Category Archives: health

Stand Up To Cancer : Change The Odds PSA

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In the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C): Change The Odds PSA, a host of celebrities take a stand against cancer including Aaron Yoo, Olivia Munn, Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron, Dakota Fanning, Kristen Bell, Andrew Garfield, Zachary Levi, Donald Faison, Jon Heder, Logan Lerman, Naya Rivera, Sofia Vassilieva, Clark Duke, William Moseley, and Aubrey Plaza. (Can you spot them all?) The campaign with more than a dozen of Hollywood’s young stars calls on younger audiences to join the SU2C movement for those they love and the future of their generation.

“Change the Odds” puts cancer into perspective as a disease everyone must stand up to. Through eight vignettes, the odds of several scenarios that are quite low, like becoming an astronaut (1 in 13,200,000) or getting trapped in an elevator (1 in 24,528), are contrasted with those of being diagnosed with cancer. In the United States, one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. You can reduce your cancer risks by wearing sunscreen, quitting smoking and adding anti-cancer foods to their diets. It’s up to all of us to change the odds of getting cancer in our lifetimes.

Stand Up To Cancer will return to primetime TV on September 10, 2010, at 8PM EST & PST / 7PM CT. The one-hour fundraising event will be simulcast live and commercial-free on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, HBO, Discovery Health, E!, MLB Network, The Style Network, VH1, HBO Latino, Showtime, TV One, G4 and hosted by network news anchors Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer and Brian Williams.

More about Stand Up To Cancer
The primary goal of SU2C is to raise funds for groundbreaking translational research to accelerate the delivery of new therapies to patients, getting them from the “bench to the bedside” as quickly as possible. SU2C brings together scientists from different disciplines across various institutions to work collaboratively, rather than competitively, at a critical time in the field of cancer research.

SF Asian American Roundtable discussion

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Here’s an interesting discussion by four San Francisco Bay Area Asian American leaders representing various fields. The panel consists of Charles Huang (Co-Founder and Executive Vice-President, Guitar Hero), Kyung Yoon (Founder/CEO, Talent Age Associates), Fiona Ma (Assembly Member, District 12 San Francisco), and Jeff Adachi (San Francisco Public Defender and filmmaker) They talk about being Asian American today, and the opportunities and challenges facing the community.

Topics covered include Leadership, Business, Politics, Media and the Arts, Stereotypes, Hepatitis B and Health Disparities, and Current Issues. It offers a fascinating discussion about cultural differences that hold back Asian Americans like risk taking, being vocal, and expressing yourself.

SF Asian American Roundtable discussion

Katie Cramer seeks bone marrow donor

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Katie Cramer seeks bone marrow donor

Katie Cramer, 16, is not a newcomer to challenges. She was first diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in June 2006. She relapsed in April 2010, just a few days after she was crowned Second Princess in the Miss Teen Asia Sacramento 2010 contest. Katie was born in China, and was adopted by an American family. Because Katie has no known siblings and she is of Chinese descent, her best chance of a match will be from someone who is of Chinese or of other Asian Pacific Island descent.

A marrow/stem cell transplant is her best hope for a cure. Those who are not Caucasians have a more difficult time finding a donor in the current registry. This is because there is a shortage of multi-ethnic donors on the Be The Match Registry, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). Only 30% of the time can a searching patient find a match within their own family. Those whose marrow/stem cells are not a match for Katie may be a match for someone else. Volunteering to be a marrow/stem cell donor is simple. Donors must be in good general health and between the ages of 18 and 60. A cheek sample is collected on swabs for HLA testing. Each participant is asked to give their consent to have their tissue type listed on the NMDP registry.

Hopefully, we’ll hear a successful donor match for Katie. Here’s some of the previous people we’ve tried to help: Michelle Maykin aka Project Michelle, Nick Glasgow, and Natalie.

Bone marrow donor PSA

Stemming the Asian Hepatitis B Crisis on PBS

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Stemming the Asian Hepatitis B Crisis on PBS

PBS News Hour reports on the campaigns to fight hepatitis B among Asian populations worldwide. The potentially fatal liver disease is 100 times more likely to afflict Asians than non-Asians. One of the campaigns highlighted is the Which One Deserves To Die? Hepatitis B Ad. One in 10 Asian Americans are infected with the virus. Many people can live with the virus and never get sick, but 25% of those infected get severe liver damage or cancer. Most people are infected at birth from their mothers. If you’re Asian, get tested.

The spread of Hepatitis B can be slowed down. An effective vaccine for hep B has been available for almost 25 years. If caught early, newborns can get vaccinations within the first day of life to prevent transmission of the virus from their mother. One in 20 people in the world are chronically infected. That’s 10 times more than people in the world infected with HIV. There’s huge advocacy for the HIV community and very few advocates for hepatitis B. Stemming the Asian Hepatitis B Crisis on PBS

Stemming the Asian Hepatitis B Crisis on PBS

William Li at TED : Eat to starve cancer

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William Li at TED : Eat to starve cancer
This is a fascinating video to combat cancer. and other diseases Many of society’s most devastating diseases – cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s, to name a few – share a common denominator: faulty angiogenesis, the body’s growth of new capillary blood vessels. Given excessive or insufficient blood vessel growth, serious health issues arise. William Li presents a new way to think about treating cancer and other diseases: anti-angiogenesis, preventing the growth of blood vessels that feed a tumor. The crucial first (and best) step: Eating cancer-fighting foods that cut off the supply lines and beat cancer at its own game. Learn how angiogenesis-based medicine helps patients overcome numerous diseases by restoring the balance of blood-vessel growth.

Here’s a short list of foods that are sources of naturally occurring anti-angiogenic substances:

Remember to eat healthy, but don’t over do it. Obesity can lead to other health problems. (This video reminds us of You Are What You Eat by Lynn Chen from Secret Identities.

William Li at TED : Eat to starve cancer

National API HIV/AIDS Awareness Day PSA

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May 19th is National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Here’s James Kyson-Lee, one of the stars of NBC’s Heroes, doing a PSA spot. What are you doing to raise awareness in the community?

Here’s some interesting stats:
* 1 in 3 Asians and Pacific Islanders living with HIV don’t know it
* Over half of Pacific Islanders have never been tested for HIV
* Over two-thirds of Asians have never been tested for HIV

Get more info here

National API HIV/AIDS Awareness Day PSA