PNO December 2022 newsletter

Phi Nu Omega Chapter

Riddick President LaToya Kearns Vice

Kirstin

Minyon Palmer Vice Secretary

Sydney Hannah-Holliday Secretary

Essence Mitchell Financial Secretary

Michele Swain Hostess

Danielle Bridgeforth Chaplain

Vikki Pretlow Correspondence Secretary

Aliya Robinson Member-At-Large

Anita Timmons Historian

Saunji Fyffe Sergeant-At-Arms

Deirdre Miles Ivy Leaf Reporter

Courtney Walker Treasurer

Karen Davis Miller Parliamentarian

2022 Phi Nu Omega Chapter Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc

Christmas Hope

Father, we pray that you will turn our hearts toward you during this holiday season. Let us not get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season this year and miss the chance to celebrate the gifts of hope, peace, joy, love, that you sent to us on that first Christmas. That first Christmas, you gave us the gift of hope wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.

Thank you, Father, for your immeasurable gift. Lord, we ask You to grant us peace. Peace in our homes, peace in our churches and peace in our hearts, especially when it feels like the world all around us spins out of control.

Help us stay focused on You, this Christmas time and always. Thank You for loving the whole world enough to send the greatest gift, Your Son, so we might truly have a very merry Christmas, even in a not-so-merry kind of world.

In Jesus’ precious name, we pray. Amen

Phi Nu Omega Activities

Supporting our local community – Adopted two and provided gifts for students families at William Ramsey Elementary School in Alexandria, VA

We showed up, enjoyed sisterly fellowship, and served! We wrapped at least 75 gifts for our adopted families and students at William Ramsay Elementary School. Sorors Kathy Philyaw and LaToya Granger made it extra special with a delicious taco salad luncheon. I have missed this aspect of our sisterhood and I am overjoyed. Thanks to Soror Jatrice for the space and music and all who were able to be there to make it extra special.

Soror Kirsten & Soror Sylvia Cyrus after an amazing officer installation ceremony during the December 10 th chapter meeting

A Message from the Leadership Development Committee

As we prepare to close out 2022, the Leadership Development Committee would like to thank you for all of your time, hard work, expertise, generosity, and dedication to Phi Nu Omega. As we prepare to enter 2023, our committee will focus on activities designed to elevate our chapter operations and build PNO’s succession planning efforts. We will kick off the new year with a workshop on Robert’s Rules of Order to review the standards for facilitating meetings as well as group discussions and decision-making, so be on the lookout for a save the date coming soon.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

- Barack Obama

Hair-straightening chemical products linked to increased uterine cancer risk in new study

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN October 18, 2022

Scientists are uncovering new details in the connection between using certain hair straightening products, such as chemical relaxers and pressing products, and an increased risk of cancer in women. Ongoing research previously suggested that hair straightening chemicals are associated with an increased risk of certain hormonerelated cancers, including breast and ovarian cancers, and now, a new study links use of hair straightening products with an increased risk of uterine cancer. Black women may be more affected due to higher use of the products, the researchers noted. The study, published Monday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute , estimates that among women who did not use hairstraightening chemical products in the past 12 months, 1.6% developed uterine cancer by age 70, but about 4% of the women who frequently use such hair-straightening products developed uterine cancer by age 70.

That finding “also communicates that uterine cancer is indeed rare. However, the doubling of risk does lead to some concern,” said Chandra Jackson, an author of the study and researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

“In this study, women with frequent use in the past year had an over two-fold higher risk of uterine cancer,” she said. Frequent use was defined as more than four times in the previous year.

Cancer risk was most pronounced in Black women

The new study includes data on nearly 34,000 women in the United States, ages 35 to 74, who completed questionnaires about their use of certain hair products, including perms, dyes, relaxers and straighteners. The researchers, from the National Institutes of Health, also tracked the incidence of cancer diagnoses within the study group.

The researchers found a strong association between hair straightening products and uterine cancer cases but the use of other hair products – such as dyes and perms or body waves – was not associated with uterine cancer .

The study data also showed that the association between hair straightening products and uterine cancer cases was most pronounced for Black women, who made up only 7.4% of the study participants, but 59.9% of those who reported ever using straighteners.

Several factors likely play a role in the frequent use of hair straightening products: Eurocentric standards of beauty, social pressures placed on Black and Latina women in workplace settings related to microaggressions and the threat of discrimination, along with desired versatility in changing hairstyles and self-expression .

“The bottom line is that the exposure burden appears higher among Black women,” Jackson said .

“Based off of the body of the literature in this area, we know that hair products marketed directly to Black children and women have been shown to contain multiple chemicals associated with disrupting hormones, and these products marketed to Black women have also been shown to have harsher chemical formulations,” she said. “On top of that, we know that Black women tend to use multiple products simultaneously, which could contribute to Black women on average having higher concentrations of these hormone-disrupting chemicals in their system .”

The researchers did not collect information on brands or ingredients in the hair products the women used, but they wrote in the paper that several chemicals identified in straighteners could contribute to the increased incidence of uterine cancer observed in their study.

“To our knowledge this is the first epidemiologic study that examined the relationship between straightener use and uterine cancer,” Alexandra White, head of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Environment and Cancer Epidemiology group and lead author on the study, said in a news release Monday .

“More research is needed to confirm these findings in different populations, to determine if hair products contribute to health disparities in uterine cancer, and to identify the specific chemicals that may be increasing the risk of cancers in women .”

‘A new and growing area of research’

Some substances found in hair -straightening products, especially those most used by and marketed to Black and Latina women, are hormone-disrupting chemicals, said Tamarra James-Todd, an epidemiologist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who was not involved in the new study but separately has led some of the earliest research finding links between hair products and cancer.

