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Circumcision: To Snip Or Not To Snip?

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 2:20 PM

by Yolanda Sangweni

To snip or not to snip is the question for many parents with newborn boys. In the US, circumcision rates are down--from 90% in the 1960's to 65% today--and Blacks and Hispanics often have the lowest rates of the procedure. ESSENCE.com spoke with four moms to find out which side of this hotly contested debate they stand on. Find out what they had to say.

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Here's what you had to say:
Restoring Tally commented: I was circumcised shortly after I was born. I do not like it. Thanks to the Internet, many young men are learning about the harm of circumcision and wish that their parents had left their sex organ alone.

Sure Did wrote: [Circumcision] was a choice my husband and I made because my husband was circumcised and it for us it was the normal thing to do. I do know grown men who ended up getting circumcised in their 30s because of hygiene issues and they wished their mothers had it done when they were babies.

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Health

Maternal Deaths For Black Women 'Scandalous'

Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 12:35 PM

A new report issued by Amnesty International says that maternal deaths in the U.S. have doubled in the past 20 years and that Black women are three times more likely to die from child birth than their White counterparts, reports CNN. The human rights group calls the figures "scandalous and disgraceful" and points out that the women with the highest rates of complications are often minorities and women living in poverty.

The report also found that one in three African American and Native American women did not receive adequate prenatal care starting in the first trimester...

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Health

Study: Birth Control Pill Could Lead To Longer Life

Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 11:43 AM

A new study in the U.K. found that women who took the birth control pill starting in the late '60s lived longer lives that those who never took the pill, according to Associated Press.

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Health

Sleep & Race: How Sleep Is Affecting Your Life

Friday, March 12, 2010 - 6:30 AM

by Cathy Chermol

Too tired for sex? Does your race make you sleep less? The National Sleep Foundation just released their annual study on the bedtime habits and sleeping patterns of Americans, For the first time, the Foundation studied the effects of race on sleep. ESSENCE.com reached out to Dr. Barbara Phillips, who worked on the comprehensive study and is one of the nation's leading sleep experts, to find out why--among other things--African Americans get less sleep than Hispanics, Whites or Asian Americans.

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Health

Commentary: Hiding Herpes Status From Your Lover

Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 4:40 PM

by Demetria L. Lucas

I know you're smart enough to ask your sexual partners about HIV, but are you asking them about Herpes, too?

Nearly one in every two African American women ages 14 to 49 has genital herpes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced at an STD Prevention Conference in Atlanta yesterday. Furthermore, two out of every five Blacks in that age group carry the virus compared with one out of every six Americans.

Um, that's A LOT of people...

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Here's what you had to say:
Fran said: "Lying about something that serious is wrong. It's selfish, too. It's not just about you with herpes. I can't believe some people."

Anonymous Commented: "It is easy to be self-righteous about right and wrong when you're not faced with the stigma and rejection. But having lived with H for almost 4 years, I understand the fear."

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Features

Health

Sex and Prayer For Better Sleep

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 11:10 AM

by Bobbi Misick

With the sputtering economy stressing us all out, there are plenty of things for us to lose sleep over. However, a recent study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation might suggest that we're adapting to these taxing times. According to the National Sleep Foundation's 2010 Sleep in America Poll, African Americans sleep less than Hispanics, whites and Asians, but reported that they required less sleep to perform at their peaks. So what's keeping us going? Despite sleeping less, we're more likely than other groups to engage in sex and prayer--both of which are linked to better sleep.

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Health

Stars Come Out for Post-Oscars Greater Than AIDS Bash

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 6:55 AM

In its 18th year, Elton John's fabulous Academy Awards After Party is legendary at this point. This go around, the pop icon's AIDS Foundation joined forces with Greater Than AIDS for the star-studded event with a coveted guest list that included Stacey Dash, Jamie Foxx, Serena Williams, Beverly Johnson and more.

Check out the stars who were Greater Than AIDS last night...

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Health

D.C. Is First City To Distribute Female Condoms

Sunday, March 7, 2010 - 3:03 PM

In a recent study, Washington D.C. was identified as one of the cities with the highest HIV rates in the country, especially among African American men. The city is responding to the crisis by putting the power in women's hands and distributing free female condoms in beauty salons, convenience stores and high schools, reports the Washington Post.

The new direction is also in response to the lack of progress made by distributing condoms for men over the last decade. The hope is that women will choose to protect themselves when their partners refuse to wear a condom...

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Health

Raising Grandchildren Affects Health of Grandparents

Saturday, March 6, 2010 - 2:35 PM

by Yolanda Sangweni

Oprah was raised by one, so too Jamie Foxx: grandmothers who went above and beyond. It's no secret that African American grandparents, grandmothers, particularly, have long been the bedrock of the community, even going as far as raising their grandchildren, despite the hardships they faced.

A new study out of Texas says that the challenges of raising children can sometimes have adverse effect on the mental health of grandparents. Research conducted by Mary Ellen Trail Ross, DrPH (an African American) of the UTHealth School of Nursing found that 94% of the grandparents surveyed suffered from clinical depression. Added to that are lifestyle changes to accommodate grandchildren like getting less sleep, poor diet and financial hardship, especially during a recession.

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Health

Jamie Foxx for CDC's 'i know' HIV Social Media Effort

Friday, March 5, 2010 - 10:00 AM

Often found cracking jokes, Jamie Foxx recently put on his serious cap to shoot a public service announcement for the Center of Disease Control and Prevention's new social media campaign, "i know." Launched on March 4, "i know" uses Twitter, Facebook, text messaging and a new Web site, www.actagainstaids.org, to increase conversation about HIV/AIDS among African American young adults. Foxx and other Black leaders and celebs are co-signing the campaign with messages that spark discourse on the virus among this high-risk demographic.

Watch Foxx's PSA...

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