Category: Health
The CARE Project, Inc. Adds End-of-Life Doula Services for Breast Cancer Patients
“I discovered part of my true purpose in walking alongside those with a limited time left. I value the trust that patients and their loved ones place in me during such a personal and trying time,” said Carrie Madrid. RIVERSIDE, CA, The CARE Project, Inc., a Riverside-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting individuals diagnosed with breast…
Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties Honored at Health Care Communicators of Southern California ‘Finest Awards’
ANAHEIM, Calif. (June 1, 2026) – The award-winning marketing team at Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties (PPOSBC) once again is honored for its tireless efforts to provide engaging information to patients and supporters in creative and new ways at the annual Health Care Communicators of Southern California (HCCSC) Finest Awards. The in-house…
Honoring Black Artists, Music, and Sound: Finding Health in Every Beat!
By Monica Soni, MD Covered California Chief Medical Officer As we celebrate Black Music Month, I would like to share with you how I connect music to my family’s overall health and well-being. Since a very young age, music has always rocked my world. At the age of 4, I was already dancing to the…
Lose Weight Without Excessive Workouts
Milwaukee, WI — Losing weight doesn’t have to mean long gym sessions, intense HIIT classes, or spending hours exercising every week. The right kind of low-to-moderate activity can increase calorie burn, improve consistency, and help your body stay active without burnout. TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly SM), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization, with…
Black Babies Used for Medical Trials by Feds, Lawsuit Filed
By NY Carib News A federal lawsuit filed by prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump alleges that two Black infants were used as subjects in a government-sponsored experimental vaccine study without their parents’ knowledge or consent, resulting in tragic consequences that continue to reverberate decades later. The complaint, filed on May 22, centers on the…
Small Nutrition Changes, Big Health Impacts for Older Adults
By Dr. Damanpreet Jamarai, Medicare & Retirement Chief Medical Officer, UnitedHealthcare of California As we head into the warmer months, it’s a natural time to reevaluate our nutrition and fitness routines. There’s no better time than now to take stock of our daily habits and recommit to the healthy choices that support long-term well-being, starting…
CDC Mobilizes International Response Following Ebola Disease Outbreak in DRC and Uganda
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has mobilized response activities following confirmation of an Ebola outbreak in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and cases in Uganda. Through existing relationships with the DRC and Uganda Ministries of Health, CDC was notified of the ongoing outbreak as soon as cases were confirmed…
Your Medical Provider Might Be Recording Your Mental Health Care Visits
By Roxsy Lin In 2024, Kaiser Permanente announced the rollout of Abridge. Described in a press release as “ambient listening technology,” the AI-powered scribe is designed to help clinicians including mental health providers securely capture clinical notes during patient visits. But what the description fails to indicate is that the tool records entire medical appointments,…
Price controls could prevent the next “miracle drug”
By Sally C. Pipes and Wayne Winegarden The death rate from cancer in the United States has fallen by more than one-third since 1991. HIV-related mortality has dropped ninefold since 1995. Death rates for Alzheimer’s, chronic respiratory diseases, and stroke have all declined in recent years, too. These gains didn’t happen by accident. They’re the…
Prescription Drug Costs Are Forcing Families to Choose Between Medicine and Meals
By KiwiDrug High prescription drug costs create serious financial burdens on many American families. These same families have no choice but to make extremely difficult financial choices. The most severely impacted are typically those in the lower-income bracket. New research from the West Health-Gallup Center found that nearly a third (82 million) of Americans cut…
Patients in Koreatown Are Delaying or Dropping Health Care
By Nicole Chang LOS ANGELES — More low-income and immigrant patients in Los Angeles’ Koreatown are delaying health care because of concerns over medical costs. This comes amid increasingly stringent Medi-Cal eligibility reviews and restrictions on new enrollments. The new rules, along with the closure and consolidation of services at health clinics countywide, are fueling…
Hantavirus: The Rare But Dangerous Disease Making Headlines
By Aria Ellise, BDO Special Contributor It seems like everyone is talking about the Hantavirus. There have been people questioning if it’s like the coronavirus that plagued us years back. Some say it’s just an over-hyped flu. But what’s the truth? Luckily, BlackDoctor has you covered. Hantavirus is a rare but potentially deadly virus that…
Breaking the Mental Health Stigma of “What Happens in this house Stays in this House”
