Api- 0,21 s Per' FrePes-Pg Southern Diet Deep with Fried Foods, May Rise Stroke Risk Deep fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda are more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds. It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast the Nation's "stroke belt"- suffer more of them. Blacks were five times more likely than whites to have the Southern dietary pattern linked with the highest stroke risk. And blacks and whites who live in the South were more likely to eat this way than people in dther parts of the country were. Diet might explain as much as two-thirds of the excess stroke risk seen in blacks versus whites, researchers concluded. "We're talking about fried foods, french fries, hamburgers, processed meats, hot dogs, bacon, ham, liver, gizzards and sugary drinks," said the study's leaders, Suzanne Judd of the University of Alabama in Birmingham. People who ate about six meals a week featuring these sorts of foods had a 41 percent higher stroke risk than people who ate that way about once a month, researchers found. In contrast, people whose diets were high in fruits, vegetables whole grains and fish had a 29 per- cent lower stroke risk. "It's a very big difference," Judd said. "The message for people in the middle is there's a graded risk," - the likelihood of suffering a stroke rises in proportion to each Southern meal in a week. Results were reported Thursday at an American Stroke Association conference in Honolulu. The federally funded study was launched in 2002 to explore regional variations in stroke risks and reasons for them. More than 20,000 people 45 or older half of them black from all 48 mainland states filled out food surveys and were sorted into one of five diet styles. Southern: Fried foods, processed meat (lunchmeat, jerky), red meat, eggs, sweet drinks and whole milk. Convenience: Mexican and Chinese food, pizza, pasta. -Plant-based: Fruits, vegetables, juice, cereal, fish, poultry, yogurt, nuts and whole-grain bread. ----- -Sweets: Added fats, breads, chocolate, desserts, sweet break- fast foods. -Alcohol: Beer, wine, liquor, green leafy vegetables, salad dress- ings, nuts and seeds, coffee. "They're not mutually exclu- sive" for example, hamburgers fall into both convenience and Southern diets, Judd said. Each person got a score for each diet, depending on how many meals leaned that way. Over more than five years of fol- low-up, nearly 500 strokes occurred. Researchers saw clear patterns with the Southern and plant-based diets; the other three didn't seem to affect stroke risk. There were 138 strokes among the 4,977 who ate the most Southern food, compared to 109 strokes among the 5,156 people eating the least of it. There were 122 strokes among the 5,076 who ate the most plant- based meals, compared to 135 strokes among the 5,056 people who seldom are that way. The trends held up after researchers took into account other factors such as age, income, smok- ing, education, exercise and total calories consumed. Fried foods tend to be eaten with lots of salt, which raises blood pressure a known stroke risk fac- tor, Judd said. And sweet drinks can contribute to diabetes, the dis- ease that celebrity chief Paula Deen the queen of Southern cui- sine revealed she had a year ago. "This study does strongly sug- gest that food does have an influ- ence and people should be trying to avoid these kinds of fatty foods and higher sugar content," said an inde- pendent expert, Dr. Brian Silver, a Brown University neurologist and stroke center director at Rhode Island Hospital. "I don't mean to sound like an ogre. I know when I'm, in New Orleans 1 certainly enjoy the food there. But you don't have to make a regular habit of eating all this stuff." Keeping African-American Hair Hydrated For those who don't know, African-American hair can be decidedly dehydrated. That's just how it grows out of our heads. When hair strand are straight, it's easy for the natural oils to travel down the hair shaft and keep coils moisturized. But with curly hair, it's a lot harder for the oils to navigate the length of our strands, and that causes the hair to get brittle, espe- cially near the ends. While this tendency toward dry- ness doesn't necessarily indicate unhealthy hair or even improper hair maintenance, it does mean that extra measures must be taken to keep the air hydrated. If there is any one hair rule to fol- low, this is it: Make sure you take care of the scalp and new growth. "The hair bulb and follicle are below the scalp's surface; therefore, the scalp should be lubricated, mas- saged and cleansed regularly to ensure the hair growing underneath comes through strong and healthy," says Toni Love, a hair loss special- ist. "New growth is our indicator that the hair is growing and emerg- ing in its healthiest state." "With thicker, coarser hair types, it's more likely that the scalp may not produce enough oil," says Athena Solomon, owner of A Beautiful Day Salon in Southfield, Michigan. And the lack of oil on the scalp can also cause the skin to tighten, says Love, "so hair will appear dry and brittle." In addition, Solomon adds, "the middle and ends of the hair will not benefit from that natural oil because it tends to settle on the scalp." That's one of the reasons hair ends need extra moisturizing and conditioning-because the natural oils of the scalp aren't distributed to the tips. Another reason? "The dis- tribution of oils and conditioners is important to hair ends because of the usage of heated tools, such as flatirons hot rollers and blow dry- ers," Love says. "Some consumers use flatirons and curlers every day, mostly on the ends of the hair. Therefore, (this section) needs to be protected to avoid split ends, which can travel up the hair shaft." One solution to the split ends problem is to add oils and moistur- izers to the hair. "Put the selected product in your hands, rub together and start application at the ends, working upward toward the scalp to ensure even distribution," Love suggests. Black Men Continue to Lead Hypertension One to three adults in the United States will have hypertension, high blood pressure, in their lifetimes. The condition can be a predecessor for heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death in the United States. "Approximately 41 percent of African American males have nearly dou- ble the incidence of high blood pressure, compared to their Caucasian counterparts," said Dr. Anil Hingorani. a vascular surgeon at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. "Black Americans are more likely to have diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, smoking issues, and