All the flack over Rev. Jeremiah Wright and whether the Democratic super delegates will swing toward Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton has pulled attention away from strategies to fix the national health care system. But the fact that there are 47 million uninsured Americans means the issue is bound to become more important once the parties’ nominees are chosen.

So let’s  start talking issues. I’m posting links to each of the candidates’ positions on health care and health insurance.

John McCain has an entire sub-site dedicated to healthcare, with a video that’s prominently displayed. Of course he’s taking a free-market approach; he is a Republican.

Hillary Clinton’s site has position papers with a video down at the bottom of the page. But she talks specifically about ways her plan will help African Americans and women

Barack Obama’s position paper is here. He also has a list of frequently asked questions that explains how his proposal will affect ordinary Americans.

If you don’t have health insurance you are, unfortunately, not alone. Forty seven million Americans are sitting in the same boat, according to figures from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In order to bring attention to the issue, the organization has proclaimed this week as “Covered the Uninsured Week.”

The information they’ve put forth will sit you down for sure: 47 million uninsured Americans; 9 million of those folks are children; more than 8 out of 10 of those uninsured are working.

And if you’re a white-collar worker, you’ll want to pay attention. More and more professionals are losing their health insurance because employers don’t want to, or can’t cover the costs, according to this article by Maggie Mahar. Mahar writes for Alternet, a progressive online news magazine.

For more information on the campaign, go to www.covertheuninsured.org The site also has a state-by-state information guide for people who lack health insurance.

Our bodies are helping us protect our hearts. According to this article in the New York Times,  many African Americans carry a gene that mimics the behavior of beta blockers, an important class of drugs used to treat heart disease.

Beta blockers protect the heart by decreasing its response to epiniphrine (which used to be called adrenalin)  and norepiniprine, hormones that make the heart pump faster during times of emotional stress.

You’ll probably have to register with the nytimes.com in order to read this story. If you aren’t registered, do so. Reporter Gina Kolata has written an understandable story that explains this complex subject.  If you have heart disease, and are taking a beta blocker without seeing much improvement, show this article to your doctor.

If I had any doubts over whether the country is in a recession, they were erased after I talked to my neighbor. She’s the president of our suburb’s garden club. This year, she isn’t growing flowers in her garden. She’s growing vegetables. And she didn’t buy the little seedlings that are crowding the shelves at the home improvement stores. She started her veggies from seeds.

Talk about saving money! Well, we were. And that chat got me thinking about ways to be physically fit without laying out a hunk of dough. Here’s what I came up with. Contribute anything else you can think of.

1. Walk around the block instead of running at the gym. You’ll get the exercise you need, and you’ll save a bunch of loot to boot.
2. If you can’t exercise outside, go to the Goodwill store and buy an exercise machine. I see them there all the time. Take the machine home and put it in the den, family room or even your bedroom. Just use it.
3. Use canned vegetable as weights. I learned this one from my physical therapist. She had me hold a 15-ounce can of tomatoes in each hand while doing my shoulder exercises. It worked.
4. Grow your own food. If you don’t have a yard, don’t fret. All you need to grow lettuce is some potting soil, an 8-inch pot, some seeds and a sunny window. Use the same supplies to grow radishes, scallions or any type of salad green.
5. Join or start a community garden. Gardening is great exercise. And you’ll save a mint on the food bill when the summer rolls around.
6. Buy exercise tapes from a thrift store. Or, better yet, check them out from your local library. If you do the latter, you’ll have a new routine every three weeks when it’s time to turn the tape or DVD in.

All right. These are my hints. What are yours?

Last week marks the fourth time I’ve gotten a email that starts this way:

“This is how Sheryl Crow got breast cancer she was on the Ellen Show and she said the exact same thing…”

The email goes on to explain that the poor breast cancer victim- a friend’s mother – drank from a bottle of water that had been left in a car. A doctor told the woman that the heat and plastic created chemicals that can lead to breast cancer.

This is an urban legend. Read the background at snopes.com But ladies who are concerned about breast cancer can develop important habits.

1. Exam your breasts at least once a month.
2. Get an annual mammogram once you hit 40.

These are practical steps you should take to guard against the most common cancer afflicting African American women. When compared to white women, African American women face a greater risk of dying from the disease.

“White women get breast cancer with greater frequency, but it’s more virulent with African Americans,” says Dr. Ramona Swaby, an oncologist at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

She says that African American women tend to get triple negative breast cancer that only responds to chemotherapy. This form of breast cancer is aggressive and tends to re-occur.

Does that mean plastic water bottles are completely safe when it comes to cancer? The jury is out.

There is a growing controversy over whether Bisphenol-A, a synthetic compound found in a lot of consumer products and in dental sealants, is tied to early puberty. In a preliminary report, the National Toxicology Program, which is a part of the National Institutes of Health, called for more research into the effects of the compound on children.

When it comes to breast cancer though, major risk factors are aging and heredity.

“By the time a person gets to 80, the incidence of breast cancer is 1 in 8,” Swaby says. “For 5 to 10 percent of folks, there is a hereditary component.”

So what is the best defense? A good offense that includes monthly self-examination and an annual mammogram. The five-step self-examination can be done in the shower. If money is preventing you, or someone you know, from getting a mammogram, go to this page at the website of the American Breast Cancer Foundation for information on financial assistance for all sorts of diagnostic tests.

