CrossRoadsNews, January 23, 2010 - Section B

Health & Wellness Expo - Jan. 30, 2010 January 23, 2010

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Section B

Fit Can Be Fun, Too!

Health & Wellness Expo returns to Stonecrest on Jan. 30 Noon to 5 p.m. on the lower level of the Mall at Stonecrest n Free Health Screenings

n Dancers

n Fitness Demonstrations

n Elected Officials

n Gospel Singers

n Door Prizes n Information Presentations by Doctors

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Health & Wellness

January 23, 2010

2010 Health & Wellness Expo at mall has lots to offer Expo goers will find lots of information and giveaways at the Jan. 30 Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.

The free expo takes place noon to 5 p.m.

2346 Candler Road Decatur, GA 30032 404-284-1888 Fax: 404-284-5007 www.crossroadsnews.com editor@crossroadsnews.com

The Health and Wellness Expo Special Section is a publication of CrossRoadsNews Inc., East Metro Atlanta’s award-winning weekly newspaper.

Editor / Publisher Jennifer Parker Graphics Editor Curtis Parker Reporters Donna Williams Lewis Lee Williams Brenda Camp Yarbrough Jennifer Ffrench Parker

© 2010 CrossRoadsNews, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reprinted without written permission of the publisher.

The 2010 Health & Wellness Expo will be at the Mall at Stonecrest on Jan. 30.

Dozens of health care exhibitors will offer information and free health screenings to encourage adults and children to eat healthy, be more active and adopt preventative steps to avoid serious illnesses.

The expo, which is in its fifth year, will be on the lower level of the mall from noon to 5 p.m.

More than three dozen exhibitors including hospitals, health centers, physicians, dentists and other health care professionals, health insurers, training institutes and government agencies will discuss health issues and offer resources on some of the health issues that plague

our community.

Jennifer Parker, editor and publisher of CrossRoadsNews, says the Health and Wellness Expo is one of four community expos that the newspaper sponsors annually at the 1.3 million-square-foot Lithonia mall. The others are the Summer Camp Expo in March, the Small Business Expo in April and the Family & Adoption Expo in August.

Parker says the Health & Wellness Expo is East Metro Atlanta’s largest gathering in celebration of health and wellness.

Since its launch in 2006, the Health & Wellness Expo has attracted between 7,500 and 10,000 people to the mall every January.

“It is a great place for people to educate themselves about health issues and become motivated to take better care of themselves,” Parker said.

This year title sponsors of the expo are Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding and the DeKalb Chapter of 100 Black Women. Expo goers will have their pick of screenings for diabetes, hypertension, prostate cancer and HIV/AIDS. The DeKalb Board of Health will offer free H1N1 vaccines and STAND Inc. will offer free HIV/AIDS tests to the first 100 people.

There wilalso be performances and demonstrations from the Main Stage in front of Macy’s. Call 404-284-1888.

2010 Health & Wellness Expo Exhibitors and Grand Prize Entry Form Visit at least 25 of these exhibitors* at the Mall at Stonecrest and enter to win a 4-day/3-night stay at the Emerald Beach Resort or the Caribbean Beach Resort in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawing takes place on Jan. 30, 2010, at 5 p.m. at the Main Stage in front of Macy’s on the lower level of the Mall at Stonecrest.

5 100 Black Women Decatur-DeKalb Chapter, Inc 5 Advance Physical Therapy & Sports Clinic 5 American Heart Association 5 Ameri Plan 5 Ankle & Foot Specialist 5 Arabia Mountain Coalition/PATH Foundation 5 Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates 5 Beautiful Smiles Family Dentistry 5 Chick-fil-A Inside the Mall at Stonecrest 5 Children’s Healthcare at Hughes Spaulding 5 Commissioner Larry Johnson’s DeKalb Walk 5 Congressman Hank Johnson’s Office 5 Covington Clinic

5 Craig B. Williams, DDS 5 CrossRoadsNews 5 Decatur Pediatric Group, P.A. 5 DeKalb Community Service Board 5 DeKalb County Board of Health 5 DeKalb Co. Census Complete Count Committee 5 DeKalb District Attorney’s Office 5 DeKalb Green Commission 5 DeKalb Medical Physicians 5 Family Dermatology 5 Full Body Loving Care Chiropractic 5 Georgia Center for Female Health 5 Georgia Families

5 Ga. Lupus Registry/Emory U. Rheumatology 5 Georgia Medical Care Foundation 5 Howey Hudson Lowe Foundation 5 Humana Inc. 5 Oakhurst Medical Centers, Inc. 5 Omni Tech Institute 5 Optimal Health Chiropractic Wellness Center 5 Our Rainbow Press 5 Radiotherapy Clinics of Georgia 5 Samson’s Health & Fitness Center 5 South DeKalb Center for Healthy Living 5 STAND Inc. 5 Stone Mountain Chiropractic, P.C.

Name _________________________________________________________________________________ Address ______________________________________________________________________________ City ______________________________________E-mail________________________________________ Home phone ____________________________________ Cell _________________________________ * Eligible entries must have the numbers of at least 25 exhibitors, your complete name, address, e-mail address and telephone number. Employees and immediate family members of CrossRoadsNews, the Mall at Stonecrest and US Virgin Islands Tourist Board are excluded from winning. Prize is for hotel stay only.

You must be at least 18 years old to enter. You MUST be present to win.

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January 23, 2010

Health & Wellness

“The grand prize drawing for a 4-day/3-night stay on St. Thomas in the US Virign Islands takes place at 5 p.m.”

2010 Health & Wellness Expo Program Highlights

Jan. 30, 2010- Noon to 5 p.m. • The Main Stage in front of Macy’s Lower Level, The Mall at Stonecrest 11: 30 Musical Interlude with Simply*Kool

1:30 p.m. Fitness Demo, Samson Fitness Center

Noon

1: 45 p.m. Kimberly Cameron, DeKalb 100 Black Women

Expo Kick-off/ Warmup Exercises with Rae Rae & The Eagle Esences Dancers

12:15 p.m. Greetings: Congressman Hank Johnson, 4th District

12:45 p.m. Angela Dickerson, Gospel Singer

2 p.m.

