Prime Time; The African American Woman's Complete Guide to Midlife Health and Wellness

Format is approximately 7.75 inches by 9.75 inches. xii, 530, [2] pages. Some pages creased. Illustrations. Some pencil marks noted. DJ has wear, tears, chips, and soiling. Inscribed by the author (Gaston) on the fep. Inscription reads "12-15-02 :To Virginia Vrein Good health & God bless. You have a special friend to give the gift of health. Marilyn Hughes Gaston, M.D. Ink notation inside the front cover. Foreword by Joycelyn Elders. Marilyn Hughes Gaston (born in 1939) is a physician and researcher. She was the first black woman to direct the Bureau of Primary Health Care in the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. She is most famous for her work studying sickle cell disease (SCD). Gaston also worked to bring affordable health care to impoverished families and was the first black woman to direct a public health service bureau (Bureau of Primary Health Care in the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Through this program, with only a 5-million-dollar budget, she was able to bring impoverished families the opportunity to have access to medical workers, medical supplies, and the facilities that an average American is guaranteed. The program also granted medical care to elders, pregnant women, and new immigrants. Gaston received many awards in her lifetime, including the National Medical Association (NMA's) Lifetime Achievement Award, every honor awarded by the Public Health Service, and even has Marilyn Hughes Gaston Day celebrated each year in Cincinnati and in Lincoln Heights, Ohio. Today seven million African American women are living in their prime, experiencing the joys, the challenges, and the opportunities of middle age. Now, at last, here is the book that specifically addresses our total health needs--physical, emotional, and spiritual. Written by a distinguished physician and clinical psychologist, Prime Time is the first complete guide that empowers us to take charge of our lives and attain the well-being we deserve. In many ways, it's true that we are better off today than our foremothers were: We earn more money, command more respect. Yet in spite of these advances, we still experience more chronic health problems, endure more stress, and live shorter lives than women of other races. That's why Prime Time is both urgent and essential. This groundbreaking book not only lays out a detailed, practical plan for overall healing and for maintaining wellness, it also addresses the underlying attitudes and assumptions that lead so many of us to neglect ourselves and undermine our own health. It's time for us as African American women at midlife to start putting ourselves first. We can save our own lives and stop ourselves from dying too soon. To do this, we each need to acquire up-to-the-minute information about our unique health concerns, adjust our diet and exercise program, and use the "power of prevention" to improve the quality of daily life. Prime Time helps you do all this and more by combining both traditional medicine and a holistic approach. It covers the full range of health options you can incorporate into your life, starting now--including self-tests and quizzes that reveal your health profile and vital tips on dealing with the often-overwhelming health-care system. A central section on the Big Four--heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes--explores why black women run a high risk of developing these conditions, why they so often go undetected and untreated, and what we can do about them. Prime Time also deals powerfully and directly with the psychological and spiritual issues that stand in the way of our true well-being. Historically, African American women have been expected to function as "strong black women" to overcome the harsh realities with which we've been confronted. Anger and "attitude" have often become part of our protective shield. Prime Time provides sensible, usable, and even enjoyable methods you can empl.…