high salt and fat in their diet all risk factors for developing high blood pressure. In addition, they develop high blood pressure at younger ages than other eth- nic groups in the United States and are more likely to have complications associated with high blood pressure, including stroke, kidney disease, blindness, dementia and heart disease." Hingorani noted that black Americans may be affected by stress due to racism, socioeconomic status, educational level, lack of access to quality care and insurance, and living in racially isolated neighborhoods, resulting in a higher incidence of high blood pressure. Anthony Anderson : "I Started Out in Hollywood as the Fat, Funny Guy" Anthony Anderson started out in Hollywood as a self-proclaimed "fat funny guy," appearing alongside fellow comedic stars Jim Carrey and Martin Lawrence. But off screen, Anderson's weight was anything but a laughing matter: He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2002 at 32. It took a few years, but eventually, Anderson realized he had to get seri- ous and so he committed to changing his eating habits and lifestyle. Around the same time, Anderson also made a conscious decision to shift the direction of his career, focusing on darker roles in movies, such as Hustle & Flow and Martin Scorsese's the Departed, and co-staring in tele- vision dramas like The Shield and K-Ville. Inspired by his family history of the disease, Anderson recently became a spokesperson for FACE Diabetes, an initiative that focuses on educating and empowering the African American community. My Diagnosis: I was home in Los Angeles, close to eight years ago now. I started feeling really lethargic and lazy, taking mid-afternoon naps, which is something I wouldn't just do. I chalked it up to overworking. I just thought I was running myself ragged. But the turning point was one evening I drank, literally, a 5-gallon jug of water in the course of a couple of hours, and there was constant urination. I knew what the symptoms of diabetes were since my father was a diabetic, and I was like "Wow I think I need to go to the doctor and get this checked out (okay, actually, my wife said that)." I went the next morning and found out that I had elevated glu- cose levels and the doctor said, "You know you're a type 2 diabetic." My first reaction: I didn't change dramatically at first. Being a 32 year old man stubborn and all that, I was really just stuck in my ways and I thought, "I can beat this. I can handle this." But after a while, it wasn't get- ting better. Now, I've really changed my lifestyle. I'm eating differently, and I'm also incorporating exercise. Recently I met with Bob Harper from the Biggest Loser and I said "Bob come on, give me a quick fix on how to lose some weight." And he laughed and said, "Anthony. you know there's no quick fix to that." Then he said, "But I'll give you a tip: If you don't do anything else just cut your meal portions in half and watch and see, what happens. The weight will fall off of you." I said, "That's an easy fix," and I just cut my meals in half and the weight did come off. This is the first time I've stuck with a regi- men. As a result, since January 2009, I've lost close to 40 pounds and have kept it off....and plan on keeping it off. My turning point: I want to skydive, and one place I called told me you can't weight more than 235 pounds, because you do it in tandem with the instructor and all the equipment. And I said I weigh 240 pounds. What can I do?" I was laughing over the phone, but, deadpan, the lady on the other end said "Lose 5 pounds." I was like. "Wow. Ok." Now I'm well below 235, and I'm going to jump out of a plane! My lifestyle: Once I talked to the nutritionists and my doctor, and they said, "Anthony everything is fine in moderation; you can still eat certain things, you just can't eat as much," then it was Ok. Once I wrapped my mind around that, I said, "I can have short ribs every now and then, just not every weekend like I was doing over the summer, and not steak every two days like I was doing, but maybe once a month, and fried chicken once a month." I can still satisfy my craving and urge for that. I just don't feed it like I used to. My treatment strategy: I test my blood sugar every day, an average of three times a day: once in the morning, at midday, and once in the evening before I go to bed. In terms of cutting carbs. it's hard to completely cut them out so 1 try to cut them down. If I'm going to have a sandwich, I have to make it only on one piece of bread not two. If I have a turkey burger or a grilled chicken sandwich, I take off the top or bottom piece of the bun. If I have pasta, I go whole wheat or multigrain; I don't do white pastas at all. North Florida Obstetrical & Gynecological Associates, PA. visit www.nfobgyn.com & Gynecological Care . Family Planning . Vaginal Surgery Osteoporosis Menopausal Pregnancy Care Disorders Board Certified Laparoscopy Laser Surgery William c Cody, M.D. B. Vceren Chithriki, M.D. St. Vincent's Division IV 1820 Barrs Street, Suite 521 Jacksonville, Florida 32204 (904) 387-9577 Where*' My Cigarettes Smoking is linked to memory decline in people 50 and older As we age, it's not uncommon for our memory, attention, language and problem solving skills to become rusty, but elderly smokers showed an increased impairment in their verbal fluency and their ability to recall tasks, according to findings reported in the journal Age and Ageing. The study followed almost 9,000 participants, ages 50 and older, in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging. Researchers collected data in five surveys issued 1998 to 2001, 2002, to 2003, 2004 to 2005, 2006 to 2007 and 2008 to 2009. The surveys estimated associations between cardio- vascular risk factors and stroke risk scores and knowledge and learning outcomes after four years and again after eight years. Findings showed that factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and an unhealthy weight may all be associated with an accelerated and progressive decline of major cognitive functions in the elderly. But of all the factors, smoking did the most dramatic damage to thinking and learning abilities. What's more, cognitive decline can develop into dementia. And there are other long-term effects of smoking, such as lung cancer and death. Dr. Chester Aikers 505 fiST UnIOn SIPff In DOWITOWI JflKSOnVILLf For All Your Dental- Needs 358-3827 1 Monday-Friday 8:30 AM 5 PM Saturday Appointments . Dental Insurance and Medicaid Accepted Complete Obstetrical . Personal Individualized Care Comprehensive --19 m II I I m.: April 4 10, 2013 Ms. Perry's Free Press Page 7