BLACK HISTORY MONTH featuring: Hazel I Jackson

BEVALUED

Hazel I Jackson , a native of South Carolina, earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary English education from South Carolina State College and a master’s of education degree from Temple University.  She did post-graduate work at Delaware University.    Prior to moving to Lancaster in 1952, she taught four years in the public schools of South Carolina. 

In 1961, Lancaster Sertoma Club began a mission to help African-Americans who had been deprived of job opportunities to get into their qualified fields.  Every time she applied for a teaching postiion, she had to supply a picture along with the application, so school boards knew she was African-American.   She was rejected 12 times–“not because of her credentials.”  But, she didn’t let that stop her.  It just inspired her to work harder to get a foot in the door as a subsitute teacher.  Eventually, she was hired as an English teacher  for seventh and eighth…

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New Findings on HRT (hormone replacement therapy)

Original Publication Date: 03/02/2009
Last Modified: 03/09/2009
Principal Author: Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP

New evidence on the use of hormones for menopause

Here’s a quick overview of what’s new in HRT:

• Coronary heart disease. If HRT is initiated within ten years of menopause or in women under 60, it may help reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease. It appears that estrogen therapy alone delivers better results than combined estrogen and progestin (any hormone that causes progesterone-like effects.) The caveat for women with a uterus, however, is that they do need a form of progesterone to “oppose” potential risks of estrogen alone.
• Breast health. A closer look at the 2002 WHI data revealed that estrogen therapy alone was not associated with an increase in breast cancer risk, but that estrogen together with progestogen (synthetic progesterone) slightly increased the risk of breast cancer. This is still true, but a recent small study suggests that adding testosterone to estrogen and progestogen could help counteract the breast cell proliferation associated with cancer. In addition, the increase in women’s blood estrogen levels when they’re on HRT is associated with increased breast density, but there is also evidence that using bioidentical progesterone instead of synthetic progestin forms lessens breast density.
• Cognitive health. The 2004 WHIMS (Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study) study showed that initiating estrogen therapy or estrogen/progestogen therapy in women over 65 had a negative effect on cognition — particularly if they had already experienced some cognitive decline. But another study looking at younger women, between the ages of 50 and 63, showed that those on hormone therapy had a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease than those that weren’t.
• Cholesterol and triglycerides. Back in 1997, the PEPI (Postmenopausal Estrogen Progestin Intervention) trial showed that women aged 45–60 on conjugated equine estrogens alone (Premarin) or conjugated equine estrogens and natural progesterone had significant increases in “good” cholesterol, compared to those receiving conjugated equine estrogens with a synthetic progestogen (Prempro). Now, we also know that bioidentical estradiol delivered across the skin reduces triglycerides, rather than increasing triglycerides as do estrogens that are swallowed in pill form — both synthetic and bioidentical.
• Blood clots. In pill forms that are swallowed, the risk for a blood clot (also known as venous thromboembolism) varies by the type of progesterone or progestogen used. The lowest risk comes with using natural progesterone and the highest comes with norpregnane derivatives (synthetic progesterones). Estrogen, on the other hand, if given transdermally (across the skin), comes with no increased risk of blood clot.

What should a woman make of all these findings? Though this new research is promising, much of it still looks at synthetic progesterone and equine estrogen (estrogen derived from a pregnant horse). These hormone forms can be patented by drug companies and are therefore molecularly different from the hormones we make in our bodies. Bioidentical hormones, those that have the same molecular structure as those made in our bodies, have been less studied, but are becoming more popular, especially with Oprah’s recent discussions. We’ve always used bioidentical hormones at Women to Women because we feel they are gentler on the system than synthetics. For more about the differences between synthetic and bioidentical hormones, see our bioidentical hormones article.

Above all we have to remember that hormone therapy, synthetic or bioidentical, is not the right choice for every woman — because we all have our own unique set of circumstances. In my practice, I evaluate each HRT case individually, at each appointment. Every time I see a woman on or considering HRT, we discuss individual risks, look at the recent research, and discuss her quality of life, so each woman can make an informed decision about starting or continuing bHRT on her own terms. And I generally recommend women stay on hormones for fewer than five to seven years.

Risks and benefits of HRT — individuality is central

Do the benefits outweigh the risks for you?

Consider these questions while making your decision about HRT:

• Are you less than 60 years old?
• Are you close to menopause and still having symptoms?
• Does your personal or family medical history include breast cancer, endometrial cancer, or liver disease?
• Is your quality of life being seriously compromised by your symptoms?

When I sit down with a woman considering hormone replacement therapy, I always look at her age, proximity to menopause, medical history, and her quality of life. Quality of life is so important, and it’s something conventional practitioners often dismiss if the research shows any kind of risk associated with a given treatment. I have one patient who was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago, and even after the 2002 WHI results came out, she decided she’d never go back to life without bio-HRT. I’ve always respected her position. (Keep in mind, we’re checking her hormone levels yearly — sometimes twice a year — and she’s taking bioidentical HRT.) Each woman, especially when given the information to make an educated decision, has the right to decide what is best for her body.

Take a look at the questions in the box to the right. Researchers tell us that the risk profile for hormone replacement therapy goes down in women under 60, women less than ten years from menopause, and women who don’t have a history of breast cancer, endometrial cancer, or liver disease. In my opinion, whether or not your hormones are still fluctuating is a more important consideration than whether it’s been less than ten years since you entered menopause. It is safer to introduce HRT when hormones haven’t tapered off yet.

