The Great NetXperiment!

Many Hispanics Believe Myths About Multiple Sclerosis, In Part Because of Lack of Information[Apr 18, 2007]

Many Hispanics believe that multiple sclerosis is a disease that primarily affects non-Hispanic whites, in part because of a lack of good information about the disease’s prevalence among Hispanics, the San Jose Mercury News reports. An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 of the 400,000 U.S. residents with MS are Hispanic, according the Mercury News. However, the misconception that the disease does not affect minorities is a “very common notion among the public and even for the medical establishment,” according to Janet Sutton, a University of Chicago research scientist who has studied the state of MS treatment in blacks and Hispanics. “There’s so little information about MS and Latinos, it’s amazing,” Sutton added. MS patients commonly have some loss of vision, memory, hearing, balance and comprehension skills and are easily tired and can lose control of bladder and bowel movements, among other symptoms.

There also is a possibility that MS is more aggressive in blacks and Hispanics, even though it is less prevalent in the groups, Sutton said. In addition, some Hispanic immigrants do not follow the proper medical treatments for MS and depend on Hispanic customs or advice from relatives to relieve symptoms, according to the Mercury News. Nicholas LaRocca, director of health care delivery and policy research for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, said support groups can address myths and issues that affect Hispanic MS patients. “What makes a group work is cohesiveness. When you add sociocultural values, you add more to the feeling of one-ness,” LaRocca said (Rodriguez, San Jose Mercury News, 4/17).

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Who am I kidding!

The return to work has been a hard slog I must say. The office is awash with resignations and machinations as one of those strange conjunctions that occassionally take place when everyone decides they want to do something new and move on to fresh or greener pastures.

I spent time getting my head down getting used to the bright lights, noise and annoyance of people just not taking ownership for stuff and came home dog tired every day. Still going to the gym every morning has definately improved my mood and my fitness and my self esteem. I don’t know about you but having a health setback knocks my self esteem about and it takes a while (and lots of over-achieving) to get it back.

The blog took a back seat and I apologise for that. But I double-dare promise I will make it part of my daily routine again now that I feel that I am almost back on top of things. This will be a difficult promise to keep due to the fact that one of the managerial roles that was made vacant by a resignation has been seconded to me and the current manager is putting in 14 hour days (don’t worry, I have no intention of flogging myself to death like that).

So onward and upward….