Sexually transmitted disease rates reach 10 year high in El Paso

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Sexually transmitted disease rates in El Paso spiked to record highs in recent years, according to public health department data. The El Paso Department of Public Health reported a 10-year high of 7,681 new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in 2017 – an 11 percent increase from 2016 and a 62 percent increase from 2007. “Nationwide it’s on the rise. STDs, the whole nine yards, the gonorrhea, the syphilis, the chlamydia, this is not unique for El Paso,” said Faduma Shegow, clinic services manager for the STD clinic of El Paso. “It’s happening nationwide.”

Pro Musica performers fill El Paso hospital wards with the joy of live music

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EL PASO, Texas – When classical musicians perform in local hospitals, both the players and the patients find it to be good medicine. “It’s about being a healer, because the music is designed to soothe and heal and when you see that there is a change in the status of their health,” said Felipa Solis, Executive Director of El Paso Pro Musica. Performers with Pro Musica are going beyond the concert hall to bring classical music to the people, which UTEP masters cellos performance major Amy Miller said helps her as a musician to build a connection her audience. “I think that playing for people is very important because, you know, you’re in a practice room for hours at a time and you’re playing for yourself but when you have that time to share with someone else and connect with them in that way,” she said “You know, music is an unspoken language, it’s universal.” Solis said that playing music for hospital patients is an extension of the groups’ mission to make classical music accessible to all.

Do memes contribute to obesity among teens? Study says yes

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El Paso – Nearly 20 percent of high school students in Texas are considered obese and the state ranks fifth in the U.S. for high school students who are obese, according to the website The State of Obesity. At the same time, Hispanic children in Texas have the highest rate of childhood obesity, or 21.9 percent, followed by non-Hispanic blacks with a rate of 19.5 percent and non-Hispanic whites with a childhood obesity rate of 14.7 percent, according to the Texas Medical Association. Obesity among the youth ages 10-17 accumulated a total of 18.5 percent within the state. And, for the Paso Del Norte region, almost 40 percent of residents between the ages of 18 and 29 are considered obese, and one in three of all El Pasoans are considered obese or overweight. Reasons for obesity in teens range from personal behaviors including eating habits and physical activity to genetics, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Junt@s Vamos aims to help Juarenses with cancer

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For cancer patients living in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez metroplex, treatment is not just expensive, costing thousands of dollars for the uninsured, but also difficult to find. Although El Paso has two oncology centers and a few independent oncologists, according to the non profit cancer support group Junt@s Vamos, services such as Pet scans, radiation treatment and chemotherapy are not easily available in neighboring Ciudad Juarez, a border city of almost 1.5 million residents.Launched in 2013 by Juarez resident Cristina Coronado, Junt@s Vamos aims to provide a safe space for people with cancer to talk about their illness and receive emotional support. The group also aims to inform patients of their rights and treatments they can seek elsewhere.There are four core members of the group, but the community involvement extends beyond them. Every fundraiser event consistently draws about 15 volunteers. Aside from the core members, Junt@s Vamos also has eight permanent volunteers.The health information sessions they hold in Ciudad Juarez throughout the year usually draw 200 people suffering from cancer.

Con sus narices rojas ‘a la orden,’ Doctores de la Risa ofrecen apoyo a niños y ancianos de Juarez

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En Cd. Juárez Chihuahua, el grupo de “Doctores de la Risa Nariz a la Orden” se caracteriza por brindar sonrisas y ratos agradables a personas vulnerables como niños y ancianos. El encargado del grupo Fernando Guijarro, 43, conocido como el Dr. Maromas, quien dice que encontró el grupo por casualidad, lleva más de ocho años formando parte de esta labor y al mismo tiempo ejerciendo la profesión de contaduría. “Cuando uno no está buscando algo y se lo encuentra pues piensa uno que es algo divino. Yo encontré este grupo después de pasar por muchos momentos difíciles de inseguridad aquí en Cd.

El Paso mental health agency assists those in need with hot line, phone app

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An estimated one in four adults suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, according to El Paso mental health provider Emergence Health Network, which also runs a crisis hotline. Also, says EHN, 90 percent of people who die by suicide are also believed to have had a mental disorder. However, either because of fear or lack of information only 60 percent of those suffering from a mental health condition seeks treatment. One helpful resource EHN provides to the community is its 24-hour Crisis Hotline, which consists of of qualified mental health professionals, as well as on-call professionals who are available to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Crisis Line specialists are prepared through education and training to assist distressed callers in verbal de-escalation of any situation.

Fire department program delivers free vaccines to keep flu from spreading

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The El Paso Fire Department is promoting community wellness through its Vaccinations for Health program to fight the flu. The department sponsored seven events this spring, extending additional dates due to the high demand for vaccinations, officials said. Last month, five events were open to the public at the Safety & Health Outreach Center, in Central El Paso. The Vaccinations for Health program is a collaboration between the El Paso Fire Department and the El Paso Department of Public Health, according to the company’s mission statement. “We started the outreach in actual clinics in October 2014, but three years before that, there was a lot of administrative work, getting the money, outlining how the program was going to be delivered,” said El Paso Fire Department Deputy Chief Robert Arvizu.

El campo armado no es solo combate y guerra

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FORT BLISS, Texas – El campo armado en El Paso ofrece interesantes programas y actividades de ejercicio para quitar el estrés de los soldados después de varias horas de practicar en guerra. “Me encanta que lleguen los sabados o viernes, ya que me gusta tanto bailar y nos dan noches de salsa, me hace sentir en casa”, dijo Sargento Alon Humphrey, un especialista de relaciones publicas. Fort Bliss ofrece el programa “Group Exercise Schedule” todos los dias de la semana, desde 6:30 de la mañana hasta las 8 p.m., las clases que ofrecen son indoor cycling, yoga, body pump, turbo kick, warrior bootcamp, tone & trim, stroller off stress, total gym, water aerobics float & flows, y muchas mas. Fort Bliss tambien cuenta con sus propias canchas deportivas como el basquetbol y soccer. El Sargento Emanuel L. Ortiz hablo un poco mas a fondo sobre estas actividades para los soldados.“El ejercito y la base Fort Bliss ofrece bastantes deportes y actividades sociales para que se puedan hacer los fines de semana viernes, sabado y domingo, las actividades de hacer ejercisio estan abiertas todos los fines de semana, desde las 9 de la noche hasta las 5-7 de la mañana, tambien ofrece varias excursiones como visitas a parques o hasta clases de yoga y de pintar.

Parents of El Paso 14-year-old who died by suicide warn to watch for signs of bullying, other changes

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EL PASO, Texas — Maria Bristow sees the school bus coming and leaving hoping to see the face of her “baby boy.” But she knows her 14-year-old son DeAngelo won’t be coming home. Maria called her son Oct. 3 to let him know she would be a few minutes late returning home from a show she was attending with a friend. DeAngelo said there was no problem and hung up the phone.

El Paso news anchor Estela Casas shares her breast cancer battle

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Estela Casas announced Sept. 14 she had just joined a group every woman dreads. The local celebrity and KVIA-TV news anchor has breast cancer, and announced it to her viewers to call attention to the disease. Casas has been part of El Paso’s viewership for 35 years and through her long career she has become a respected and admired personality, far more than a news anchor. This is not the first time that Casas has shared news about her medical experiences and procedures with the public.