If you think about it logically, reintroducing hormones when the system has adjusted to life without them — like the majority of women enrolled in the WHI study (average age 63) — doesn’t make much sense. Their estrogen and progesterone receptors have most likely diminished in activity, and adding hormones when the body isn’t expecting them or in need of them sends mixed messages. I’ve heard some patients describe menopause and perimenopause like a plane crash — you can feel it coming and then suddenly you hit the ground. I know that your perspective on life can change with the fluctuation of your hormones — after all, the body and mind are intimately connected. But supplementing those hormones as close to menopause as possible can “soften the landing,” so there is less shock to the system.

Each woman has a different set of circumstances that determine her personal risk, but based on the new evidence and what I’ve experienced in practice, the safety of HRT is enhanced if the following guidelines are met:

• It is given to younger women (under 60), who are close to menopause and whose hormones are still fluctuating.
• The woman does not have a history of breast cancer, endometrial cancer, or liver disease.
• The woman uses bioidentical hormones as opposed to synthetic HRT.
• The woman uses transdermal, transvaginal, sublingual, or “melt” forms of HRT instead of pills that need to be swallowed.
• Hormone replacement therapy doesn’t go on for more than five to seven years.

Black Women with AIDS

By Richard Morin Thursday, March 9, 2006; Page A02 It is one of the most puzzling mysteries of the AIDS epidemic: Why did blacks, in little more than a dozen years, become nine times as likely as whites to contract a disease once associated almost exclusively with gay white men? Two researchers say they found the answer in an unlikely place: prison. Blacks and AIDS Mid-1980s Roughly similar rates to those of whites for men and women. TODAY • Black men are seven times as likely as white men to develop AIDS. • Black women are 19 times as likely as white women. About This Column Richard Morin is a senior editor at the Pew Research Center and former polling director at The Washington Post. For more about these and other studies, go to the Pew Research Center Web site. Rucker C. Johnson and Steven Raphael of the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley analyzed census data and a federal database containing detailed information on about 850,000 men and women who contracted AIDS between 1982 and 1996. They discovered that the surge in black AIDS patients — particularly women — since the early 1980s closely tracked the increase in the proportion of black men in America’s prisons, which by the 1990s had become vast reservoirs of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The percentage of prisoners who were black increased from 40 percent in 1982 to well over half in 1996, according to government data. At the same time, get-tough sentencing policies more than doubled the prison population, producing even more infected black men who passed the disease on to black women after they were released. So powerful is the relationship between race, prison and AIDS that it almost completely explains why half of all new AIDS patients in 2002 were African Americans even though only 12 percent of the population is black; in 1982, African Americans made up less than a quarter of new AIDS cases. The link remained strong even after researchers controlled for factors associated with AIDS, including the use of crack cocaine, Raphael said. Part of the reason for the rapid spread of AIDS among African Americans is that so many black men spend time behind bars, Johnson said. About one out of 12 black men are in jail or prison, compared with one in 100 white men; at current rates, a third of all black males born today will do time. What explains the black-white prison gap? Raphael said the question is beyond the scope of the study, but other researchers point to poverty, a lack of opportunities, racism in the criminal justice system and the lure of the “thug life.” Whatever the cause, the AIDS gap is not going away. Other studies suggest that half of all prisoners engage in homosexual sex. But safe-sex programs, key to controlling AIDS in the gay community, are unwelcome inside prison walls. In fact, “it’s illegal to distribute condoms in prisons in all but one state” because lawmakers fear it would encourage gay sex, Johnson said.

Did Juanita Bynum do the Right Thing?

On the homepage and “GREETINGS” page of the site here, there is a link to the Juanita Bynum & husband, Bishop Weeks brouhaha where he was on trial for violently assaulting her in a parking lot last year. There was a media circus about this with many revelations about the violence and sordid behavior in the marriage.  According to the article about the outcome of the trial, she was pressured by his grandfather to write a letter to the court asking for leniency in sentencing him. She wrote it and he got of very lightly. 

I think Juanita is in need of much spiritual and emotional healing. It’s ironic that she is a prophetess, but is not spiritually well.  In my opinion, she is definitely in no position to try to preach to or teach other women how how to conduct themselves in a relationship with their mate.  Primarily, she needs to work on her own healing and realize her VALUE, which she obviously doesn’t know.  When a woman realizes her value, she doesn’t allow a man to mistreat her repeatedly.  This is the main reason why this site is named “BEVALUED,” because we want women to focus a lot more on their value and learn to place a high value on themselves.  Jesus affirmed the value of women and in his teachings, we can see that he considered women and men as equals!  Yet many people in the society still come up with all kinds of reasons, explanations, and excuses for men who beat and mistreat women. Lots of pressure is put on women sometimes to forgive men for assaulting them or not press charges against the men.  No wonder Juanita and other women continue to let the men escape the punishment they deserve.

 Why does Juanita feel it’s okay for her to be any man’s punching bag? I believe it’s only a matter of time before he beats her again, but I hope I’m wrong.   According to articles I read about Bishop Weeks, this is not the first time he has physically attacked Juanita and he even attacked one of the female employees at their big church according to another article I read.  According to that article, this female employee was paid not to press charges.

I think there are many lessons for women to learn from the violence in this relationship. One of the many questions that comes to mind is: Were they equally yoked? I ask this because she was far more famous than he was when they met and this may have caused him to be jealous of her success.  What are some other lessons we can learn from this relationship?