INTRODUCTION Cognitive impairment in older adults is a major cause of functional disability. Interest in protecting brain health is likely to grow as the US population ages and more people have experiences with cognitive decline. Recent scientific evidence suggests that physical activity, heart-healthy diets, and social involvement may help to maintain brain health. We investigated attitudes ab...

BACKGROUND African Americans suffer from higher prevalence and severity of atherosclerosis compared with whites, highlighting racial and ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have pointed to the role of vascular inflammation and platelet activation in the formation of atherosclerotic lesions. METHODS AND RESULTS We explored the role of genetic variation in 4 chemokine...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the comparable risk of developing proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) in African-Americans and whites with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Using a cohort design with the sample drawn from medical records, the sample consisted of 312 people with type 1 diabetes (97 African-Americans, 215 whites) having at least two visits to a Model Demonstration Unit...

African Americans are under-represented in Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related biomarker studies, and it has been speculated that mistrust plays a major factor in the recruitment of African Americans for studies involving invasive procedures such as the lumbar puncture (LP). We set out to determine factors associated with non-participation in a biomarker study aiming to explore cerebrospinal fluid...

OBJECTIVES To determine if clustering of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors has a differential impact on CVD and renal disease among African Americans compared to Whites with type 2 diabetes DESIGN Cross-sectional. METHODS Prevalent CVD, macroalbuminuria, and CVD risk factors were measured in 323 African-American and White adult patients with type 2 diabetes. CVD risk factors were di...

Among consumers who file for bankruptcy, African Americans file Chapter 13 petitions at substantially higher rates than other racial groups. Some have hypothesized that the di↵erence is attributable to discrimination by attorneys, who “steer” African American debtors into Chapter 13, instead of Chapter 7, which is less lucrative for the attorneys. We explore an alternative hypothesis: Among dis...

Given the increase in HIV/AIDS infection rates among racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, this study was undertaken as part of a larger research effort to examine the distribution of HIV prevention services focusing on African American populations within the United States. Data were gathered via a national survey of community-based organizations (CBOs) funded by the Cen...

BACKGROUND The study of breast cancer in women with African ancestry offers the promise of identifying markers for risk assessment and treatment of triple-negative disease. METHODS African American and white American women with invasive cancer diagnosed at the Henry Ford Health System comprised the primary study population, and Ghanaian patients diagnosed and/or treated at the Komfo Anokye Te...

This article examined the relationships among race-related stress, quality of life indicators, and life satisfaction among elderly African Americans. A sample of 127 elderly African Americans, consisting of 87 women and 26 men (and 14 missing values), were administered the Index of Race-Related Stress, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, and the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey. Results indicated...

This article examines factors responsible for the stark racial disparities in HIV infection in the U.S. and the now concentrated epidemic among African Americans. Sexual network patterns characterized by concurrency and mixing among different subpopulations, together with high rates of other sexually transmitted infections, facilitate dissemination of HIV among African Americans. The social and...