Newspaper Page Text
Alternative cancer treatments gaining
popularity in minority communities
B A few years ago
alternative medical
treatments were not
taken seriously by the
medical establishment.
Today, however, less
conventional ap
proaches to cancer
treatment have a sig
nificant following
: WASHINGTON
High-tech advancements, as well
as some older but less conventional
approaches, can become new weap
onsin thebattle against cancerasit
affects minorities and the medi
cally under-served, according to
experts in the field.
“There are significant amounts
of use of alternative medicinein the
minority communities,” Dr. Joseph
dJ. Jacobs told the Sixth Biennial
Symposium onMinorities, the Medi
cally Under-served & Cancer.
Jacobs, the medical director of
Experts call for environmental justice research
WASHINGTON
Researcherscalled for minorities
to have equal access to clean air,
water and safe places tolive to help
stem the rising tide of cancer.
“Environmental healthlawshave
not provided equal protection,” said
Dr. Samuel Wilson, deputy direc
tor of the National Institutes of
Health.
* Environmental justice is a sig
nificant health issue among mi
nority populations, who dispropor
tionately face the possibility ofliv
ing in or near polluted areas, and
whose homes may pose health haz
ardsfromsuchthingsaslead paint,
asbestos and radon gas.
The discussion was held at the
Sixth Biennial Symposium on Mi
norities, the Medically Under
served and Cancer.
In addition, people from these
communities may face occupational
hazards. For example, farm work
ers are exposed to pesticides and
Native Americans were long em
ployed in mining uranium ore.
Clarice Gaylord, director of the
Environmental Protection Agency’s
office ofenvironmental justice, said
that untillately, the issue hasbeen
all but ignored, and when it has
been studied, the methodology has
been flawed.
Studies to determine the cancer
risk of chemicals often test one
chemical at a time.
“That’s not what these commu
nities areexposed to,” said Gaylord,
who added that research should
look at chemicalsin combinations.
Arthritis and the fat connection
Being overweight has long been linked
to such major health threats as heart
disease, cancer and diabetes. Now it ap
pears that there may be a fat-arthritis
connection as well. In a study of more
than 1,000 men, Johns Hopkins Medical
School researchers have discovered that
those subjects who packed on as little as
20extra pounds inearly adulthood nearly
doubled their odds of later developing
osteoarthritis, the most common form of
arthritis. The heaviest young men, weigh
ing an average of 190 pounds, more than
tripled their chances of developing arthri
tis in their hips and knees compared with
the lightest young men, who averaged
just 146 pounds. The reason for the “fat
trap” seems to be the extra stress and
cartilage breakdown that occursin weight
bearing joints when more pounds are
h Synergic Health Centre
q Gerald D. Oliver, M.D.
Internal Medicine and Pediatric Medicine
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Alternative medicines include such
therapies as vitamins, biofeedback
and acupuncture.
the Vermont State Medicaid Pro
gram and the state Department of
Corrections, was the first director
“We need the scientific proof, we
need the scientific basis for why
this hastobe dealt with,” she said.
The Institute of Medicineis nearly
finished with a study examining
issues affecting environmental jus
tice research.
Dr. James Gavin 111, senior sci
entificofficer at the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute and a member of
the IOM panel conducting the study,
said he has been struck by the lack
of concern in some communities
about the environmental hazards
faced by some of the poorest citi
zens.
The symposium last Friday was
honoring four women and one com
munity organization for their ef
forts to improve the health of mi
nority and medically under-served
populations. :
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
leader Wilma Mankiller was pre
sented the 1997 Dorothy Lifetime
Achievement Award for her work
as a national leader and as an
advocate for health promotion and
disease prevention in the Ameri
can-Indian community.
HOPE awards honoring commu
nity-based volunteers for excep
tional servicein cancer prevention,
control and survivorship were given
to Venus Gines of Atlanta, Ga., for
her work on health and reform
issuesrelated tothe Hispanic com
munity; Mary Lovato of Santo
Domingo, N.M., for her effort in
providing support and education to
American-Indian families dealing
with cancer; Karen Jackson of
carried around than the body was built to
bear. Osteoarthritis is a major cause of
disability among adults, affecting some 16
million people in the U.S.
Osteoarthritis causes the breakdown of
joint tissue, leading to joint pain and stiff
ness. To diagnose it, your doctor will ask
you to explain your symptoms and then
perform an exam, with close attention paid
to the affected joints. To schedule an exam,
contact SYNERGIC HEALTH CENTRE
at 648-3500.
We are a family medical care center that
provides urgent care for cuts, burns, asth
ma attacks and eye obstructions. We treat
adults, children, and adolescents. Remem
ber, when you're going the distance, you
shouldn’t have to go it alone. Located at
1055 A Silver Bluffßd., our office hours are
by appointment.
Livingßetter
of the office of alternative medicine
atthe National Institutes of Health.
That office opened in 1992.
Houston, Texas, for her role as
president and one of the nine Afri
can-American founders of the Sis
ters Breast Cancer Survivors Net
work;Jacob’s Ladderof Cary,N.C.,
a bone marrow registry, for con
tinuing to bring attention to the
need for bone marrow donations.
