Topic: Patient Education
Strokes in African Americans
Strokes in African Americans Most strokes in African Americans occur due to high blood pressure and a much higher number of African Americans have uncontrolled blood pressure. A quarter of all strokes occur in the presence of atrial fibrillation (a fib)…
Heart Failure in African Americans
Heart failure in African-Americans occurs more often and is more deadly. African Americans have a significantly higher risk and earlier onset of heart failure and heart-related death compared to all other populations in the United States. In fact, African Americans are two…
Establishing Trust When Patients Distrust Doctors
Distrust Doctors ?? Multiple studies over an extended period of time confirm what most doctors and providers already knew, African Americans are more likely to distrust doctors and other healthcare providers than patients of other racial or ethnic groups. What…
Kidney Disease in African Americans
Kidney disease in African Americans is one the most dramatically different occurrences of a disease, and results in significant suffering and death. Generally, kidney disease is the result of diabetes and high blood pressure, and given the increased number of…
Atrial Fibrillation in African Americans
Atrial fibrillation in African Americans, also called "A Fib", effects one in nine before the age of 80 and is the most prevalent arrhythmia in the US and is associated with significant bad outcomes that include stroke, heart failure, and increased…
Prostate Cancer in African American Men
Prostate cancer in African American men is more deadly, occurs more often, and can be easily detected by a blood test called a "prostate specific antigen" or "PSA." Yet many doctors have been advised against checking for this cancer because…
Love Your Kids, Not Your Guns
Love kids not guns It’s silly that I have to write an article about something so obvious: Love your kids, not your guns. I’ve wrongly stayed neutral about gun control because so many of my patients have and love guns. …
The health and social issues with tattoos
Almost half of people between 18 and 35 have tattoos, and almost one in four regrets it, according to a 2016 Harris Poll. Based on an estimate of about 60 million people in that age group, that would mean that…
Do Great Music Artists Die Young?
With the startling death of Prince at the age of 57, many began to reflect on the seemingly 'premature' death of ground-breaking artists like Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, or Hank Williams. Even as a physician, I began to wonder a…
Sleep Differences in African Americans
There are racial disparities in sleep with African Americans having a shorter sleep duration, a harder time falling asleep, and a tendency to wake up more easily after falling asleep. There is also a decreased ability to phase shift African Americans…