Health Rewind: Abortion Rates Down in NYC, But Highest for Black Women

Plus, helmets don't protect players from side hits.

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NYC Black Women Have More Abortions Than Live Births - The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently released its pregnancy and abortion rates for 2012. Among that data, African-Americans had the highest rates with 31,328 abortions, compared to 22,917 among Latinas and 9,704 among whites, says The Daily Mail. Also, we aborted more fetuses than babies with 24,758 “live births” that same year. —Kellee Terrell (@kelleent)(Photo: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images)

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Docs Are Unhappy About Retail Clinics Giving Kids Care - The American Academy of Pediatrics  (AAP) has come out against parents using retail-based clinics (RBCS) for permanent care for their children and teens, USA Today reported. RBCs, which can be found in stores such as Target, Walgreens and Kroger, are great for occasional care, but are mostly stocked with nurses instead of actual doctors, which worries the AAP. (Photo: Garry Wade/Getty Images)

How Is Dementia Different? - Dementia and Alzheimer’s are not always the same thing. Dementia is not a disease — it’s a term that describes a series of symptoms. Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia. Another form is vascular dementia, which usually happens after a stroke and impairs the arteries and blood flow from the heart to the brain.  (Photo: LWA/GettyImages)

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Should More African-Americans Be in Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials? - A recent op-ed in the Reporter Online pleads its case for why more African-Americans should partake in Alzheimer’s clinical trials. The writer acknowledges our mistrust of the medical community (i.e. Tuskegee), but points out that Blacks could greatly benefit from medical advances in this field given how our genes may play a factor in how the disease affects us and how we respond to treatment. (Photo: LWA/GettyImages)

It's the Little Things - Have you ever been in conversation with a person you might’ve met once or twice in passing and they remember something about you? Your instant reaction is usually, “Wow, you remembered?” Being observant and paying attention to small details always makes a huge impact when connecting with someone. (Photo: Mark Edward Atkinson/Tracey Lee/Getty Images)

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Black Women’s Thoughts on Health Care - The Center for American Progress polled Black women on what they need for stronger health care and 94 percent of us believed that it should include breast and cervical care; 94 percent prenatal care; 91 percent HIV and STD testing and 86 percent contraception and birth control. Also, 80 percent of us believe that abortion should remain legal. (Photo: Mark Edward Atkinson/Tracey Lee/Getty Images)

STD/HIV Counseling and Testing - With health care reform, HIV/STD counseling and testing are now included in our annual exams. Also, use this time with your doc to talk about safer sex and better ways to talk to new partners about condom use. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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NAACP to Host Social Justice-Based HIV Training for Faith Leaders  - To encourage Black churches to engage in HIV work, the NAACP is hosting an HIV training for faith leaders in D.C. on Feb. 27. These trainings will include lessons on how to provide HIV testing to their congregations and ways to talk about HIV prevention. The NAACP also hopes that these trainings will help reduce stigma around HIV in our community as well. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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How Obamacare Can Strengthen Black America’s Vision - A recent article in the Ophthalmology Times discusses how Obamacare can lessen vision health disparities in the U.S. Advocates believe that increased access to quality vision care can make a real difference in reducing the rates of blindness among African-Americans. Almost 7 percent of Blacks lose their eyesight unnecessarily for an issue that being prescribed glasses could have fixed. (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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How Obamacare Can Strengthen Black America’s Vision - A recent article in the Ophthalmology Times discusses how Obamacare can lessen vision health disparities in the U.S. Advocates believe that increased access to quality vision care can make a real difference in reducing the rates of blindness among African-Americans. Almost 7 percent of Blacks lose their eyesight unnecessarily for an issue that being prescribed glasses could have fixed. (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

How Parents Can Help Kids With Big Appetites - Kids genetically prone to obesity are more likely to overeat, but one way to curb this is for parents to step in, says a recent study from the U.K. Researchers found that these kids lack certain brain receptors that tell them that they are full. But what helps is if parents can reduce their portions, have kids slow down when eating and not let them eat while watching TV, says USA Today. (Photo: NTI/Landov)

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How Parents Can Help Kids With Big Appetites - Kids genetically prone to obesity are more likely to overeat, but one way to curb this is for parents to step in, says a recent study from the U.K. Researchers found that these kids lack certain brain receptors that tell them that they are full. But what helps is if parents can reduce their portions, have kids slow down when eating and not let them eat while watching TV, says USA Today. (Photo: NTI/Landov)

