Miami hospitals top nation in care
May 28 - June 3. Volume 80, Number 38, Pg 4B
The Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, part of the University of Miami's School of Medicine, was recently recognized by U.S. News and World Report as a leader in the eye care industry. Located on NW 17th Street, it was founded in 1961 and has grown to be the standard in eye care research throughout the United States. Bascom Palmer has distinguished itself since its inception through the improvements it has made to ophthalmology. Some of the breakthroughsinclude the invention of new microsurgical instruments, performing new surgical procedures, and identifying the causes of certain retinal defects. The research institute is only a part of what they can offer. The clinic treats more than 160,000 people each year, including infants and
children.

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Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Official Website
University Of Miami School Of Medicine Announces New Pediatric Otolaryngology (ent) Center
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A new way to keep youth from smoking
May 28 - June 3. Volume 80, Number 38, Pg 4B
(NAPS) — "Where there's smoke, there's
fire," describes a promising new weapon in the battle to stop teens from smoking, as well as other dangerous risks faced by African American children. Rather than focusing on the health risks or the physical aspects of nicotine addiction, this new approach focuses on helping teens work through the underlying
anxieties, depression, peer issues and personal problems that lead to their smoking in the first place. Based on 120 years of work with kids, the national children's crisis charity KidsPeace developed a web site, www.TeenCentral.net, which helps older children and teens to deal with the pressures and crises of growing up. The new Quit Smoking section of the site gives practical, step-by-step guidelines and activities to help teens break the emotional and psychological bonds that tie them to smoking, such as depression or the failure to fit in. This is a key aspect that warnings, nicotine patches or gum simply can't address.

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Teen Central Official Website
National Charitable Antismoking & Nonsmokers' Rights Organization
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Why we should care about HIV testing
May 28 - June 3. Volume 80, Number 38, Pg 4B
(NAPS) — Most people in our community know that AIDS is hitting African Americans harder than anyone else in the country. Even the experts have been unable to explain why. A key factor is starting to become clear: many Black Americans with HIV don't even know they're infected. This lack of knowledge is, to put it bluntly, killing us. Some people may try to lay the blame for high rates of HIV infection in our communities on the supposed "bad habits" of Black folks. "Why are they so irresponsible?" they ask. "Why do they take so many risks?" The truth is much more complicated than those assumptions. Yes, across the nation, some African Americans with HIV are engaging in risky behaviors like unprotected sex. No more so,however, than other racial groups. In fact, research by the Centers for Disease Control among the Black men with the highest infection rates — young gay and bisexual Black men — shows that these men take no more risks than their white and Latino peers.

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The Body: An HIV and AIDS Information Resource
National HIV Testing Resources Official Website
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May is High Blood Pressure Awareness Month
May 28 - June 3. Volume 80, Number 38, Pg 4B
Could you be the next victim of the “silent killer” that claimed the lives of nearly 43,000 Americans in 1999 alone? I am referring to high blood
pressure, or hypertension, a disease with no identifiable symptoms.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in four American adults have this condition; and over 31 percent do not
even know it. We all experience things that send our blood pressure soaring from time to time; in fact, our blood pressure rises and falls
throughout the day. For many Americans, however, those highs are too high and last too long, and that can be life-threatening. High blood pressure increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, two leading causes of death in the United States. In addition to the deaths directly
attributable to hypertension, this silent killer contributes to more than 200,000 deaths a year.

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Your Guide to Lowering High Blood Pressure, NHLBI
American Heart Association: High Blood Pressure
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