Blood pressure control could save 8,000 Blacks a year. The lives of nearly 8,000 Black Americans could be saved each year if doctors could figure out a way to bring their average blood pressure down to the average level of Whites, a new study finds. The gap between the races in controlling blood pressure is well-known, but scientists say the resulting loss of life comes as a surprise. The study’s lead author says he believes action can be taken to close the gap, but there is evidence that it will take more than leveling the quality of care between Blacks and Whites. A second article in the same journal found that racial differences persist in blood pressure control in England, despite a national health system that provides equal access to care. The reasons for the racial difference have more to do with poverty and cultural habits than access to medical care, researchers say. Both can prevent people from exercising, eating healthy foods and getting in to see a good doctor. For more on controlling blood pressure, go to BET.com/Body & Soul.

Catholic leaders vow to fight Obama on abortion. The nation’s Catholic bishops are expected to issue a statement Wednesday pledging cooperation with President-elect Barack Obama on numerous social issues but vowing all-out opposition to any law or executive order he may sign advocating abortion rights. The initial draft of the bishops’ statement expressed a “desire to work with the administration” on social issues, such as immigration, economic justice and health care for the poor, highlighting that, “The Church is intent on doing good.” However, “the Church is also intent on opposing evil,” says the next line.

High blood pressure is on the rise. Increasingly, more Americans are being diagnosed and treated for high blood pressure, recent studies by the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute have shown. High blood pressure, by itself, can cause major problems, and is a known risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Also, high blood pressure is diagnosed in obese patients. The institute’s numbers were collected from two National Health and Nutrition Examination surveys, done between 1988 and 1994, respectively 1999 and 2004. After analyzing the data and interpreting the results, the researchers found that women experience higher blood pressure after the age of 40, and men after the age of 60. In the decade prior to 2004, Americans experienced a 5.2 percent increase in high blood pressure cases. However, in the 30,781 cases studied, 72 percent knew they had the disease, 61 percent were in treatment and 35 percent were able to keep their blood pressure in check.

Robin Roberts had an “all-time low” after chemotherapy.  While undergoing chemo treatments for breast cancer, Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts says she reached an all-time low.  “I was in a really bad place,” she tells PEOPLE. “I didn’t want to fake it [on TV].”  Roberts, 47, decided to take off the last three weeks of the year – the longest break she had taken since her diagnosis last July. “I needed more rest. It was too much,” she says, especially given her grueling up-before-dawn work schedule. “I don’t recommend anyone going through chemo get up at 4 a.m.”  By December, the treatment had become an emotional drain. “I was mourning the loss of my health,” says Roberts. But she rebounded quickly after her year-end respite. “I think taking long walks really helped,” she says. “And I circled Jan. 10, the day of my last chemo treatment, on the calendar so I had a goal, an end in sight.”

Two of every three Black men are overweight. Two of every three men, four out of five women and one in five children in the Black community are overweight, according to the  50 Million Pound Challenge, which seeks to reduce obesity and encourage healthy lifestyles in the Black community.  Fitness expert and physician Ian Smith said he began the program last year to provide a “national platform” for healthier living among Blacks, reports The Washington Post.  Smith said that the campaign’s challenge for 50 million pounds of weight loss can be met if 25 percent of the 20 million Blacks in the United States who are considered overweight or obese each lost 10 pounds (Kaiser Health Disparities Report, 4/5/07). More than 690,000 people across the nation have joined the challenge since April 2007, and almost three million pounds have been lost. Smith said, “What we are trying to do is not only to get people to lose weight, but to get them to take a better look at the choices that are directly impacting their physical and spiritual health.” He added, “Poor lifestyle choices and cultural entrenchments have, unfortunately, made African Americans extremely vulnerable to a wide range of diseases that are in many cases life-threatening.” 

Chinese treat more than 13,000 children for tainted milk. The number of Chinese infants sickened and hospitalized after drinking tainted milk formula doubled to nearly 13,000, Chinese officials reported. Premier Wen Jiabao threatened harsh punishment for culprits in the latest blight on the “made-in-China” brand, Reuters News reports. Four deaths have been blamed on the toxic milk powder, causing kidney stones and agonizing complications, and a string of Asian countries have banned or recalled Chinese milk products. The Health Ministry said the number of children hospitalized due to the milk powder contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine rose from a previously announced total of 6,244 – which included many who had left hospital – to 12,892, including 104 who were in a serious condition. More than 1,500 had already left hospital and nearly 40,000 with milder symptoms “received clinical treatment and advice” before going home. Melamine elevates protein readings in dairy products, allowing milk producers to thwart government inspectors. The ministry did not explain the sharp rise. Meanwhile, U.S. officials have banned the import of infant formula from China.

Sports cause the most eye injuries in youths. Sports-related eye injuries are the leading cause of blindness in school-age children, but most could be prevented with the proper eye protection, HealthDay reports. To educate the public on this, Prevent Blindness America – the nation’s oldest volunteer eye health and safety organization – has made September “Sports Eye Health and Safety Awareness Month.” “We already know that 72 percent of all sports-related eye injuries are to those age 25 and younger. Yet, only 15 percent of children wear eye protection,” Hugh R. Parry, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness America, said in a statement Friday. “We strongly support all efforts to ensure that children use appropriate safety eyewear for every sport in which they participate.” Emergency rooms in the United States treat a sports-related eye injury every 13 minutes, the organization says. Baseball causes the greatest number of sports-related eye injuries in children aged 14 and younger, according to the National Eye Institute, while basketball is the leading cause of eye injuries in those aged 15 to 24. It is believed that 90 percent of all sports-related eye injuries can be prevented with the proper eye protection. Lenses made of polycarbonate that carry the American Society of Testing Materials label are recommended.

Many doctors don’t know blood pressure rules

. Too many family docs start high blood pressure treatment for later than they should, a new study found. The men in the study were Black, but the same is probably true for men in general, said Dr. Joseph Ravenell, who reported the findings Friday at the American Heart Association’s Council for High Blood Pressure Research annual meeting in Atlanta. Traditionally, the emphasis has been on patient behavior, such as patients not properly taking their medication, said Ravenell, the New York University scientist who did the study while at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical. But there is increasing evidence that the problem of poor hypertension control is not just on patients, HealthDay reports. Doctors didn’t start treating middle-aged men with high blood pressure in time the study indicated. A related study shows that a low-salt diet could control high blood pressure. Of the doctors treating the 891 Black men studied in Dallas County, most of whom were primary-care physicians, only 36 percent said they would start treatment for a 45-year-old Black man with an office blood pressure of 145/92 and an out-of-office pressure of 154/95, both well above the recommended 120/80 level. None of the 22 doctors interviewed was familiar with the national guidelines calling for treatment of blood pressure at such levels. Ravenell said the results, though surprising, were in tune with other earlier results showing that doctors weren’t following the guidelines as well as they should. As Black men were at a high risk of death from hypertension, Ravenell felt physicians ought to be particularly careful handling them and should ensure that they are appropriately applying the guidelines to all patients. In a related study …, researchers found that by controlling salt intake, high blood pressure patients could control blood pressure that was not controlled by medication. This finding was also presented at Friday’s Heart Association meeting on high blood pressure. “A high-salt diet contributes importantly to treatment-resistant hypertension (high blood pressure),” Dr. Eduardo Pimenta from the Dante Pazzanese Institute of Cardiology, Sao Paulo, Brazil, told Reuters Health.