem
can be life-threatening.”
Patterson said chest pains, one
ofthe most common signs of heart
problems, can be caused by sev
eral other health problems. Heart
disease is usually not the first
consideration among younger
women.
The health specialist said wom
en may delay seeking treatment
or, if they go to a doctor, heart
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The warning signs of an oncoming heart attack
may be less classic for women. Instead of pains in
the middle of the chest, women may experience
pain in the jaw, arm or stomach. Any pain above
the waist should be evaluated.
problems may be harder for a
medical professional to identify
and treat.
Patterson said the warning
signs of an oncoming heart at
tack may be less classic for wom
en. Instead of pains in the mid
dle of the chest, women may ex
perience pain in the jaw, arm or
stomach. Any pain above the
waist should be evaluated.
“Any time a person experienc
es pain above the waist and espe
cially a pain accompanied by
nausea, weakness and excessive
perspiration, they should seek
medical help.
“It is important for people to
consider factors that may in
crease their risk of heart disease,
such as high blood pressure, fam
ily histories, high cholesterol,
diabetes or overweight. If a per
son has one or more of these risk
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factors, heart disease should be
considered regardless of age, sex
or race,” Patterson said.
Patterson said some of these
risk factors are more common in
the black population. For exam
ple, high blood pressure occurs in
1 in 4 whites and in 1 in 3 blacks.
Factors that can contribute to
hypertension include a lack of
exercise and a high-sodium diet.
Melissa Mixon, extension nu
trition specialist at Mississippi
State, said proper diet can lessen
the impact of some of the risk
factors, such as obesity and dia
betes. To reduce these risk fac
tors, manage your diet and seek
a doctor’s advice.
Mixon said anyone who is more
than 120 percent of their ideal
body weight to talk to a doctor
and a dietitian or nutritionist to
begin a weight-loss plan.
December 28, 1995
“A hospital or health depart
ment dietitian can help a person
set a weight goal, a time frame,
change eating behaviors and
identify an agreeable meal plan,”
Mixon said.
County extension home econo
mists can provide “Weight Off
Wisely” materials that help peo
ple lose weight and keep it off.
Most nutritionists believe losing
1 to 2 pounds per week is best.
Weight loss plans that promise l
greater or faster losses usually
are not effective over time.
“Family support for dieters is
very important. Weight loss will
be easier if all family members
take part in healthier meals,”
Mixon said. “Most dieters have
more success if they have a part
ner to lose weight with and hold
each other accountable.”
Mixon said it’s never too early
to help children develop healthy
eating habits.
“In the South, and especially
among African-Americans, tra
ditional cooking is high sodium
and high in fat. But those tastes
are learned. If you don’t start
children with salt-seasoned and
fatty foods, they won’t desire
them as they grow up,” she said.
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