8 Asians

If you’re a regular reader of 8Asians, you already know I lost both my parents to the big C – Cancer. Toan Lam writes this week in the Huffington Post about a phenomenon in the Asian community surrounding Cancer, specifically the inability of Asians to talk about Cancer and Cancer prevention. Lam details the loss of some of his closest family members and the impact it has on his family. He also describes how if he and his family could have talked more openly about Cancer, like issues around detection and early screening of sensitive topics like breast Cancer, it might have helped save the lives of some of his family members.

Lam is also the creator of a website, www.GoInspireGo.com, designed to give voice to inspirational and uplifting stories that would otherwise not have a voice. He also writes about George Lin, former Program Director of the San Diego Asian Film Festival, whose loss to Cancer inspired the theme of this year’s recent film festival, Cancer Awareness. The video above from GoInspireGo discusses Lin, his Cancer, and the tributes paid to him during the Festival.

Lam’s goal is simple, all of us know someone whose life has been touched by Cancer. So in an effort to help prevent the pain and suffering of losing someone to Cancer, we need to break the silence — talk about Cancer, especially in the Asian community. Awareness and Early Detection could save lives. In my family, we didn’t find out about my dad’s cancer until it was already stage 4 (the last and most progressed stage), since he never wanted to see a doctor or talk about his pain. So spread the word and let’s help make it so one day when we talk about Cancer, we can replace the big C with a little c.

“If he grows a few inches, you should have him consider playing tackle football.”

Eugene Amano

This is the comment that Number One Son’s flag football coach told me after a football game.  Number One Son had a good game at cornerback, shutting down the receivers on his side of the field.  Tackle football?  I can’t say that I am a fan of tackle football, given some recent history of deaths, concussions, and the general feeling that it doesn’t contribute toward lifelong fitness.  Besides, Number One Son, while quick, is a thin lean Filipino kid.  Filipino kids don’t go pro, do they?

Well, apparently, they do!  At least there is a small number who do.  While we have talked about Hines Ward and his work in South Korea, this article from the Asian Journal (reposted also here at New American Media)  talks about NFL players of Filipino descent, both past (like former Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel) and present.   Some, like running back Steve Slaton, are partly Filipino but acknowledge their ancestry (Slaton has a Filipino flag tattoo).   Manila born offensive lineman Eugene Amano is  not a typical Filipino at 6 foot 3 and 310 pounds.  He gives back to the community by hosting football clinics, and is working to raise awareness and funds for Filipino Typhoon victims.

Will I let Number One Son play tackle football?  I don’t know yet.  We’ll see if he puts on those extra inches.  While I am not very enthusiastic about tackle football, as I stated above, I’d like to see what he wants to do.  In any case, it’s good to know that some Filipino kids can go pro.

Pediatrician Dr. Wolffe Nadoolman was puzzled by the symptoms shown by a 18 month old toddler of Asian descent.  The whites of the boy’s eyes were pink, yet there was no crusting or discharge that is typical of conjunctivitus (pink-eye).   He ran a low grade fever for five days.  What could the problem be?  As this New York Times article later reveals, the toddler had Kawasaki Disease.

(Flickr photo credit: FrankZoe)

Kawasaki disease is an inflammation of the middle size arteries that occurs in children.  This inflammation can affect many areas, but the most serious and lasting problems happen in the heart’s arteries, where aneurysms can lead to heart attacks, even in young children.  Common symptoms are a prolonged fever with pink eyes or pink lips, such as shown by this baby.  It most commonly occurs in children of Japanese descent.  Most children completely recover from the disease, which is treated with aspirin and Gamma Globulin.  Long lasting complications, when they occur, are typically heart problems caused by damage to coronary arteries.

Oddly enough, while Kawasaki disease happens more often to those of Asian ancestry, Americans of all ethnic groups are getting it.  It tends to happen more in groups with higher socio-economic status.   John Travolta’s son Jett, who died earlier this year, had the disease when he was 15 months old.  There is some speculation that environment factors, such as carpet cleaners, are responsible for this increase, and there is also some theories that an infectious agent is responsible, as the disease often occurs in outbreaks and tends to be seasonal during late winter and early spring.

Hat tip to Tim

A year or so ago, we had a post about Hepatitis B and how it disproportionately affects Asian Americans. For those who don’t already know, Hep B is a disease that attacks the liver without many noticeable symptoms leading many to dub it as the “silent killer” because those who could be infected rarely get tested for it to be diagnosed.  Hep B leads to complications with the liver, in forms of liver cancer and liver failure, and could very much lead to death.

Hepb.org claims that over 12 million people in the United States have Hepatitis B and that it has an infection rate of 100,000 a year.  An estimated 2 million people have chronic Hepatitis B in the United States and over half of those are of Asian decent.  For that very reason, the B Here Campaign is trying to raise awareness on Hep B and it effects on the Asian American community.  Recruiting many Asian American artists and performers, the B Here Campaign is bringing the likes of David Choi, KevJumba, AJ Rafael, Kaba Modern, Paul Dateh and others to UC Irvine, UC Davis, and the University of Houston to the spread the word.  The performance and exhibit at UC Irvine will actually be tomorrow night, (they’ll visit Houston on the 13th and Davis on the 27th) so make sure you head on out! Visit willyoubhere.com for more info.

MMA fighter and registered nurse Phillipe “The Filipino Assassin” Nover, who we wrote about in the past, has run into some bad luck. After losing in The Ultimate Fighter 8 finals, many people felt that he was counted out early in his next UFC match against Kyle Bradley. Then, after taking a fight against Sam Stout on four weeks notice, he was set to fight at UFC’s Fight Night 19 when hours before his match he had a seizure which caused the fight to be cancelled.   The cause of his seizure was said to be a “a syncopal episode and hyperglycemia.”  In his blog, he mentions that he needs to see a neurologist for an EEG and to see his primary care doctor about diabetes.

Get more pictures like this at SHERDOG.COM

Could this guy have diabetes?  Just look at him – he is fit and really cut.  As he said in his blog,

“Even though I view myself as this super healthy athlete who eats right and exercises all day long, there is something wrong with me which I have no control of.”

It is possible that he had hyperglycemia from eating a lot after making his weight cut.  It also possible too that getting hit repeatedly, an occupational hazard of being a professional fighter, has started taking its toll.  He was labeled “fainting Phillipe” by UFC president Dana White because he passed out at the start of the Ultimate Fighter 8.  Then again, he really might have diabetes.  Since he grew up in the US, studies have shown that he is more likely to have diabetes than if he had grown up in Asia.  A occupational hazard of being Asian-American.

He says he feels fine now, but he has resolved to find out what is wrong with him so he can get back into the cage.   The UFC graciously paid him any way despite the fact that he didn’t fight.  I think one additional factor is that he has been under tremendous pressure as after being hyped as “the next Anderson Silva” or “a young GSP”.  In any case, best of luck, Phillipe!