By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer Marie Crest is like many other Black people in the United States. She is 36-years-old. She’s a mother of two sons with a third on the way. Crest works full time as an account consultant specialist for a national payroll company, but somehow, she receives regular collection phone […]
Author Archives: Mylika Scatliffe AFRO Womens Health Writer
Posted inHealth
Black women take charge to fight for Black women’s health despite persistent disparities
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer As we move from Women’s History Month, observed in March, into International Black Women’s History Month, observed in April, the AFRO is honored to highlight women who are making moves on the medical front. Women are pillars of their family and the community. This month, we salute the […]
Posted inHealth
Know the facts: advocates weigh in on self-administered rape kits
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer Rape. Sexual assault. To many people, the terms are likely interchangeable–Google both and you will find multiple unsettling definitions. If a sexual assault victim chooses to go to a hospital for treatment, they will be asked to consent to a sexual assault forensic exam (SAFE), also colloquially known […]
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Let’s take the mystery out of menopause
By: Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer There is a lot about menopause that is mysterious, but it doesn’t have to be a mystery. Most of the time when the average American thinks about menopause, they conjure images of a woman experiencing vasomotor symptoms of the condition – the hot flashes and the night sweats. […]
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Pfizer partners with communities nationwide to raise awareness of ATTR-CM, an underdiagnosed cause of heart failure among Black and Afro-Caribbean communities
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer Randy Peters is 76 years old. Originally from Trinidad, he now lives in New Orleans, La. He’d always maintained an active lifestyle until one day in 2018, when he realized he was struggling to climb the stairs during a visit to his daughter’s house. He quickly became extremely […]
Posted inNational News
Elected officials and community leaders react to release of video showing Tyre Nichols death at the hands of Memphis police
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer Elected officials and community leaders are joining citizens around the country in mourning the brutal death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police. The 29-year-old Memphis, Tenn. man succumbed to injuries three days after a violent Jan. 7 attack by multiple officers at the same time. Body […]
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Thema Bryant, president of the American Psychological Association, wants psychologists to become more culturally competent
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer Psychology hasn’t always been available to communities of color, especially Black people. Dr. Thema Bryant wants that to change. Elected president of the American Psychological Association for 2023, her vision is to expand access to psychological care for all people. According to information released by the APA, Bryant’s […]
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A Gentle Embrace: from Mama to Mama encourages healthy grieving after pregnancy and infant loss
By Mylika Scatliffe, Special to the AFRO On Oct. 18, 2017, Brittani Dubose of Baltimore gave birth to Edward James Dubose. There was just one challenge– she was only 22 weeks and three days pregnant. She and her husband already had the nickname “Jamie” on hand for the newborn, but he lived for only 10 […]
Posted inNational News
Meharry Medical College working to increase the number of Black medical professionals with physician assistant program
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn. has launched a physician assistant program in its School of Graduate Studies and Research, the nation’s largest private independent historically Black academic health sciences center. The first class of 25 aspiring physician assistants began their course of study in June 2022. The […]
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Daylight Savings Time means shorter days and, for some, seasonal depression
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer, mscatliffe@afro.com It has been just about a year since Wanda Bibbins declared it was her last autumn season in the Baltimore suburbs. Bibbins, 54, is ready to leave the four seasons experienced in the Maryland area for the promises of year-round sunshine offered in sunny Florida. Ever since […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Local organizations work to fight food insecurity during the holiday season
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer, mscatliffe@afro.com Thanksgiving is the kickoff to the winter holiday season. This time of year invokes warm images of families gathered for holidays, preparing to dig into feasts reminiscent of Norman Rockwell paintings or Big Mama’s table in the cult classic film, Soul Food. Unfortunately, the reality is that […]
Posted inNEWS
Sensory overload: are tech devices affecting your sleep?
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer, mscatliffe@afro.com Kimberly Maker, 53, used to be skeptical about the world of sleep study. In the beginning she didn’t believe in it– thinking it was a fictitious field of medicine. Given her opinions about the field at the time, she ignored her primary care doctor’s advice to undergo […]