HEALTH
Taylor
By
Americ annual-
ly.
Furth r, the CDC
number of people diag ith
AIDS could double within the next
two ye tit f 0 th
diagno e will be among com
munitie of color. Prevention
rem ins the only mech ni m for
curbing t t trend.
One day before the Sullivan pre
conference, th National Minority
AIDS Council released a document
titled, "The Impact of mv on Com
muni ti of Color: A blueprint for
the ninetie ." Thatdocumentreveal
how communitie of color are
coping with is ues related to mv
infection.
th numb r of n wly in e t d
individual in re ithin com-
munitie of color, lead r r
w kened to the f ilure of p t
prevention education initiative
mong th ir co tit nci .
Memb of the Congre ional
BI ck Caucu are calling for
reinstat ment 0 the 14 million dol
lars formerly earmarked for pr ven
tion edu tion that Congre greed
to cut during fi cal year 1992.
To a ume that the cond decade
of AIDS i an appropriate marker for
hifting focus from prevention to
treatment amoun to abandonment
of those communi tie th t now make
up the highe t rate of new infection.
It is reprehensible to pit th car of
me hold
We re more than ten yea into
p n ernie lied cquired im
mune deficiency yn to e (AIDS).
ore t n 210,000 Ameri have
n di gno ed mv po itive -
96,000 are people of color. In hi
pre conference to announce the
n w Arneric Re pond to AIDS
Camp ign (ART ), Secret ry of
He 1 th nd uman Services Loui
Sullivan proclaimed that more than
1 million Americans are now living
with HIV, the virus that cau e
AIDS.
The U.S. Centers for Di ease
Control (CDC) e timates that 40,000
"Don't pull your
h Ir out ov r
b Idln
Part 1 of a two part series
ec millio ,
t not men, though their
lly more notice
om n, too, ex
perience ome hair 10 they
grow older. And, in our image
co io ociety, this i con
idercd "b d new." for one
thing, hair 10 i ually an ob
vious give- w y of person'
ge. Be utiful, thick hair h
been ymbolof ex ppeal and
youth.
Hair is nota living ti uelike
the skin, but i m de of a protein
called keritan, which al 0 forms
our finger and toenails. Each
hair grow from a root that i
enclo ed by a follicle, which i
nourished by blood vessels. In
general, in mo t people, hair
grow about a half an inch each
month.
Each hair grow for two to
six years, then"re ." This
cycle of growing and resting
varies for each hair, so that
some hairs are growing at the
same time that others are rest
ing. After the resting period',
that hair fall out. It' normal
to lose from 50-100 hairs a day,
out of the total of about 100,000
hairs we have on our heads.
As you koow, the size and
sha o(bllk;v 'c;sfro on
c " ..
to pc on, acco ng 0 h tr
. eneti · Very thick, mund
hairs (sue is the cruncS'e Mite)
have a geometry that makes
them lie flat' and straight.
While, those of African descent
tend to have a flattened hair
shaft, therefore the hair tends to
curl tightly.
e:
color.
Talking to Black
.. _--- -----
till much to be done, but there i
hope.
Black IV drug users pose a dif
ferent problem for the community.
Drug users of any type are een more
and more as pariahs and less as
people with a problem. Programs
that teach IV drug users how to shoot
up safely are suspicious to many
Blacks, who feel such programs only
encourage more drug use.
Mo t Black AIDS educators find
that the most effective way to di -
seminate AIDS information to
Blacks is through one-on-one and
mall group counseling. Conducting
workshop , whereever there's a
Black audience, (churches, youth
group , schools, etc.) on how to
bring up sensitive issues like con
dom use, sexual histories, drug use,
and transmission of SID's is an ef
fective first step in getting people to
learn more about AIDS and its
prevention.
ly hitting the pavement nd talking
to people in a friendly, relaxed way
is very effective in getting Blacks
involved in AIDS education efforts.
AIDS education in the African
American community' a challenge,
but one that is gradually being ad
dressed and met. Perhap a ign of
this low hift is the recent popularity
of "Let's Talk About Sex," a ong by
female rap group Salt-n-Pepa. And
even hyper-macho group like Bell
Biv DeVoe have worked condom
usage into tbeir lyrics.
Many large and mall citie in the
U.S. now have organization
devoted to AIDS education and
prevention among Blacks. There is
By ANGELA MITCHELL
p.c'" to ttr. "'ch'�n Cltlz.n
Angela Mitchell Is a freelance
writer and contributing editor for
EMERGE magazine in New York
. City.
