Health hot line

Ebony, July, 2004

Researchers at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine have developed a new sustained-release treatment that may be effective for treating several sight-threatening retinal disorders, such as diabetic macular edema. The treatment involves a simple surgical procedure to place a tiny implant containing medicine into the back of the eye. The implant is designed to deliver sustained and consistent therapeutic levels of drugs directly to the diseased area of the eye for up to three years.

Traditionally, diabetes treatment has focused on regulating blood sugar levels by careful control of diet or through insulin injections. But researchers have come to understand that heart disease is, in fact, the more serious threat. Up to 80 percent of diabetes patients will develop heart problems or die as a result of them. Therefore controlling hypertension is now a high priority. Control of lipids (the fats in the blood stream that can affect coronary health) and glucose regulation are also major concerns.

If diabetics have a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, weight problems or if they smoke, new guidelines call for moderate doses of cholesterol-lowering statins.

STDs

WARNING! Sex can make you sick and even kill you. While this might seem like a tired and worn statement, too many people today do not realize the frequency, severity and fatal consequences of having unprotected sex. Sexually transmitted diseases are thriving and affecting the health, childbearing abilities and lives of millions of Americans. STDs disproportionately affect African-American teens and women.

For several years now, there have been warnings that the U.S. is in the midst of an STD epidemic. More than 65 million people in the U.S. are living with an STD, the majority of which are incurable viral infections. It is estimated that 15 million new sexually transmitted infections occur each year, with teens, women and "people of color" most at risk. According to a new report in the Journal of the America n Medical Association, 1 in 25 young Americans are infected with chlamydia, considered the most common bacterial STD in the U.S. Blacks are six times more likely to be infected than Whites. It can be cured with a single dose of antibiotics, but most people don't know they have chlamydia because there are no symptoms. Left untreated in women, chlamydia may cause pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and ectopic pregnancy.

Other common sexually transmitted diseases are: AIDS/HIV, which attacks the immune system; chancroid, a treatable bacterial infection that causes painful sores; crabs, parasites that live on pubic hair; gonorrhea ("the clap"), a treatable bacterial infection that causes pain and a discharge; hepatitis, a disease that affects the liver; genital herpes, a recurrent skin condition that causes irritation and blisters; human papillomavirus/genital warts, which affects skin in genital area and in female cervix; molluscum contagiosum, a viral skin disease that causes bumps and lesions; pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a bacterial infection, of the female reproductive organs; syphilis, a treatable bacterial infection that can affect heart, brain and nerves; and vaginitis, a bacterial infection of the vagina that causes itching, burning and discharge.