“Hypertension in the African American Community,” Dr. Kristie Kinsey, DeKalb Medical Physicians

2:20

Top Notch Dance Krew

Pamela Holmes, Emcee

2:45

Angela Dickerson, Gospel Singer

1 p.m.- “Appropriate use of the Pediatric Healthcare System in Atlanta” Dr. Lynn Gardner

3: 15

Dr. Kristie Kinsey

“Prevention: How To Keep Your Children Safe” Dr. Yolanda Wimberly Sonya McGuire, Gospel Singer 4. p.m. 2010 Census – A New Portrait of America

Dr. Yolanda Wimberly

4: 30 Conservatory of Dance D’Lauren Dance Troupe Sonya McGuire, Gospel Singer Dr. Lynn Gardner

5 p.m. Grand Prize Drawing of a 4-day/3-night stay at the Emerald Beach Resort or the Caribbean Beach Resort, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

Conservatory of Dance

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Health & Wellness

January 23, 2010

“I can see diabetes, no more. I can see heart disease, no more.

I can see us all being set free from disease and illness.”

Fitness trainer-turned-motivator wants everybody to embrace fitness

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

Long before she coined the name “fitness motivator” for herself, Ranette “Rae Rae” Clark was a mere fitness trainer at the World Gym in her hometown of Aurora, Colo., teaching people to put some movement in their lives.

Then she took a class taught by Cliff “Hollywood” Boyce, a trainer with the gift to inspire people to embrace fitness.

Hollywood, as he prefers to be called, became her motivator.

“He inspired me on this journey to help people move and exercise,” said Clark, who says movement is a necessity of life.

“You have got to use that heart,” she said. “If it’s not stimulated, that heart will die.”

On Feb. 26, Clark will celebrate 23 years of motivating people, some as old as 94, to get up and move.

Her “Fitness Celebration” will take place at the Village at Carver YMCA in Atlanta.

She said she will celebrate reaching a million people with her four-step health message – drink lots of water, start your day with fruit and snack on fruit, eat vegetables, and get 15 to 45 minutes of movement two to three times a week.

Clark will bring that message to the Mall at Stonecrest on Jan. 30, when she kicks off the CrossRoadsNews Health & Wellness Expo at noon from the Main Stage in front of Macy’s.

For the past five years, she has been at the expo demonstrating simple exercises and stretching that everyone can incorporate into their daily lives.

This year, she will be joined by the Eagle Essence Dance Troupe from Whitefoord Elementary School School in Atlanta. She will demonstrate some chair exercises she uses with the seniors who take her classes at East Lake, South DeKalb, the Village at Carver, and the Senior Centers on Candler Road in Decatur and Warren Street in Lithonia.

As part of her celebration, Clark will give away five abs training sessions at the expo. She also got eight metro Atlanta fitness trainers and consultants to donate two free

Fitness instructor Rae Rae (center front) and the Eagle Essence Dance Troupe will kick off the 2010 Health & Wellness Expo with an exercise demonstration designed to get mpoeple moving.

training sessions each, valued at $250, which she also will give away during the expo. The participating trainers are Ayana Roberts from the Samson Fitness Center, Ausby Alexander from Atlanta, Kammick Bell from Fuel, Tony Smith from MaxFit, Spencer Rakestraw from Diamond in the Rough, Pat Haggins from Before & After Fitness, Tiffany Whitfield Maddox from the Body Goddess, and Joseph Jackson from Beulah Baptist Fitness Center.

Clark said the fitness trainers participated because they know the value of fitness and because they want to give back to the community.

“These are dynamic trainers who are willing to give of their expertise to their community,” she said. “Now is the divine time for fitness healing.”

When she started pushing the importance of exercise 23 years ago, Clark said she would try to get churches to start fitness centers.

“It was taboo then,” she said. “Now they have health clubs and health ministries<” she said. “I can see diabetes, no more. I can see heart disease, no more. I can see us all being set free from disease and illness.”

Clark teaches up to 60 seniors a day in two to three classes and says she has seen people in their 60s and 70s get on treadmills for the first time in their lives and be able to lift their hands above their heads.

“One man told me that no one told him he ‘had’ to drink water,” she said. “He had been drinking sodas. When he started drinking water he was so surprised how clear his urine got.”

Clark said she is asking people to commit to some form of movement this year. “Do something rather than nothing,” she said. “It will get you off that high blood pressure medicine. I have seen people’s life change when they start exercising.”

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Health & Wellness

January 23, 2010

“Flu season is not over yet and we don’t know if H1N1 is going to follow the same pattern.”

Losing weight will save you money

premiums.

As Americans waistlines conObese individuals can also tinue to expand, studies from the expect to pay 10 times higher US Center of Disease Control and lifetime medical costs because Prevention indicate that 67 perof chronic diseases like type 2 cent of the US adult population Ayana Roberts diabetes and hypertension. The is overweight or obese. average annual cost for prescripOverweight adults and children have a Body Mass Index or BMI of 25-29. tion drugs for diabetes is $680, heart disease is $627, When your BMI is greater than 30, you are classi- and hypertension is $502. Living a healthy lifestyle can reduce the need for medications and can put fied as obese.

Body Mass Index which measure the patient’s hundreds of dollars back in one’s budget to spend height in inches and weight in kilograms allows on other items.

Instead of spending money on prescription doctors to assess the risks that patients have for obesity-related problems like high blood pressure, drugs, one could spend the money on a 3-day diabetes, high cholesterol, and cancer and heart cruise to the Bahamas, starting at $400, or season tickets to the Atlanta Falcons, which starts around problems.

Many people are aware of the physiological im- $750per ticket.

There are resources to help you lose weight and plications of being obese, but few are aware of the incorporate healthy behaviors in your lifestyle. financial impact obesity.