Experts from around the country
have convened for the symposium
Small population statistics
essential in cancer prevention
. WASHINGTON
The government faces problemsin
compilingcancerstatisticsaboutrela
tively small segments of the popula
tion, especially when it comes to fig
ures on how well community-based
programs are doing, according to the
head of’its health statistics agency.
“The smaller the population, the
less precise the information that we
have,” said Edward D. Sondik, direc
tor of the National Center for Health
Statistics, a part of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Sondik spoke to the Sixth Biennial
Symposium on Minorities, the Medi
cally Under-served and Cancer.
Tracking cancer statistics can
be abit tricky because it normally
involves gatheringdata from large
populations over a long period of
time he said.
However, theinformationisessen
tial to aid health workers who are
tryingavarietyofapproachestoestab
Alternative medicines include
such therapies as vitamins, biofeed
back and acupuncture.
Jacobs said it was just a few years
ago that the mere mention of alter
native medicines would draw snick
ers at medical conferences, includ
ing such now-accepted ideas as the
role of diet in the battle against
disease.
Still, people who seek non-con
ventional treatment generally do it
on their own and tend to keep that
information from physicians, he
said.
One study found that about a
third of all patients seek some alter
native treatment, and nine out of
tenofthose are self-referred. About
three-quarters of them don’t tell
their doctors what they’re up to,
Jacobs said.
“Patients trust us with their bod
ies, and should not beafraid to trust
us with their beliefs,” he said.
Jacobs, who once worked as a
physician on a Navajo reservation,
said alternative medicine—use of
traditional healers—is widespread
among Native Americans. But firm
statistics on Native Americans, as
toexamine the scientific and other
factorsleading tohigh cancerrates
among minorities.
Sponsorsofthe eventinclude the
Baylor College of Medicine, the MD
Anderson Cancer Center, Bristol-
Myers Squibb, the National Mar
row Donor Program, the National
Cattlemen’s Beef Association and
the American College of Radiology.
lish cancer prevention forms of the
disease. These programs need to be
examined to know what is effective
and what isn’t. i
“Otherwise, you're shooting in the
dark,” said Sondik.
Expertsondietandexerciseoffered
yetmorestatisticsonhowcancerrisks
arereduced by adoptinghealthyhab
its. WalkerS. Carlos Poston 111, assis
tant professor at the Baylor College of
Medicine, estimated annual cancer
costs at $96 billion, roughly a sixth of
whatthenationspendsonhealthcare.
Butthatcould bereducedsignificantly
if people exercised and ate a proper
diet, lowin fatsand highin fruitsand
vegetables.
Poston estimated theoverall cancer
rate could be reduced by 32 percent.
Among specific forms of the disease,
lung cancer could decline by 20 per
cent, breast cancer by 50 percent,
colorectal cancer by 70 percent and
prostate cancer by 75 percent.
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SYNERGIC
HEALTH
CENTRE
well as other minorities, are un
available.
Much of the picture for the future
focuses on high technology.
The Department of Defense and
the Department of Health and Hu
“Patients trust us
with their bodies,
and should not be
afraid to trust us
with their beliefs.”
man Services are workingon amobile
breast cancer detection van that can
bring digital mammography to re
mote military installations as well as
to civilian sites in urban and rural
areas where breast cancer screening
facilities may be hard to reach.
The use of digital mammography
is still experimental, although the
Food and Drug Administration is
expected to approve it for general
usesometime thisyear. The equip
ment uses computers instead of
standard X-ray film technology
and holds promise for producing
better images.
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Sometimes there are
.
problems that all the hugs in
! ’ »”
the world can’t heal.
As a pediatric specialist at the
Medical College of Georgia
Children's Medical Center,
I've seen them. Newborns
that need more than a chance
at life. They need miracles.
Everything man and machines
can do and then some.
I've also seen the joy when
one of those miracle babies
goes home. That’s the best
part, because all the
sophisticated equipment in
the world can’t take the place
of a loving touch, It's part of
R e e Ao W SRR I B
AUGUSTA FOCUS MAY 11,1997
“It appears well-suited to use
on mobile units because it does
not need the contrast recalibration
required for standard mammog
raphy equipment which goes out
of whack by being jostled around
on road trips,” said Army Col.
Doris Browne.
Dr. Browne said there has been
mixed success in use of mobile
mammography. One major draw
back has been ensuring medical
follow-up for women requiring
further medical attention after
diagnosis.
The symposium has drawn can
cer experts from around the coun
try to examine scientific and so
cial factors affecting cancer rates
among minorities and the medi
cally under-served, whose cancer
rates are significantly higher than
those of the general population.
Sponsors of the event include
the Baylor College of Medicine,
the MD Anderson Cancer Center,
Kellogg’s, the Leukemia Society
of America, the Susan G. Komen
Breast Cancer Foundation,
Howard University Hospital and
the American Cancer Society.
For more information or to
make an appointment with
one of our doctors, call
(706) 721-CARE or (800)
736-CARE.
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HOSPITAL AND CLINICS
There’s no substitute
for good health”
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