It seems like every health article explaining the disease of the week must contain a dire warning that the featured ailment is “the (fill in the number here) leading cause of death for African Americans.”

Yes, health issues are a problem in our community. But just how sick are we?

This list might give some idea. It’s the top 10 leading causes of death for African Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Although the data comes from 2004, these are the latest available figures.

1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Stroke
4. Diabetes
5. Unintentional injuries
6. Homicide
7. Kidney disease
8. Chronic respiratory diseases, such as bronchitis and emphysema
9. HIV/AIDS
10. Septicemia, or bacteria in the blood (usually associated with a severe illness.)

In case you’re wondering, here are the top 10 causes of death for the all Americans.

1. Heart Disease
2. Cancers
3. Cerebrovascular disease, such as strokes and brain aneurysm.
4. Chronic lower respiratory disease, like bronchitis and emphysema
5. Unintentional injuries
6. Diabetes
7. Alzheimer’s Disease
8. Influenza and pneumonia
9. Kidney disease
10. Septicemia

Good nutrition is a cornerstone of good health. Yet with all the emphasis on eating correctly, I wonder whether many of us stop to think about those who can barely make it from meal to meal. Haitians are living off mud cookies. Egyptians are lining up to buy bread. Food riots have occurred in Haiti, Pakistan and Senegal.

The world is in the midst of a global food crisis. Rising prices on wheat, corn and other staples are affecting us in the United States – just take a trip to the supermarket. But we are still blessed to be in the middle of an abundance of food.

In America, the poorest fifth of the households spend 16 percent of their budget on food. In Indonesia, half the budget goes toward food. In Nigeria, almost three-quarters of the budget goes toward food, according to figures from the New York Times.

So, if you can, take money you would have spent on coffee, candy or some other non-essential. Save it for week, and then donate it to a church, hunger center, or a non-profit that is working on the international food crisis.

If you can’t give money, give time. Or join with others to raise money and awareness: email your friends links to organizations that are working on hunger issues; raise the issue during the prayer meeting, or in testimony service.

To whom much is given, much is expected. African-Americans often concentrate on what we lack, in relation to the larger society. But we do have so much more than so many in the world, we can afford to share.

If you want to read a story about the global food crisis, go to this story at allafrica.com. If you want to read the editorial that inspired this posting, go to “Food Price Crisis: A Wake Up Call for New Policies to Eradicate Hunger

On this blog, I don’t write much about first aid. But this article  from Newsweek.com on common first aid mistakes is a keeper.

As the writer notes, emergency room waits are getting longer and longer. It’s becoming more important to know what to do for a nosebleed, a cut finger, or a sprained ankle.  This story tells why some conventional wisdom – like putting butter on a burn – can harm rather than help.

Don’t let this story sit on the computer desktop. Print it out and post it on the refrigerator, or another prominent place. Have everyone in the house read it regularly so you’ll all know what do to if you’re in a “home health emergency.”

…so why not use the same mindset when you go to the doctor?

When it comes to office visits, time is money. Make the most of your appointment by preparing before you step into the waiting room. Here are some things you can do.

Write down your symptoms – I like to use my planner for this. Because I usually carry it in my purse, I can grab it when I need it, and I know I’ll have it when I go to the physician. Write down when and how often the symptom occurs. Try to describe how you feel: does the pain burn, or does it feel like pins and needles? Don’t forget about the context of your symptom: for example do you have problems after eating a particular food, or after a particular activity?  Grab a pen and note it.

Bring a list of your medications, allergies and other conditions – Include the dosages and the instructions for taking them. If you do this, you’ll breeze through that mandatory form you receive at the beginning of each visit. Then give the list to your doctor and ask that it be included in your patient folder.

Write down your questions – This one is crucial. I like to use some of the six basic questions of journalism – who, what, when, where, why and how – as a guide. For example, if you’re getting a prescription, ask why the medicine is necessary? What change can you expect to see? When should you take the medicine? How should you take it, and how often? Leave a place on your pad for the answers, so you can jog your memory later.

Find a trusted friend to take with you – Ask a person who is familiar with your situation to accompany you and let the doctor know he or she will be present and attentive during the visit. Share your preparations and concerns with your friend so s/he can ask about things you’ve overlooked.

Butyoudontlooksick.com has a great article on preparing for a doctor’s visit.  This site/blog belongs to Christine Miserandino, a self-described “writer…patient advocate who.. happens to be living with lupus.” The site has good community with message boards and reader comments. Although the site is primarily geared to those with chronic illnesses, Ms. Miserandino’s site will help anyone who wants to become an informed, pro-active patient.

I don’t think anyone would argue that children need to eat fruits and vegetables instead of junk. And I think most of us will agree that the adults in a family and a community are a child’s first teachers.

So what’s on the tines of your fork? Something good-tasting and good for you?  Or something else?

I thought about this today when I was eating at my church potluck. The sistas and brothas showed out, that’s for sure. We had three pans of mac and cheese, stewed chicken, stewed smoked turkey, green beans and greens…

On the dessert table, we had fruit salad and a nice big cake. Surprisingly, the fruit salad went first! And as I watched the kids standing in line, I thought about the message several adults had sent – eating healthy is enjoyable, too.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t a good role model. So…

This week, I’m going to eat as if children were watching every forkful. And I’m going to note everything I eat. It’s a way of eating mindfully, of thinking about food instead of just consuming it.

After all, somebody might be watching. And if they are, am I teaching the lesson I want to teach?