Topic: Patient Education
The Best Multivitamins for African Americans
Which multivitamin should I take? As a physician, I get this question multiple times a day, every day. And the answer would frequently depend on who was asking. Are they younger or older? Male or female? How is their diet? …
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…
Smoking and Diabetes: A Hidden Risk for African Americans
African American smokers have a higher risk for diabetes In the Jackson Heart Study, one of the largest long-term studies of Black adults in America, researchers followed nearly 3,000 African Americans without diabetes for about eight years. Those who smoked…
Lactose Intolerance in African Americans: Why It Happens and How to Get Your Calcium
3 out of 4 of us have lactose intolerance An estimated three out of four African Americans are lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance means that when you drink milk or eat yogurt, cheese, or other dairy foods in large amounts, your…
Are Statins Bad for You? What African Americans Need to Know
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…
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: Blood Pressure, Diabetes and the APOL1 Gene
Kidney disease in African Americans is one of the clearest examples of a health gap, and it causes a great deal of suffering and early death. Most kidney failure is caused by diabetes and high blood pressure, and both are…
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…