By Ms. Wanda Radio Host, Full Circle KDEE-FM There are lots of reasons why people don’t seek assistance when it comes to mental health, especially in our community and it’s time we break those barriers. For far too long, we have had this saying in our community of “What happens in this house stays in…
Early detection of maternal sepsis is critical for survival
by Special to the AFRO In today’s contentious climate, we often hear political debates about maternal healthcare. Readers may be surprised to learn that maternal sepsis – a condition many are unaware of – is the U.S.’s second leading cause of maternal mortality. Maternal sepsis is the body’s overwhelming response to any infection that occurs…
Speaking with Kids About Mental Health
By Dr. Patrice Le Goy, PhD, LMFT, MBA | International Psychologist and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist | Jacksonville Free Press When recently speaking to a group of soon-to-be therapists, and one person made the comment that they were afraid to work with kids. They were concerned that they wouldn’t know the right thing to…
News Analysis: Reducing Anger and Stopping Violence by Inspiring Self-Worth
By Stephanie E. Myers, Ph.D. (TriceEdneyWire.com) – People of Color in America are witnessing crisis in families, communities, and workplaces. Examples include violence from ICE attacks in communities, reactions to wars overseas, and domestic violence tragedies across the country. While national statistics report that homicides and violence in the USA have reduced over the past…
A New Hope for Hard-to-Treat Bladder Cancer Made It Through Clinical Trials
By Team BlackDoctor.org (HealthDay News) — There’s new hope for people battling advanced bladder cancer who do not respond to first-line therapy, researchers report. An experimental new drug with the unwieldy name of cretostimogene grenadenorepvec spurred complete remission of the cancer in three-quarters of patients who hadn’t responded to an immune-focused treatment typically used to…
Overcoming the Guilt of a Medical Diagnosis: My Kidney Disease Journey
A Call to Action to Help Fight Kidney Failure in At-Risk Communities: American Kidney Fund Urges People to be APOL1 Aware Newly established AMKD Coalition unites leading voices to address need to heighten awareness of APOL1-mediated kidney disease (AMKD) APOL1-Mediated Kidney Disease (AMKD) is a genetic condition associated with variants (mutations) in the APOL1…
How Babies’ Brains Develop
By Katie Dukes, director of early childhood policy, EdNC When babies are born, their brains contain billions of neurons. But how those neurons interact — and what they can do as babies grow through childhood into adulthood — is largely shaped by their experiences in the first 1,000 days of life. The architecture of the…
5 Ways To Navigate Health Care Costs And Coverage With Confidence
By Steve Cain, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of California April is Financial Literacy Month, a good time to learn how your health plan can support your financial and health goals. Understanding your coverage can be a vital part of your family’s financial planning. Especially since 36% of adults report skipping care due to cost in the last…
Black Women in Rural Areas Grapple with Stark Decline in Obstetric Care
By Ashleigh Fields, Special to the AFRO Black women in rural areas are facing the brunt of declining medical services, including access to obstetric care as new policies threaten clinic and hospital closures. Under the current White House administration’s summer spending package, federal reimbursement for services covered through Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act severely…
7 Autoimmune Diseases That Make You Fat (or Skinny)
Characterized as a disease in which the body’s immune system attacks its healthy cells, autoimmune diseases can be both tricky to diagnose, as well as accompanied by a long list of rather dreadful symptoms. There are over 100 known autoimmune diseases. Common ones include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Autoimmune diseases can…
Questions to ask your doctor after 60
By Victoria Mejicanos AFRO Staff Writer After decades of facing various social, economic, racial and health disparities, it’s no surprise that some Black elderly patients are hesitant to visit the doctor for regular screenings or may not always know what to ask. This month the AFRO spoke with medical professionals to discuss the importance of…
National Medical Association Hosts 2026 Colloquium on African American Health in Washington, D.C., Advancing Solutions for Health Equity
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 21, 2026) — The National Medical Association (NMA), the nation’s largest and oldest organization representing African American physicians and their patients, is convening leading clinicians, researchers, and health advocates for its 2026 National Colloquium on African American Health, taking place at The Morrow Hotel in Washington, D.C. The event started on Thursday…
Mysterious Respiratory Illness Barrels Through US, Without Vaccine or Cure
By Sunita Sohrabji Northern California and several states on the East Coast are experiencing a dramatic surge in human metapneumovirus. Antivirals are not yet available to fend off the illness. The US is experiencing a dramatic surge in human metapneumovirus — HMPV — a little-known respiratory illness, which currently has no vaccine or antiviral treatment….
