HEALTH BRIEFS
r
Dom tIC viol nc m k
p rmanent impact
A ne tudy ugg that children who witn dom tic violenc
may be particularly vulnerabl to emotional and developmental prob
lems later life. Data gathered by Be y McAli ter Grov ,MSW, Bo ton
City Ho pital, how that "children who wit violen in the home
identify along gender lin with th ir paren 'relationship ... boys
come more abusive adul alXi girl become victim ."
"Children who think that their liv are vulnerable and t nuous (
a result 0 wit ing dult violence) may fail to take care of themselves
aoo eek relief from fear and anxiety through alcohol and other drug
abuse or become the p rpetrators of violence", says Groves.
Parents should be aware that children who witnes violence are Iso
victims and bould receive appropriat treatm nt.
For more information call: Betsy McAli ter Groves MSW, Bo ton
City Ho pital,617-534-5556.
Minority enrollment
at medical schools up
The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that medical
school enrollment among African Americans, Mexican Americans,
mainland Puerto Ricans, and Native Americans entering the nation'
medical schools has reached an all time high of 1,827 for 1993.
This amounts to a gain of 15.3 percent over the 1991-92 school year,
the largest year-to-year increase on record.
Fetal alcohol syndrome
effects documented
Worldwide, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) strikes one to two babies
in every 1,000, but FAS is two to throe times more common among
Native Americans than other populations.
A new study has shown that the physical deformities sometimes
at ed by FAS may disappear over time, b a variety of "emotional
disturbances will remain FAS infan grow up.
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)11/11/1«(/111, __j
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eran
mi.
a dru from ch of ix cl
of high blood p ure medication-
. ACE inhibito ,alpha-1 bloc ers, al
pha-2-agoni t, beta bloc ers, cal
cium chann I blockers 00 diuretic
- w evaluated.
The calcium cnarmel blocker, a
drug called diltizern, W rno t effec
tive in BI of all a , controlling
blood pres ure in 64 percent of the
patien taking it. Hydrochlorothiaz
ide was al 0 effective in Black men
ge 60 and older, controlling blood
p ure 5 percent.
In the tudy about 600 African
American men with high blood pres
ure were randomly assigned a drug
from one of the ix classes or a pla
cebo (a neutral compound, usually a
ugar tablet, given to a patient and
then monitored for its effects) and
followed for a least one year.
CLEARLY, THE CALCIUM
channel blocker was much more ef
f.ctive in the younger African
American patients than any of the
other drugs," aid Materson. "It wac;
also the mo t effective drug in older
African American men. What we
saw' in younger African American
patients w the ACE inhibitor cap
torpril being least effective. And that
is very interesting because when you
look at younger Caucasian patients,
captopril w the b t c1 "
High blood pr ure occurs in
younger Blec at twice the rate it
occurs in younger whites.
For African- m rican.
, '
women: P Ivic pain may
not be exual di ase
African-American women are
frequently mi diagnosed as having a
sexually contracted disorder when
they actually suffer from en
dometriosis.
That is a finding from the research
of Dr. Donald Chatman, an African
American gynecologi t and national
expert on endometriosi . He advises
African-American women to be as
sertive in getting an early and accu ..
rate diagnosis.
Endometriosis produces chronic
pelvic pain, di abling menstrual pe
riods and often i nferti li ty. It occurs
when ti sue normally in the uterus
appears on other pelvic organs, re
sulting in internal bleeding, scar ti -
sue formation, inflammation and
other medical problems.
Studies how 41 percent of diag
no ed ufferers had ymptoms before
age 20.
DR. H TM N' re earch
found endometriosis in up to 40 per
cent of African-American women
who were told they had exually
transimitted PID (pelvic i nflamma
tory di ease).
"Black omen often have en
erroneously diagno ed as having PID
because of racial bias in textbooks
that uggest they are more exually
a�ve' and promiscuous and there
fore more likely to get a exually
transmitted di ease," Dr, Chatman
aid.
If a woman I diagn ed with PID
but th p ribed antibioti do n t
elimi nate the problem, he bould
find out wheth r endometrio i I at
the ource of her pain, Dr. C� tman
ugg ted.
He added that ymptom f en
dometrio i mayal 0 in lude painful
intercourse, painful bowel m ve
ments or unnation with th p nod,
chronic atigue, I w r i tance to I n
fections and extensive uergies.
"W M" WITH V R
symptoms hould insi t on a laparo
copy f r dra no I . Since the i u
urroundin noometrio,l inv lve
important II e deci ion women
hould know for sure if the di ease i
present," Dr. Chatman said, A la
parocopy is a minor surgical proce
dure.
"Endometriosis is traditionally
thought to affect only white women
between' ages 24 to 45, but in our
research and other studie over the
past; 15 years 'he di ease has been
found to equally affect Black women
and teens in all ocioeconomic
group ," Dr. Chatman added.
An estimated 5 million U.S.
women from teenagers to middle
agers suffer this dlsease, according to
the International Endometriosis As
sociation, 8585 N. 76th Place, Mil
waukee, WI 53223. Information
packets are available by writing or by
calling the toll-free number, 1-800-
992-3636.
o
.0
-
THE .EWE T BIRTH CONT�OL OPTION
I w k: h: kenpo and P" gnan ')'
in more i
re bein conducted cur-
conducted by the
ur Dr
100
Influ ne
o
ae an
60
40
20
Atenolol Captopril Clorudine Diltiazem Hydrochloro- Prazos1n
thiazide
Placebo
Younger Blacks
D Older Blacks
80
Wh e 1*1 rUtre d
sue fully (percent)
60
40
20
'Atenolol CaptoprU CloNd1ne Diltlazem Hydrochloro- Praz.osin
thiazide
Placebo
Younger Whites
D Older Whites
, •• t�.
Fee�fine
is. the primary cause
ofslrokes.
trok
. And high �Iood pr ur ha no ymptom ,
no id a th y'r at ri k.
o it can
u can oft n be pr v nt d: Ju t watch your wight, limit your
r gularly. Th n you won't ju t � I fine.
nd aJcoh I intak ,and
You'll actually fin.
What, are
. you do� about your
bloodp ore?
Blood Pres ur Edu 110 Program
rt nt 0 nd Huma MCe
tona