Report suggests cancer deaths among Blacks is rising

By Saeed Shabazz

NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - Lonnie Barton was 51 years old when he died of lung cancer in 2004. According to his sister, Bernadette Barton, 48, he was a strapping 6’ 4” and close to 200 pounds, when all of a sudden he just “fell apart.” She was sitting next to her brother when he took his last breath. Full Story.......

The Cancer Death Rates that ACS estimates for Blacks in 2007 are: Lung Cancer—men, 31 percent; women, 22 percent; Prostate Cancer—13 percent of the Black male population; and Breast Cancer—19 percent of Black female population

Warning: Soft Drinks May Seriously Harm You

You may want to think twice before you sip another soft drink: research reported in the UK's Independent newspaper says a common preservative used in fizzy drinks can switch off essential parts of DNA. The preservative may bring on premature aging and trigger diseases associated with old age.

The problem preservative is sodium benzoate, commonly used for many years by the $160 billion worldwide soft drink industry. Sodium benzoate, derived from benzoic acid, prevents mold in drinks like Coca-Cola, Oasis, Dr. Pepper, etc., and is also used in pickles and sauces.

Full Story........

Smokers struggle as state bans get tighter

By Hazel Trice Edneyand Aria White

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - Vanessa Wickham-Baker, a 42-year-old manager of a public relations firm has a strategy. She knows that smoking has become taboo in some circles and even illegal in others. So, rather than quit, the 24-year veteran smoker from Baltimore has learned to prepare herself for temporary restraint.

“I prep myself before I go in, most of the time, you know. When you’re a smoker; when you go somewhere, you know if you can or can’t smoke. So, I mentally prepare myself before I go in,” s

he says. Full Story........

19 states now have smoke-free workplace laws that not only send messages about the dangers of smoking, but to protect non-smokers from the second hand smoke that kills 54,000 people a year. Cigarette-related diseases kills 450,000 Americans a year, including 45,000 Blacks.