“They modify our body’s normal hormonal processes. So, it makes sense to look at cancers that are hormonally mediated,” she said, adding that hormone-disrupting chemicals could impact other parts of the body too.

“The challenge is that the impact of these chemicals might not be limited to hormonal processes, but they could also impact other systems, including our immune and vascular systems. Understanding how these chemicals work beyond the hormonal system is still a new and growing area of research,” James-Todd told CNN.

“So, it could be that the way these chemicals are operating is through altering not only hormonal responses, but also by altering immune or even vascular responses,” she said. “All of these processes are linked to cancer.”

While the new study is “well done” and shows an association between hairstraightening chemical products and increased uterine cancer risk, it is unable to determine that the products directly cause the cancer, Dr. Otis Brawley, professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and former chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said in an email to CNN.

“It is unable to show cause, it could be pure association,” said Brawley, who was not involved in the new study.

Yet “the question how do we settle this is difficult. The scientific ideal is a randomized trial of 40,000 or so; 20,000 with regular hair straightener use and 20,000 never using it and never having used it and follow them for 20 years,” he said, adding that at this point, “it’s impossible for science to answer better than” the recent study .

Fun

Push ups may seem challenging but there are so many ways for everyone to modify and still maximize the benefits of this exercise.

Just like last month’s challenge, this exercise requires no equipment but if you want to level up, think about strapping on ankle and/or wrist weights of 1-3lbs for a little strength training.

How to do a push up:

1. Start in a tabletop position on all fours with your hands a little wider than shoulder-width apart.

2. Step both legs back so your hands and toes are the only things touching the floor. In this plank position, your feet should be hipwidth apart. You are now in a straight arm plank position.

3. Engage your core by drawing your belly button up toward your spine. This will help you create a straight spine from your head to your toe.

4. Be sure to have space between your chin and your chest, eyes looking at your fingertips, not towards your toes.

5. Keeping your core engaged and your back straight, inhale and bend your elbows to 90 degrees lowering your body to the floor .

6. Then, pressing through your hands, exhale and press back up to the straight arm plank position.

7. Repeat 10-20 times, 2-3 times daily. You may break these up however is best for you!

Modified push ups:

1. Wall Push Up:

a. Stand facing a wall with your arms outstretched 3 -4 inches wider than your shoulders. Rest hands flat on the wall at shoulder height. Step back so your body is at a 45 degree angle with the wall.

b. Inhale and bend your arms to a 90 degree angle, exhale and press back up to a straight arm.

c. Repeat 10 -20 times, 2 -3 times daily.

2. Diagonal Push Up:

For this modification, you van use any counter or desktop in your home that is at least hip height. Please refrain from using chairs or anything unstable.

a. Stand at the counter and place your hands a little wider than shoulder -width apart

b. Step back until you are at a 45 degree angle from the counter, keeping your legs hip -width and toes facing forward

c. Keeping your core engaged and your back straight (head in line with your spine), inhale and lower your body to the counter, exhale and press firmly back up to straight arms

d. Repeat 10 20 times, 2 -3 times daily

3. Half Push Up (You may

modification:

a. Begin on all fours, knees hip width apart, arms slightly wider than shoulder width.

b. Walk your arms slightly forward, drop your hips and engage your core to create a straight line from your head to your tailbone. Bring your heels as close to your seat as possible.

c. Inhale and lower yourself to the floor as you bend your arms to 90 degrees, exhaling as you press back up to straight arms.

d. Repeat 10 -20 time, 2 -3 times daily .

want to use a mat for comfort on your knees for this

Recovery:

STRETCH:

Try stretching your arms by bringing them across your body and holding for 60 seconds.

For your chest and shoulders, grab and clasp your hands behind your back keeping your arms straight. Lift your hands up until you feel a gentle stretch in your chest and shoulders. Hold for 15 seconds and repeat as many times as desired.

STRETCH:

You can also stretch out your wrists by grabbing your fingers with the opposite hand and pull them towards you, holding for 15 -20 seconds.

FOOD: What are you eating?

Ø Oatmeal with nuts and dark berries. Full of protein and antioxidants!

Ø Avocado Toast! This is one of my favorites because it is so versatile, no matter what time of day!

Ø Grilled chicken with vegetable is a great source of proteins and vitamins.

HYDRATE!

I can’t say enough about WATER. Always remember to hydrate. However many glasses (or bottles) of water you drink per day, try to DOUBLE it.

Benefits:

• Relieves fatigue . Did you know that your blood volume level drops if you have an inadequate amount of water in your body? This may be the reason for any fatigue you may feel throughout the day.

• Helps with headaches and migraines. Many headaches and migraines are due to dehydration.

• Encourages weight loss. Sometimes you’re not really hungry…you’re thirsty. Try drinking a glass (or 2!) of water before a meal.

• Flushes toxins. Flushing out the toxins is healthy for your internal organs. Bonus: healthier, younger looking skin!

I hope everyone is eager and ready to accept this challenge. It will make such a difference in your health, and you will actually see the physical change in your body! I can’t wait to hear how everyone is doing! Take before and after pictures. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish! I’m rooting for you, Sorors!

LET’S DO THIS!

Reach out and send me an email at ceswhite@gmail.com about your progress and tell me what you’re jamming to while you workout! YOU GOT THIS!

“Even when you don’t feel like doing it, do it anyway!” –me (Soror Crystal)

Happy New Year Sorors!

What are your resolutions? How do you plan on achieving them? Email Soror Deirdre dsm0463@verizon.net with your resolution to be featured in the January newsletter!

Sorors Out & About

“Merry Christmas from Pittsburgh” Soror Kim and her best friend from middle school, Soror Carol