The US Department of Health and Human n Attend a health expo: The CrossRoadsNews Services estimates that in direct costs, obesity ac- Health and Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest counts for 9 percent or $78 billion of U.S. medical is a great event to increase your knowledge about expenditures. Direct costs are expenses attributable healthy living. Health and wellness exhibitors will to preventive and diagnostic services. be available to answer questions.

Taxpayers covered about half of these expenses n Join a gym or hire a personal trainer: After jointhrough Medicaid and Medicare. Combined Medi- ing the gym, be sure to ask questions and enlist the care and Medicaid costs due to obesity are approxi- support from the gym fitness professionals to assist mately $37.6 billion. In Georgia, about 7 percent of in creating routines that work.

Medicare users are obese and 10 percent of Medicaid n Research: To learn more information about users are obese, which costs Georgians $405 million chronic diseases go to website like the CDC or the and $385 million respectively.

American Heart Association.

Being overweight or obese has significant Ayana Roberts the fitness and aerobics director financial impact on individuals’ wallets. It may at the Samson's Health and Fitness Center at New mean yo pay up to four times higher life insurance Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

Kids, expectant mothers and young adults are among those with higher risks for the H1N1 flu.

Health Matters

Free H1N1 shots at expo Expo goers can get free H1N1 flu shots at the Jan. 30 Health and Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.

The DeKalb Board of Health is offering the vaccines to adults and children. Vickie Elisa, a Board of Health spokeswoman, said regular flu season goes into early spring in Georgia and the shots are available with no restrictions.

“Flu season is not over, and we don’t know if H1N1 is going to follow the same pattern,” she said.

Health officials are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated against the virus. School-age kids, expectant mothers, young adults and all those under the age of 65 with chronic health

conditions are at higher risk of contracting the illness, also known as swine flu.

The virus has sent 88 people to hospitals in DeKalb County and there have been five suspected and two confirmed H1N1-related deaths here. Elisa said two of those victims were pregnant AfricanAmerican women.

The DeKalb Board of Health has more than 32,000 doses of both the inactive, injectable form and the live nasal spray form of H1N1 vaccine.

There are about 50 doses of the thimerosal-free formula left for those who prefer a preservative-free vaccine.

More information, visit www. dekalbhealth.net or call 404-5087880.

Exhibitors will offer lots of free health screenings at the Jan. 30 expo Early diagnosis of most health problems can usually lead to a good outcome, but many AfricanAmericans don’t find out about their illnesses until the disease is in its late stage and more difficult to treat.

At the 2010 Health & Wellness Expo on Jan. 30, a number of health agencies will offer free screenings for diabetes, hypertension or high blood pressure, HIV/ AIDS and prostate cancer.

DeKalb Medical Physicians, Oakhurst Medical Centers, and Q Clinical Research, Radiotherapy Clinics of Georgia, South DeKalb Center for Healthy Living, and STAND Inc. will be offering free screenings.

Radiotherapy Clinics of Georgia is offering free PSA screenings to AfricanAmerican men ages 40 years and older and to all men 50 and older during the expo.

Diabetes The diabetes test is taken from blood drawn from a finger prick.

It assesses your blood sugar to determine if you have pre-diabetes Free health screenings at the Health & Wellness Expo or diabetes.

Exhibitor Diabetes Hypertension HIV/AIDS Prostate Cancer If the results register a glucose DeKalb Medical Physicians x level higher than 200 mg/dL and Oakhurst Medical Centers x x are accompanied by classic sympQ Clinical x toms of unexplained weight loss, Radiotherapy Clinics of Georgia x fatigue, and increased thirst and So. DeKalb Ctr. for Healthy Living x x urination, then the doctor will STAND Inc. x suspect diabetes mellitus and will request a fasting blood glucose level test to confirm the results. pressure is called the “silent is easy to diagnose.

Because high blood pressure You have hypertension if has no symptoms, it’s important killer” because about a third of High blood pressure the people with it do not know your blood pressure is more than to have blood pressure measured Hypertension or high blood they have it. High blood pressure 140/90. by a nurse, physician or another

knowledgeable person (including yourself).

To screen for it, you must be in a relaxed state, preferably in a sitting position. Allow half an hour to have passed since your last cup of tea, exercise or stressful situation.

HIV/AIDS The test for HIV/AIDS can be taken with blood or with the non-invasive OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV Test, done from a swab of the mucous membrane in the mouth.

Results are available in 12 minutes. From a private physician, the cost of an HIV test is $100.

STAND Inc. is offering it free during the expo.

Prostate-specific antigen A PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, test can identify abnormality within the prostate gland and helps doctors to identify the cancer early.

It generally takes two to five minutes and is done from blood drawn from the arm. Results are available in four to six weeks.

Without health insurance, a PSA test is $200.

Radiotherapy Clinics of Georgia is offering it free of charge during the expo to African-American men ages 40 years and older and to all men 50 and older.

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January 23, 2010

“We know that if we feed our kids fast food every day, they are going to be obese.”

Passionate children and teen doctor is a big advocate of prevention

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

Dr. Yolanda Wimberly is passionate about her work and it shows.

Her students at Morehouse School of Medicine see it. Her patients at Children’s at Hughes Spalding, at her private practice at Morehouse Medical Associates, at Clark Atlanta University and the Fulton County STD Clinic all see it.

And she never lets her very busy schedule get in the way of her great bedside manner.

On Jan. 30, Wimberly will turn some of that passion on the subject of prevention and keeping children safe when she speaks at 2:45 p.m. at the annual CrossRoadsNews Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.

A big advocate for children and teens, Wimberly says there is a lot of different messages out there but parents must stay focused on doing what is best for their children.

“Parents love their kids but they don’t know what the indicators are,” she said.

“We will talk about the importance of bringing your children for immunizations, about knowing when to take them to the doctor, about providing them with healthy foods. There are a lot of illnesses that can be prevented. A lot of accidents can be prevented.”

She said her presentation will be for everyone – parents of small children, parents of teens and teens themselves.

Wimberly, who is associate professor of pediatrics, director of community pediatrics residency, and medical director of the Center of Excellence for Sexual Health at Morehouse School of Medicine, said prevention is something that everyone can have a hand in.