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New C-Section Guidelines Handed Down - Two major medical groups released new guidelines to lower the unnecessary C-section rates in the U.S. It’s advised that first-time mothers with low complications should be allowed to be in labor longer and be allowed to push longer (2-3 hours). Also, an epidural should be offered and women should maintain a healthy weight during pregnancy.(Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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Tobacco Agreement Leaves Blacks Up in Smoke - An agreement between the tobacco industry and the Justice Department to push out new advertisements about the dangers of smoking left Black media out of the plan. This is problematic given how Big Tobacco disproportionately advertises its products to African-Americans, Al Jazeera writes. Good news: Two major Black media groups filed a legal brief to ensure that our outlets are included. (Photo: Getty Images)

Benefits - Benefits are what your health insurance covers under your plan. Each plan will offer “essential health benefits” which include some of the following: maternity and newborn care, mental health services, emergency care, lab tests and ambulance rides. Also, preventive care and preventive screenings under the Affordable Care Act are free and co-pay free. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Judgmental Docs May Make it Harder for Us to Lose Weight - Obese patients are less likely to lose weight if they feel that their doctors are judging them, says a new report. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that 21 percent of patients felt judged even though 96 percent of them tried to lose weight the previous year. Meanwhile, only 10 percent of patients who felt judged lost significant weight, HealthDay.Com wrote. 

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Why Do Sick African-Americans Rate Their Health as Good?  - Researchers from the University of South Carolina were surprised when they found that obese and chronically ill Blacks believed that they were much healthier than they really were. It’s unclear why this discrepancy exists, but it’s believed that church attendance plays a factor: Folks who went to church believed they were physically healthier. (Photo: Lawren/Getty Images)

Why Football Helmets Aren’t as Safe as We Thought - A new study found that football helmets might not be as effective as we thought. By testing crash dummies, researchers found that helmets only protected players 20 percent of the time, compared to 0 percent when not wearing helmets at all — not a huge difference in protection. However, helmets protected players’ brains from head on hits by 60-70 percent, says Bloomberg News. (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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Why Football Helmets Aren’t as Safe as We Thought - A new study found that football helmets might not be as effective as we thought. By testing crash dummies, researchers found that helmets only protected players 20 percent of the time, compared to 0 percent when not wearing helmets at all — not a huge difference in protection. However, helmets protected players’ brains from head on hits by 60-70 percent, says Bloomberg News. (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

90,000 Kids Sent to ER for Fights at School - Schools are not always safe for kids, confirms a recent study. Researchers found that each year 90,000 students are taken to the ER due to assaults that took place on campus. While gun shootings were rare, bruises, cuts and head injuries were common. Also, youth of color were more likely to be assaulted than their white counterparts. (Photo: LWA/Getty Images)

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Bullying Impacts Students Even When It Stops - We know that persistent bullying has physical and psychological effects, but even when the bullying ends, students are still reeling, says a recent report. Kids with a history of past abuse are still prone to depression, anger and acting out, CNN.com reported. Yet youth who were consistently bullied over the years had the worst health outcomes. (Photo: LWA/Getty Images)

Supermarket Sweep - In an Aug. 2 Gallup poll, Americans said they spend $150 on food on an average week compared to $106 a week in 1987, the last time Gallup asked this question. The polling organization has asked a version of this question since 1943 — back then Americans reported spending just $15 a week on food. (Photo: Orlando Sentinel/ MCT /LANDOV)

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Food Price Hikes Hits Those With Diabetes - Two recent reports found that when food prices for healthy foods (veggies, fruits and low-fat milk) go up, so do blood sugar levels. Why? Because eating healthy can be expensive and so people opt for less expensive, unhealthier foods to compensate, HealthDay.Com writes. This is bad for diabetics who already have elevated blood sugar levels. (Photo: Dennis Wall/Orlando Sentinel/MCT/LANDOV)

Hyperplasia - This is when the cells lining the ducts or lobules in the breasts grow too fast. It doesn’t typically cause a lump, but it can be seen on a mammogram and diagnosed via biopsy.  Link to cancer risk: Mild hyperplasia doesn’t impact cancer risk. But moderate hyperplasia comes with a 1.5 to 2 times increase of risk, and atypical hyperplasia multiplies risk by 3.5 to 5 times. (Photo: Thomas Barwick/Getty Images)

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Stroke Guidelines Created for Women - For the first time, stroke guidelines have been created for women. Researchers suggest that women wanting birth control should be screened for high blood pressure; women with pregnancy-induced high blood pressure should be monitored closely; and women with heart disease and obesity (stroke risk factors) should be treated early. FYI: Sixty percent of strokes happen to women. (Photo: Thomas Barwick/Getty Images)