Topic: Healthcare
Low Vitamin D in African Americans
African Americans Have Low Vitamin D Vitamin D is acquired through diet and skin exposure to ultraviolet B light. The skin's production of vitamin D is determined by length of exposure, latitude, season, and degree of skin pigmentation. African Americans…
Diabetes Differences in African Americans
There has been some startling discoveries lately in the differences in how diabetes is diagnosed and treated in African Americans. Because of genetic nuances that we normally may ignore as insignificant, hundreds of thousands of African Americans remain under-diagnosed and…
Diet Differences in African Americans
There are a number of important diet differences in African Americans that need to be considered prior to offering advice regarding improvements or adjustments. To tell someone to "eat better" without first knowing their current diet is a waste of…
More Sleep Apnea in African Americans
Sleep Apnea is more common in African Americans A recent study confirmed there is more sleep apnea in African Americans than in Whites. Sleep apnea (also call Obstructive Sleep Apnea / "OSA") is a condition where people repeatedly stop breathing…
Heavy Smokers at Higher Risk for Diabetes
African American smokers have a higher risk for diabetes A large study consisting of over five thousand African Americans found that those African Americans who smoke more than a pack of cigarettes in a day were at increased diabetes risk. …
Salt Sensitivity and Your Health
Salt Sensitivity and Your Health Salt sensitivity is defined as significant changes in blood pressure in response to salt in a diet. 75 percent of all African American patients with high blood pressure are salt sensitive compared to 50 percent…
Lactose Intolerance in African Americans
Three out of four African Americans are lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance means that if you drink milk, eat yogurt, have cheese, or any other dairy-based product in large amounts, your digestive system will have difficulty digesting it. Most people report…
Is Cholesterol Lowering Medicine Bad for You?
Many of my patients have high cholesterol and are on cholesterol lowering medicines called statins like Lipitor (atorvastatin), Zocor (simvastatin), and Crestor (rosuvastatin). Occasionally they will come in saying some well-meaning friend told them that "cholesterol medicine is bad for…
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…