Dr. Yolanda Wimberly in her Atlanta office with some of the entries in the 2010 ExpressSTD contest.

JenniferParker/CrossRoadsNews

The mother of 3-year-old twins said most parents instinctively do the right thing.

“We give them veggies so that they can grow up and be strong,” she said. “We know that if we feed our kids fast food every day, they are going to be obese. We don’t leave them at home by themselves because they will hurt themselves, so we get a baby sitter.”

Wimberly treats patients from birth to 21 and has a robust practice treating adolescents and teens.

Her work on sexually transmitted diseases, funded by a faculty expansion grant from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has made her a national spokeswoman on the subject.

Each year, there are about 9 million new STD infections among young people 15 to 24 years. Wimberly, who worked four years ago with the DeKalb Teen Clinic in Lithonia, believes education can help

lessen those numbers.

The Center of Excellence for Sexual Health, which she directs at the Satcher Health Leadership Institute, works to raise the level of national dialogue on human sexuality, sexual health and well-being in a sustained, informed, honest, mature, and respectful way.

This year, she is coordinating ExpresSTD, an art contest for high school and college students from Los Angeles; Washington; Nashville, Tenn.; and Atlanta to express their knowledge about STDs. The contest is part of the March 11, 2010 National STD Prevention Conference being hosted by CDC Atlanta.

Wimberly spends time with her patients, shows interest in the lives, and “keeps it real.”

Patients and colleagues say Wimberly, is all about educating her patients, whom she sees as whole people, and not just a product of their illnesses.

“It’s not there is a diabetic in Room 4,” she tells students. “It’s Miss Johnson in Room 4 who is a wonderful woman, who just so happens to have diabetes.”

Shaneeka Lee, one of her adolescent patients, says she gets educated each time she visits Wimberly.

“I am able to talk to her and not feel judged,” she said.

Latasia Williams, another teen patient, said Wimberly stands out to her.

“Most doctors are not too friendly or seem interested,” Williams said. “They just come and do their jobs and send you about your business, but she actually cares and takes time out to let you know.”

She lets them know by showing interest in their lives, and not just their illnesses.

Wimberly’s passion for medicine and her patients helped her win the 2008 Humanism in Medicine Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

She is the first AfricanAmerican to win the award that honors a medical school faculty physician who is a caring and compassionate mentor and a practitioner of patientcentered care.

The award came with $10,000 for her to donate to her favorite charity and $5,000 for herself. She gave the $10,000 to her children’s East Point private school for computer lab, and used the $5,000 – intended for herself – to establish two annual $500 scholarships for five years for a Morehouse medical student and a resident.

John Maupin, Jr., president of Morehouse School of Medicine, says Wimberly wants to make things different and better for people.

“She is dedicated to improving the lives of those who are less fortunate, those who are underserved and who are the vulnerable population,” he said.

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“Many people see primary care as the place to go for shots and when you are sick, you go to the emergency department.”

Pediatrician: Primary care is often better than emergency room visit

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

When children are sick, all parents want is for them to get well.

To get them care, they often head to the emergency department, but unfortunately, what ails the child can often be taken care of by a primary care doctor.

Dr. Lynn Gardner, a pediatrician at Children’s Healthcare at Hughes Spalding, will address the issue of where to go for health care and for what during her talk at the Jan. 30 Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.

She also will help parents figure out the best place to take their children for care.

Gardner, who is an assistant professor of pediatrics and the associate director of the pediatric residency training program at Emory University School of Medicine, will help parents understand the concept of a medical home and when it is proper to use the emergency department, call an ambulance or use their primary care physicians.

At Children’s at Hughes Spalding, located next door to Grady Hospital in downtown Atlanta, Gardner says patients overuse the emergency department for illnesses that should be handled by primary care doctors.

“This problem is not unique to Children’s,” she said.

“It’s a problem of our health care system.”

Because emergency departments are the only place in the U.S. health care system where individuals have access to a full range of services at any time regardless of their ability to pay, or the severity of their condition, they have become a primary source of care for more and more people.

In the 10-year span ending in 2005, the number of emergency department visits nationwide increased nearly 20 percent to 115.3 million from 96.5 million.

Emergency departments are intended to treat trauma and life-threatening medical emergencies but a large portion of the visits to the emergency departments fell into the category of inappropriate use – non-urgent care for conditions that could have been treated by a primary care doctor.

Studies also show that the use of the ED for nonemergency visits grew to 13.9 percent of all visits in 2005,

Jennifer Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Dr. Lynn Gardner examines 4-year-old Chaniya Body on Wednesday at Children’s at Hughes Spalding. In addition to supervising Emory University interns and residents, she also her sees own patients at the hospital.

up from 9.7 percent in 1997.

More recent estimates of avoidable emergency department use – emergencies that could have been prevented by prior primary care – range as high as 50 percent of all visits.

Staying in step with that national trend, Gardner, who supervises pediatrics interns and residents who see patients at Hughes Spalding, said that 60 percent of the

hospital’s patients are seen as urgent care.

“It’s not because they lack health insurance,” she said.

“Every child in the state has access to health insurance whether through private pay, Peachcare or Medicare. I think it’s not understanding the concept of a medical home.”

The cost of treating these non-urgent emergency department visits is a big drain on the health system, exceeding by two to five times the cost of receiving primary care.

During her talk at 1 p.m. from the Main Stage in front of Macy’s, Gardner will describe the different levels of services and when it is best to use them.

“Many people see primary care as the place to go for shots, and when you are sick, you go to the emergency department,” she said.

“They tell us they didn’t know that they can go to their primary care doctor when they are sick. They don’t understand how good the care is if they go to their primary doctor.”

Each time a patient goes to the emergency room or to the urgent care center, they see a different physician.

Gardner, who has been a pediatrician for 13 years and has worked for 10 years at Emory and Children’s at Hughes Spalding, said that because information doesn’t always get back to the primary care doctor, illnesses that might need referral to a specialist can be missed.

“The emergency department doctor will give parents discharge forms but they don’t always take them back to their primary care doctors or remember to tell them that they went to the emergency room,” she said. “If for example, a child is prone to ear infections, the primary care doctor can track it and know when to recommend you to a specialist.

