SOL Ancillary Study Finalizes: a conversation with Elena Navas-Nacher

The SOL study has several important ancillary studies that seek to go deeper or expand the knowledge in many areas of the Hispanic health. Recently, we had the opportunity to talk to Elena Navas-Nacher, who is a pre-doctoral fellow at the Department Preventive Medicine of Northwestern University. She actually is finishing her work as Chicago coordinator for a diversity supplement grant that is part of the SOL study, which evaluates the psychometric properties of SOL instruments.

Elena stated the importance of this ancillary study, “We want to make sure these psychometric instruments are valid for Hispanic population because originally were developed for Caucasian populations, so we should know if they are culturally appropriate for our Hispanic communities.” The development of appropriate instruments is very important in research and the contribution of this ancillary study aims to fill a gap in this area.

The SOL study plays a key role because tries to restore the fact of limited information regarding health for diverse Hispanic communities in different parts of the country. Besides that, imminent potential benefits of SOL study would be coming in the short run as Elena said, “The SOL study will help our communities in improving their health when we can see what should be done in terms of program development, health education, and so on.”

Elena’s goal was to interview 100 SOL participants in Chicago. Other fellow researchers, Patricia Gonzales (San Diego) and Orit Weitzman (Miami) also completed interviews for a total of 350 SOL participants. After success in recruitment and enrollment of participants in this national SOL ancillary study, Elena is busy entering and analyzing data as previous steps to publish the study results that hopefully will come out very soon.

When we asked Elena about her thoughts on the SOL participants, she expressed her gratitude to all of them. “We really appreciate their involvement, care and interest in improving our community’s health, our future as Hispanics. So, I want to say thank you,” she said. Finally, she encouraged SOL participants to stay in touch with us because the SOL study has not finished yet; she stressed that participant’s health status should be followed over time, “There are many ways to stay in touch with our study such as to be involved through our newsletters, website or calling our phone number. I always encouraged them all to do that.” Then she said good bye. Conversation was over and we also had to say thank you to Elena for doing a good job.

Note: SOL study’s telephone number in Chicago is: 1-800-749-4765. If you are a past SOL participant and you have any questions regarding your participation, or want to update your contact information, just call this number. Bilingual staff is responding to calls.

Why High Blood Cholesterol is a Health Concern?

Because the higher your blood cholesterol, the greater your risk of developing or having a heart attack. Each year, more than a million Americans have a heart attack, and about half a million people die of heart disease.
When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your arteries. Over time, this buildup causes “hardening of the arteries” so that arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart becomes slowed down or blocked. This may cause chest pain or even a heart attack.
High blood cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms, so many people are unaware when their cholesterol is too high. It is important to find out your cholesterol numbers. Lowering levels that are too high lessens the risk of developing heart disease or dying from it if you already have it.
How to Prevent or Lower Blood Cholesterol Levels?
These are things you can do something about it:
 Eat a Healthy Diet: learn more on healthy diet and practice it. Healthy diet as recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is a great option. Go to this website: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/
 Watch your weight: being overweight tends to increase your cholesterol level.
 Increase your physical activity: regular physical activity can help lower your cholesterol levels.
 Get a Doctor Check-Up: regular check-ups with your doctor are important because not only you are properly diagnosed but also can have an earlier treatment if you need it.
Learn more about cholesterol…
More information on lowering cholesterol is available from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Web site at www.nhlbi.nih.gov (under Health Information for the Public). Podcasts and Spanish-language articles also can be found in the online Diseases and Conditions Index at www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci.
You also can order or download information on lowering cholesterol from the NHLBI Web site or by calling the NHLBI Health Information Center at 301–592–8573 (TTY: 240–629–3255).

Congratulations to SOL participants!

The Hispanic Community Health Study / Study of Latinos (HCHS /SOL) has reached the end of its recruitment phase with over 16,000 participants, nationally. Here in Chicago, Northwestern University completed its quota of 4,000 participants. Congratulations!
The SOL study will provide information about the health status and disease burden of Hispanics/ Latinos, their nutritional practices and the role of acculturation on lifestyle and health. Surely, these findings will help to the Latino community and future generations in the planning and development of health programs as well as the delivery of quality medical care.
Now, the study continues with annual follow-up interviews that will be conducted throughout the study to determine health outcomes. Finally, study participants are encouraged to continue their participation and to maintain contact with the study staff.