Sondra E. Z. Hines, AILT, is an adjunct professor of health & wellness and is certified to teach group fitness exercise and Zumba. Wednesday Wellness - Fitness News You Can Use is published weekly. Email: sondraezhines@yahoo.com.

Imagine helping as many as 50 people with one single act: donating organs. Donate Life America and its state affiliate Donate Life North Carolina recently announced a major milestone in donor designation in the United States – 100 million registered organ donors. Of that number, 4,107,159 are registered in the Tar Heel state. Nationally, more than 112,000 people are on the national organ transplant list, including 3,757 in North Carolina. Unfortunately the number of African Americans donors — via DMV or online mechanisms — is low compared to other ethnic groups. 

Debbie Gibbs hopes to change these numbers. “Despite the low percentage of African Americans who have joined the NC Organ Donor Registry through DMV or the online portal, I am pleased to report that in the region of southwestern North Carolina served by LifeShare Of The Carolinas, our consent rate for donation among African Americans for the year is 42.9 percent,” says Gibbs, public relations manager, LifeShare Carolinas. “If they already have a heart on their driver’s license, which is legally binding, they’re covered and don’t need to do anything else.” 

In addition, Gibbs shares these statistics:

• The overall percentage of licensed drivers with a heart on their drivers license in N.C. is 52 percent (4.1 million). 

• African Americans comprise 20.7 percent of the licenses but only 13.6 percent of the hearts on driver’s licenses. 

• By comparison, Caucasians comprise 66.1 percent of the licenses but 80.4 percent of the hearts. 

• African American females are more likely to sign-up as organ donors than African American men (37 percent vs 33 percent). 

• In 2010, African Americans received 37.1 percent of all transplants but comprised 26.2 percent of the state’s organ donors. 

• As of Nov. 25, 2011, there were 1,887 African Americans awaiting an organ transplant in N.C., 52.7 percent of the list. 

• 1,887 or 57.2 percent of the people waiting on kidney transplants in N.C. are African American.  

During this season of giving, Gibbs reminds the Qcitymetro audience to consider signing up as donors at the DMV or through: www.lifesharecarolinas.org. Organs that can be donated include: kidneys, heart, liver, pancreas, intestines, lungs, skin, bone and bone marrow and cornea.

Health Headlines 

New energy "drink": Move over Gatorade, pickle juice is becoming the latest fix for athletes, particularly those suffering from cramps. Reportedly this new elixir is common among NFL pros. "Pickle juice is a natural source of sodium as well as other electrolytes," says Tampa Bay Buccaneers team nutritionist Kevin Luhrs. "Sodium is a component of sweat. The rationale is that sodium from the pickle juice helps replace sodium losses from sweat and even helps retain water in the body." Read more here.

Another food recall: Flying Food Group announced that sandwiches made in their Lawrenceville, Ga., plant and distributed to Race Trac gas stations in Georgia have been recalled due to possible listeria monocytogenes contamination. Production at the plant has been halted pending an investigation. If you recently ate at any Georgia-area Race Trac stations, you’re encouraged to contact Ellen Pritsker, 312-243-2122 ext. 127 or epritsker@flyingfood.com

Man accuses woman of stealing sperm: Joseph Pressil of Long Island, N.Y., alleges Anetria Burnett of Texas, an ex-girlfriend and exotic dancer, with stealing his sperm and using it to become pregnant using in-vitro fertilization. The couple, who never married has joint custody of twins, now four years old. Pressil is suing Burnett and the fertility clinic. Read more, here.

Fit Tip

Feeling stressed this holiday season? Reach for sunflower seeds, which contain vitamin B5, a power nutrient boosting the body’s production of hormones that halt the effects of cortisol, a stress hormone. 

Until, next time, I wish you Merry Fitness, good health and wellness!

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