“That kind of follow-up is delayed when you don’t go to your primary care physician.”

At the end of her presentation at the expo, Gardner said that parents will leave knowing how and when to use the hospital and other medical facilities and what to use them for.

“You will have a better idea what the different medical entities provide, and where to go for what,” she said.

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January 23, 2010

“Many of us don’t go to the doctor until we are sick, so we may have high blood and don’t know it.”

Hypertension affects many, but symptoms often hard to recognize

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

Hypertension, which afflicts one in four people in the United States, is so common among African-Americans that most everyone knows someone with high blood pressure.

Nearly 40 percent of non-Hispanic blacks nationwide have hypertension and the American Heart Association says the disease’s prevalence in African-Americans is the highest of any ethnic group in the world.

They are not only at higher risk for hypertension, but African-Americans also get it at a younger age and suffer more of the complications.

This is not news to Dr. Kristy Kinsey, who sees a high incidence of hypertension among patients in her De­Kalb Medical Physicians practice in Conyers.

Because the disease Kristy Kinsey often exhibits no symptoms, it is called the “silent killer.”

Kinsey said many people are walking around with chronic high blood.

“Many of us don’t go to the doctor until we are sick, so we may have high blood and don’t know it,” she said.

Kinsey will speak about “Hypertension Among African-Americans” at the Jan. 30 Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest. Her talk will begin at 2 p.m. from the Main Stage in front of Macy’s.

She said the disease can only be diagnosed by having your blood pressure taken.

Recently, a male patient walked into her office with a blood pressure of 200/120.

Kinsey said the patient reported no

What is high hypertension?

Blood pressure is the force that pushes the blood through your blood vessels to all the organs of your body. You have high blood pressure when the force of your blood moving through your blood vessels is too great.

High blood pressure makes the heart work harder to pump blood throughout the body and causes damage to the blood vessels. If high blood pressure is not treated, it can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure and vision problems.

Is high blood pressure really a big deal?

Yes. When your blood pressure is high, your heart has to work harder than it should to pump blood to all parts of the body. High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because most people feel healthy and don’t even know that they have it.

If it is not treated, high blood pressure can cause stroke, heart attack, and kidney and eye damage.

Can you lower your blood pressure without medicine?

A blood pressure between 120/80 and 139/89 is called pre-hypertension. If you are diagnosed with pre-hypertension, it means that you are more likely to develop high blood pressure in the future. If you have pre-hypertension and adopt a healthy lifestyle, you may be able to prevent the development of high blood pressure.

symptoms.

“We could not believe it,” she said. “We kept asking him, ‘Are you sure?’ ” The top number in the reading is systolic blood pressure, the pressure against artery walls as the heart beats. The bottom number is diastolic pressure, the pressure against artery walls as the heart relaxes between beats. Both numbers are important in determining if your blood pressure is too high.

A good blood pressure is anything less than 120/80. It is considered to be high if the systolic is at least 140 or the diastolic is at least 90. Hypertension is diagnosed when

What are risks for hypertension? n Age: The risk for hypertension increases with age. n Gender: Men have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure than women until age 55. After that, their risks are similar. n Family history: Blood relatives who have high blood pressure. n Smoking. n Overweight or obesity. n Alcohol: The risk increases for anyone drinking more than 1 ounce of pure alcohol a day, which is an average of more than two drinks a day for men and one drink per day for women. n Physical inactivity: The American Heart Association recommends at least 30 minutes of moderately strenuous activity most days. n Sensitivity to sodium: Eating too much salt leads to hypertension. The AHA recommends consuming less than 2.3 grams, or 1 teaspoon, of sodium/salt a day. n Type 2 diabetes, gout or kidney disease. n Pregnancy: Some women who do not have hypertension develop it during pregnancy. n Taking certain medications or herbal supplements. Common ones include steroids, ibuprofen, nasal decongestants and other cold remedies, and diet pills.

high blood pressure shows up in three separate readings taken a week apart.

The only exception is when the elevation is very extreme or an organ is already damaged.

Left untreated, hypertension can lead to coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, eye problems and other health problems.

Family history, high cholesterol, diabetes, poor diet and being overweight are some of the contributing factors for hypertension.

For people who exhibit symptoms, Kinsey said those may include headaches, chest

pain, shortness of breath and lightheadedness, all symptoms that can be mistaken for other illnesses.

“The only way to know if you have hypertension is through a blood pressure check,” she said.

Kinsey, who was a doctor in the U.S. Air Force for six years before joining DeKalb Medical Physicians a year ago, says that as pressure builds up in the arteries, it damages the heart and kidneys.

“The heart is a muscle and it needs oxygen and blood,” she said. “It must have the right amount of pressure and blood to make it work.”

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“Despite awareness about the virus and disease, many people who are most at risk won’t get tested.”

Free HIV screenings will be available to first 100 people at expo

By Lee Williams

The news is disturbing.

Of Georgia’s 159 counties, DeKalb has the second highest number of reported AIDS cases. Only Fulton County has more.

Terry Barlow, prevention specialist and outreach coordinator for Standing to Achieve New Directions Inc., said the mission of the Decatur nonprofit is to get everyone who has Terry Barlow unprotected sex tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, before it’s too late.

On Jan. 30, STAND will offer free HIV antibody testing at the CrossRoadsNews Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia.

Barlow said the first 100 people to show up at their table near Kohl’s will get the OraSure Advance or oral swab test. If they run out, expo goers can still get free testing weekdays at their office at 3423 Covington Drive in Decatur.

“We rub the cheek and gum and it pulls an enzyme from the tissue,” Barlow said.

The oral swab test is non-invasive and quick. It produces results in 20 minutes and has a 99.6 percent accuracy rate. However, a person has to be infected for three months before the test will detect the virus.

“We base that on the last time you had unprotected sex,” Barlow said.

The test, which costs $60 to $150 from a private physician, is used to identify HIVinfected antibodies in the body.