SINCE MAGIC'S Johnson's
announcement last November that
he is HIV -posl tive, African-
.Americans have become slightly
more comfortable talking about
AIDS and responsible exual be- DENIAL AND misinformation
havior. But only lightly. Despite about all exually transmitted dis
the fact that clo e to 30 percent of eases are rampant in the Black com
Americans with AIDS are Black and munity. One of the biggest problems
that 52 percent of American women. mY/AIDS educators have had in
with AIDS are Black, the Black com- reaching African-Americans is con- ORGANIZATIONS LIKE
munity has been slow to wake up to vincing them that AIDS is not [est a Philadelphia's BEBSHI (Blacks
the realities of AIP,�. , "gay disease" but a erious health Educating Blacks About Sexual
Though image In' . the popUlar, �nce t; woj • I'Htalth ) have found that imp-
:meminug '�e au ,. ottie�-_� ------ ---- __ '_'--------\ __ ' ��--�� ---------- ..
Msc; Blick tt One
steeped in conservative religious
and social traditions. Some of these
traditions have changed with the
times, But vestiges of this conser
vatism linger in such form as the
denial of the existence of a Black gay
community; the reluctance to dis
cuss sexual matters openly; and the
prohibition against "putting your
business out in the streets," or talk
ing about personal or family con-.
cerns with people outside of the
family.
Homophobia is strong in the
Black community" where
heterosexual masculinity is prized.
A survey of 900 Black men con
ducted by the National Task Force
'on AIDS Prevention, an ann of the
National Association of Blac� and
White Men Together, found that al
though 74 percent of the Black men
surveyed were willing to identify as
gay privately, only 48 percent would
do so publicly.
ADVERTISE
HERE
. CALL
EARLENE
869-0099
THERE A\{E even sig
nificant differences within the
same race. For instance,
among whites, although blonds
may not have fun, they do have
more hair than non-blonds.
This is due to the fact that
each hair is thinner, so that
more hair is made to create the
same "density" of total scalp
hair as those with darker hair.
In everyone, when a hair falls
out, a new one usually grows in.
The catch comes when more
hair falls out than grows back
in. ,
Many things can cause sud
den hair 10 • In women, hor
monal changes during and after
pregnancy, as well as oral con
traceptives (though less with
the newer pills) can result in
dramatic hair loss in some
women.
In both men and women,
severe emotional stress, some
fad diets (if it results in mal
nutrition), thyroid disorders,
anemia, and some medications
(especially chemotherapy for
cancer) can cause ignificant
hair 10 s, and even balding.
Large do e of vitamin A can
also cause hair to fall out faster
than new hair grows in.
1bC medical term for hair
loss is alopecia. Depending on
the cause, the type of alopecia
is named. Thus, if hair loss is
due to pulling the hair too tight
when braiding, it's termed trac
tion alopecia, while if due to
constantly wearing tight-fitting
hats or wigs, it's called friction
alopecia.
Oday, almost
one million
Americans are
··nfected with HI'/.
How's it all �
to end.
This year alone, thousands more Am ricans ar
expected to let HIV. th virus that causes AIDS.
Why� The answer is simpl .
Every day, many sexually active peopl put
themselves at risk for sexually "transmitted
diseases (STo's). And what puts th m at risk
for these STo's is exactly what puts them at
risk for HIV - their behaviors.
THIS FEAR MAKES it ex
tremely difficult, if not impossible,
for Black men to live openly gay
lives. Some are married and live
ostensibly straight lives, but secretly
have ex wi th men.
These men are not likely to ac
knowledge that they arc at high risk
for contracting HIV and passing it to
their partners, who is such cases may
be an unsuspecting wife who
WOUldn't think to ask her husband to
wear a condom.
The truth Is that all sexually transmitted
diseases are prev ntable. Abstinence is, of
course, the safest measure. People who enjoy a
mutually faithful r lationship with an uninfected
partner can feel completely safe. And, there are
c�ms, When used p�perly, condoms can
pre nt not only HIV, but all sexually trans
mitted diseases,
Reaching uch men is extremely
difficult, since they rarely make
themselves known. One effective
way is through confidential hotlines,
like the one run by STOP AIDS
CHICAGO where callers need not be
afraid of being found out.
In heterosexual relationship,
Black women often find it difficult
to ask their partners about their
exual histories. A woman who
talks too knowledgeably about ex
may be een as forward. And a king
a man to wear a condom is 8 worse
offense, that implies he isn't to be
trusted.
HIV Is fright ning. But it's also pr v ntable. All
it takes is your commitm nt.
To find out haN you can prevent HIV, call the
CDC National AIDS Hotline at 1-800-342-AloS.
\ . 'I'
1 I) I
j I' I! ,
.
IN MOST CASES, once
the underlying cause is cor
rected or eliminated the prob
lem goes away. More serious is
alpoecia areta, which causes
hair loss in patches and i
believed to be due to an autoim
mune disorder.
Part 2 continued next week ...
-
Black mothers often tell their
daughters to "keep their legs closed
and their skirts down" but don't tell
them what can happen if they don't.
And young Black boys learn early
that one sure way to get re pect from
other boy is to rac up along list of
girl they've slept with.
.... _AI u.s. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. HU AN RVlCES
� Pubtic Ith SeMce
'"