Join us for a Spanish Language Twitter Chat

To talk about Minority Health Month and what the health law means for Latinos, we’ll be hosting a Spanish language twitter chat on Tuesday, April 10th at 2pm EST. You can follow along at our Spanish language twitter handle: @HHSLatino, and also by following the hashtag: #LaSaludLatina. Between now and then, think of the question you might have about Latinos and health, and then ask via twitter during the chat.

Fish oil and polyps

A study indicates that women who eat at least three servings a week of fish with omega-3 fatty acids have a lower risk of polyps that could develop into colon cancer. Vanderbilt University researcher Harvey Murff saw this in data on people who reported what they ate and who had colonoscopies – exams to check for polyps.

Watching out for glaucoma

Glaucoma can sneak up on a person. The eye condition damages the optic nerve that carries information to the brain. Glaucoma can affect the outer edges of the field of vision – the side vision. At Yale School of Medicine, Dr. James Tsai says glaucoma can come on so slowly that, in its early stages, people might not be aware it’s happening.

How’s your A1C

An A1C test can help to diagnose diabetes. That’s because an A1C test measures the sugar glucose attached to a specific blood protein, hemoglobin, which stays in the blood about three months. By comparison, the standard blood test for glucose is at a single point in time.

Kicking cancer to the curb

Data from the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer tells us that cancer death rates are dropping. Between 2004 and 2008, death rates for all cancers combined decreased 1.6 percent per year. The reduction is a combination of healthier American lifestyles and understanding of different health risks.