Last year, STAND tested 3,800 to 4,000 people. About 300, or 8 percent, tested positive for HIV, a virus that attacks the

STAND Inc. will offer free HIV antibody testing at the CrossRoadsNews Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.

cells that make up your immune system.

“We have millions of cells in the immune system,” Barlow said. “HIV can’t reproduce on its own. It needs a host cell to reproduce.”

Normally, the antibodies would fight off infection, but HIV renders the body’s defenses useless.

“It attacks the antibodies because they reproduce other antibodies,” he said.

“Antibodies would fight the HIV, but HIV changes the DNA of the cells and tricks the cells into producing more HIV-infected cells.”

Typically, it takes someone with HIV about 10 years to develop full-blown AIDS. “In a 10-year period, depending on your immune system, the HIV weakens your immune system, and now you contract infections that you normally wouldn’t get,” Barlow said.

More than 56,000 people are infected every year with AIDS in the country, and Barlow said the new face of HIV and AIDS disturbs him. Young people ages 13 to 24 are now contracting HIV at an alarming rate.

This fact hit home for Barlow and his family about nine years ago when his son, Kelvin, contracted HIV at 17. Kelvin is now 26.

When the oral swab test came out in 2000, Barlow’s boss told him to take it home and get used to the test before using it on customers.

Barlow went home and tested everyone in his household from ages 5 to 40. When the results came in, that’s when he learned his son’s status. Kelvin contracted the virus from unprotected sex.

Barlow said the diagnosis changed his son in many ways for the better. “It helped turn his life around,” Barlow said. “He was

a handful for me and his mother.”

Kelvin, who is medication-free, changed his diet, adopted a healthier lifestyle and is doing well, his father said.

But the fact that the problem has affected someone in his family has made Barlow even more passionate about raising awareness about HIV and AIDS. Heterosexual black women, homosexual men and those who suffer from sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis also are most at risk.

Barlow said that the youngest HIV patient they have seen was a 16-year-old boy, whose parents died of AIDS. Despite the awareness about the virus and disease, Barlow said many people who are most at risk simply won’t get tested.

“There’s a lot of stigma attached to HIV and AIDS,” he said. “Some people have the mind-set that ‘If I have it, I don’t want to know.’”

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Health & Wellness

January 23, 2010

“We get the test, but we don’t go for the follow-up. We don’t go for the colposcopy.”

Debut CD is reflection of the artist’s ability to overcome life’s challenges

By Donna Williams Lewis

Angela Dickerson grew up in choirs but said solos once made her sweat and shake with fear.

Her high school chorus teacher entered her into a competition; she learned later that she would have won if only she had looked at the audience.

“I didn’t really want people looking at me,” Dickerson recalled this week. “I can remember thinking that I found it so horrible when they gave me a mike.”

This month, the Hampton resident steps into the limelight as she releases her debut CD, “From Pain Comes Praise.”

On Jan. 30, she will perform 12:45 p.m. at the Mall at Stonecrest during the Jan. 30 Health & Wellness Expo presented by CrossRoads­News.

The CD was mostly self-published by Dickerson’s Lasting Effect Music Ministry and was “sponsored,” as she puts it, by ElMarq Records of East Atlanta.

Dickerson describes her music as a mix of jazz, contemporary and traditional gospel.

She wrote all but two of the songs on the CD. The others were written by ElMarq owner Marc Virden.

Virden calls Dickerson’s singing style “very unique.”

“It kind of puts you in the mind of a Minnie Riperton,” Virden said. “She doesn’t hit the very high octaves that Minnie Rip-

“From Pain Comes Praise”

n To hear samples, visit www .reverbnation.com\angelad. n For more information, e-mail Dickerson at le.ministry@yahoo.com.

Angela Dickerson also wrote many of the songs on her new CD.

erton did, but then again, who can?”

At age 53, Dickerson says she’s still somewhat shy. But that’s a good thing, she said. It keeps her humble.

“There’s something about being humble that makes it just what it is, a gift,” Dickerson said of her talent. “It allows the

light that God has put in you to shine for others to see.”

Dickerson has been writing and performing songs of encouragement since 2002, when she says she answered God’s call to deliver his message through music.

She has been a guest soloist for the African

Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Clergy Leadership Conference and many Women’s Day conferences and seminars in and around Atlanta and in South Carolina.

She also continues to provide background vocals for recording studios.

Her CD’s title stems from her life’s journey.

“No matter what I face in life, none of that is greater than the God that’s inside of me,” she said. “There are no obstacles I can’t overcome.”

Dickerson, who grew up in Rome, has gone through a painful divorce. She became a single mom when her children were ages 3 and 10.

She was laid off from a job she’d held for 10 years. She found another job and had worked there just four months when its doors closed for good.

“I felt like I was teetering on the edge of life, but God told me, ‘I pushed you to the edge so you would spread your wings and fly,’ ” she said. “ ‘I am the wind. I’ll carry you, but only if you trust me.’ I did, and my wings are still spread.”

DeKalb 100 Black Women to add cervical cancer to its concerns

By Lee Williams

Kimberly Cameron knows that breast cancer, cervical cancer and HIV/AIDS affect blacks more than other ethnic group.

But instead of debating the issue or simply giving lip service to the problem over coffee or tea, Cameron and about three dozen women from DeKalb County are fighting back.

Cameron, president of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Decatur/ DeKalb Chapter, will be sharing information about her group’s health initiatives at the Jan. 30 Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.

For the third consecutive year, the chapter is partnering with CrossRoadsNews to stage the community expo that offers information encouraging people to live more healthy and active lives, and offer free health screenings.

Members of the chapter and its Legacy mentoring program provide volunteer services during the noon to 5 p.m. expo.

During her 1:45 p.m. presentation from the Main Stage on the mall’s lower level in front Macy’s, Cameron will discuss her group’s purpose, which is not only to educate, but to recruit others to join their efforts.

“We are a social action group,” she said this week. “We are workers. We focus on advocacy for black women, health and wellness, education, economic development and public policy.”

Kimberly Cameron, president of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Decatur/DeKalb Chapter speaks with a resident at last year’s expo.

The national group, of which the DeKalb chapter is a member, was founded in 1981. The local chapter formed in 1989 and has embraced health initiatives including breast cancer, cervical cancer, HIV/ AIDS, and literacy.

At its annual black-tie Pink and Black Affair, launched five years ago to raise awareness about breast cancer, the group honors and celebrates 10 breast cancer survivors.

“We really put the women on a pedestal

Learn how the benefits of Community Gardening improve your health and wellness. Find out about Garden in the Parks, the new community gardens program in DeKalb County brought to you by the DeKalb County Green Commission, DeKalb Natural Resources Management Office and Wonderland Gardens.

for the evening,” Cameron said.

While some may focus on the glitz and glamour of the event, which is held at a large hotel, Cameron wants people to remember the message that early detection of breast cancer can save lives because black women’s lives are disproportionately at stake.

“There’s lower incidence, but we have a higher fatality rate,” she said.

The same is true for black women and cervical cancer, and that is why her organi-

zation is teaming up with Dr. Lisa Flowers, DeKalb’s well-known OB/GYN, to raise money for cervical cancer screening and awareness for low-income women.

She said the issue is two fold.

“We get the test, but we don’t go for the follow-up,” she said. “We don’t go for the colposcopy.”

A colposcopy is a medical diagnostic procedure that examines the cervix for pre-cancerous cells.

The reality is cervical cancer is taboo for some because of the way it’s contracted.

The human papillomavirus, or HPV, the primary cause of cervical cancer, is transmitted through sexual contact.

“It’s a shameful cancer because it’s like an STD,” Cameron said. “It’s not a glamorous disease. People don’t like to fund-raise for it.”

The 100 Black Women chapter also is working to stamp out HIV/AIDS through a TV ad campaign called, “Do You Know?”

The commercials, which were featured on Comcast in October and November, were funded by a grant from the Tony Cox Foundation. It featured members of the chapter’s Legacy Program that mentors teen girls in grades 9 to 12.

The public service announcement encourages high school girls to know their partners HIV status before they engage in sexual contact.

For more information, visit www. ncbwdekalb.org or contact them at 770981-8775.

January 23, 2010

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Health & Wellness

“We wanted a team that was involved in the community as well as doing something that they wanted to do.”

Dance troupe takes its moves on the road to help community groups

By Lee Williams

Brittany Jones is not your typical teen.

She’s not the one you would expect to find day or night texting or cradling a cell phone to her ear because this 13-year-old Decatur resident is pretty shy.

But when the Chamblee Middle School student dons her glittery costume and steps into the spotlight with her sixmember Top Notch Dance Krew, it’s a whole another story.

“When she gets on stage, she turns into a different persona” said Mickie Lewis, the team’s dance instructor. “She starts showing attitude. We call her Showtime.”

The girl-only dance team of 11 to 16 year olds will hit the stage at the 2010 Health and Wellness Expo at 2:20 p.m.

The Krew’s other members are Giselle Coleman, 14, of Arabia Mountain High School in Lithonia, Brianna Cater, 14, of Miller Grove Middle School in Decatur, Raven Wheeler, 12, of Chapel Hill Middle School in Decatur, Pattrice Taylor, 15, of Redan High School in Stone Mountain and Melonie Campbell, 13, Edwards Middle School in Conyers.

Lewis said she too was shy like Brittany until she discovered the power of dance at age 12.

“Before, I was super shy,” said Lewis, 33, of Stone Mountain. “After I started to perform it was a wrap.”

Dancing has been a part of Lewis’ life ever since.

In October 2008, Susan McGhee, owner of the Academy of the Arts in Stone Mountain tapped her to lead the school’s first Hip-Hop Dance Team.

Lewis said the girls are ecstatic about

Members of the Top Notch Dance Krew perform at community events around the DeKalb and Rockdale counties. They are based at the Academy of the Arts in Stone Mountain.

“School is first. They have to maintain a “B” average in school, and they have to show me their report card. I won’t let them return to class without seeing it.”

Mickie Lewis, dance instructor

performing at the Jan. 30 health expo because it will give them an opportunity to show what they can do.

Last year, the group did the exercise demonstration with fitness motivator Rae

Clark and had so much fun, they wanted a full performance at this year’s expo.

It has been busy around town, performing at the Candlelight Vigil for Domestic Violence hosted by the Stone MountainLithonia Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and at Step Up to Better Health, nursing homes, North and South DeKalb malls, the city of Conyers Tree Lighting ceremony, and parades in metro Atlanta.

Dancing is important, but Lewis ensures that the girls learn more than just a few new dance moves when they come to the studio. They learn about character

education, social etiquette, how to be good stewards of their environment —and the importance of a good education.

Dance team members must have good grades, participate in community service activities and pass the audition process before they are chosen. Girls 8 to 17 are welcome to apply.

“School is first,” Lewis said. “They have to maintain a “B” average in school, and they have to show me their report card.

I won’t let them return to class without seeing it.”

The importance of helping others also is a large component of the group’s mission.

“Community service is a big part, too,” Lewis said. “We wanted a team that was involved in the community as well as doing something that they wanted to do.”

And dancing is simply a catalyst for inspiring greatness in the young girls.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lewis arranged to take the girls to the movies, but before they went to the outing, the girls donated cases of bottled water to the Girl Scouts for the Haiti relief effort.

“When they have an outlet that’s positive, it makes them better adults,” she said.

Group participation also has stirred higher career aspirations, and Lewis said she is happy to be making a difference in the girls’ lives.

Relatives in Lewis’ life encouraged her to pursue her dreams, and she wants to do the same.

She said many of the girls only had aspirations of becoming nurses or teachers because those were the only career opportunities that they knew about, but now they know that the sky is the limit.

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Health & Wellness

January 23, 2010

“I consider myself a servant of the Lord and I believe God has anointed me to do his work.”

Gospel singer sees her voice as an instrument to carry out the will of God

By Lee Williams

Sometimes a person’s blessing is not delivered in a sermon, but through a powerful song.

That message certainly rang true for contemporary gospel singer Sonya McGuire.

The Decatur resident will be showcasing her jazzy riffs and angelic voice at the Jan. 30 Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia. She will be on the Main Stage in front of Macy’s on the mall’s lower level at 3:15 p.m.

McGuire is he daughter of Rockdale County preacher Harold McGuire and grew up knowing what the Lord could do.

But the 35-year-old still had an epiphany four years ago when she arrived at a Baptist church in Macon to perform, expecting the usual gospel concert.

Instead, McGuire found out that God sometimes has other plans for you.

“That day everything was going wrong and I was beginning to get upset,” she said.

So instead of performing the song she planned, she said the spirit of God told her to sing “I Just Can’t Give Up Now,” a song recently remade by contemporary gospel group Mary Mary and also performed by Lee Williams & the Spiritual QC’s.

“I consider myself a servant of the Lord and I believe God has anointed me to do his work,” she said.

In the midst of the song, a man in his mid-20s approached her. His eyes were heavy, she recalled this week.

She knew he had been crying, but his tears had stopped flowing by the time he reached her.

Sonya McGuire, who grew up in a large family where everyone either played a musical instrument or sang, will bring her contemporary gospel to the Jan. 30 Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.

The man suddenly reached into his jacket. McGuire’s eyes grew wide when she saw something she never expected to see in a church.

“The man had a gun on his side and he gave me a letter,” McGuire said.

She learned later that the man had planned to take his own life after the service. But after receiving encouragement through the gospel song, he changed his mind. McGuire said the man’s sister knew

he was troubled and had encouraged him to go to church. He avoided the regular Sunday service and opted instead to attend the gospel concert.

“He went to the gospel concert because he didn’t want anyone preaching at him,” McGuire said.

At the end of the concert, the man intended to end his life.

But McGuire’s singing changed his mind.

She kept in touch with him and said he’s now married with children and doing well.

“Sometimes as artists we get so caught up in appearance and sound that we forget there are lives at stake,” she said.

McGuire, who is raising 14-year-old daughter Ariel and sons Mikhail, 17, and Dorion, 9, on her own, is grateful she is able to reach people through her music.

She comes from a large family that includes seven sisters and six brothers. All are all musically inclined.

Her father played the guitar, her mother sang, and all of her siblings either sang or played a musical instrument.

McGuire said she wasn’t always the obvious pick to become the next gospel star, but she honed her skills, first as a drummer at age 12, then as a choir director, and finally as a gospel singer.

The fact that people told her that she couldn’t do it only pushed her that much further. And this has made her success that much sweeter.

Her first solo album, “My Journey,” released in fall 2009, made others take notice.

Over the years she has shared the stage with gospel greats like Tye Tribbett, Donnie McClurkin, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Kim Burrell, Marvin Sapp, Marcus Cole, Natalie Wilson and S.O.P., Rizen, Nancy Jackson, Angela Spivey, Youthful Praise, Mary Mary, Eugene Cole and Purpose, Crystal Rucker, Bernard Johnson, Twinkie Clark-Terrell and the Georgia Mass Choir.

Her music is being played in 25 of the 50 states.

“God is really blessing me,” she said.

For more information, visit www. ­sonya mcguire.com.

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CrossRoadsNews

January 23, 2010

Health & Wellness

“I basically said we are looking for someone who loves music and who wants to nurture their music.”

Jazz band born out of party among friends to debut at Stonecrest Simply*Kool, will debut its easy listening and dance band sound at the 2010 Health & Wellness Expo.

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

Last March, Tarance Goodridge and some of his cycling buddies from the Metro Atlanta Cycling Club were sitting around at a birthday gathering for fellow cyclist Gregory Baranco saying, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a band.”

Ten months later, Goodridge, who plays the tenor, alto and soprano saxophone; guitarist Jonathan “Cowboy” Davenport; trombonist Adrian “A-Train” Ramsey; and trumpeter Drew Jackson are members of Simply*Kool, an easy listening and dance band that will debut its sound 11 a.m. at the Jan. 30 Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.

To round out the band’s sound, Good­ ridge needed a keyboardist and a drummer. Craigslist did the trick for him. His ad for “up and coming talent” yielded four responses in a day.

“I basically said we are looking for someone who loves music and who wants to nurture their music,” he said. “I also said that if you were a professional this wasn’t

Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews

for you.”

He eventually picked drummer Rich Beecham and keyboardist Jerome Tench from eight applicants.

The band plays R&B, smooth jazz, blues and reggae. Goodridge says even though the music is easy listening, they also give people a reason to hit the dance floor.

“We play a lot of familiar music,” he said. “As soon as you hear the first few chords, you will nod your head in recognition.”

Goodridge, who lives in Lithonia, said his primary reason for organizing the group was to play for Baranco at his next

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But when they started sounding real good, they got ideas.

“We thought, maybe people will pay to hear us,” said Goodridge, who is an Oracle technologist when he is not doing 50-mile bike rides or playing music.

Baranco, who is a co-owner of the Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead and Baranco Buick Pontiac and GMC dealerships, is not only a member of MACC, he is also a major sponsor of the club.

“Every year he opens up his Lithonia home to the guys and their families and we eat and drink and have a good time,”

said Goodridge, a longtime friend who encouraged Baranco to take up riding to stay healthy.

This year, Simply*Kool will be playing music for Baranco at that party. But before they do, band members are giving expo goers a sample of their sound.

The hobby musicians have been tinkering with their instruments for years. Good­ ridge took up the saxophone four years ago, when his son Akil wanted to join the band at Browns Mill Elementary School, where he was then a student.

The rest of the band members come from all over metro Atlanta. Davenport, who also does vocals, is from Loganville; Ramsey, who also plays the bass guitar, is from College Park; Beecham, also a vocalist, is from Marietta; Jackson lives in the city of Atlanta; and Tench is from Buford.

Goodridge said the band is looking for gigs at weddings, parties, and office and corporate events.

For more information, e-mail SimplyKoolBand@Gmail.com or call 678641-7016.

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January 23, 2010