Health News

Stolen History, Stolen Health: Why Blacks are Dying from Preventable Kidney Disease Eleven thousand African Americans die every year from chronic kidney disease only found in people of West African ancestry. Why?  It is because the gene variants that trigger these disorders are only carried by populations from the sodium-deficient interior of West Africa.  What the history books failed to reveal is that  African Americans of slave descent are not simply from West Africa.  Dur

When Knowledge Is a Lifeline: What Black Expectant Mothers Should Expect—and Demand—in Care On January 2, the maternal health community lost Dr. Janell Green Smith, a certified nurse midwife and tireless advocate for Black maternal health. She died after delivering her first child. She was 31 years old. This is not just a tragedy. It is a warning. Black women in the United States are far more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. This gap shows up at e

Clinical trials are essential to advancing medical knowledge and improving patient care. They provide a structured way to test new treatments, medications, and procedures to ensure they are safe effective. For patients considering participation in a clinical trial, understanding the process can be daunting. This guide aims to demystify clinical trials, offering insights into their purpose, phases, and what patients can expect. What Are Clinical Trials? Clinical trials are re

Sickle cell disease (SCD) has been studied for more than a century. In 1949, scientist Linus Pauling showed that it was a molecular disease. Yet for decades, treatment options barely moved forward. Until recently, the main option beyond supportive care was a bone marrow transplant. That has now changed. In the last six years, we’ve seen more progress than ever before. Who is affected SCD is the most common inherited blood disorder, affecting more than 30 million people worldw

For too long, the African American community has faced significant health disparities, experiencing higher rates of chronic diseases and lower life expectancies compared to other racial groups. While many factors contribute to this troubling reality, one often overlooked aspect is the lack of culturally competent and race-conscious healthcare.  Dr. Gregory L. Hall and his family are tackling this issue head-on with their new book, “Better Black Health: A Comprehensive Guide i

What if the real threat isn’t loud? What if it’s slow, deliberate, and dressed up as reform? Across the country, we’re witnessing a coordinated rollback of policies and protections that gave black communities even a foothold in a system never built to include us. It’s not a storm. It’s a slow dismantling — measured, strategic, and mostly ignored by the headlines. This isn’t about politics or partisanship. It’s about pattern. It’s about calculated assaults on our power, our vo

A quiet war is being waged to undo the very foundation of black life in America. It is methodical. It is legal. And it is dangerous. To be black in this country today is to exist inside a system that is actively working to unmake us — not with chains or fire, but with budgets, executive orders, bans, and algorithms. This system is not attacking us with force — it’s erasing us with policy. Not through spectacle, but through strategy. This is not reform. This is not politics. T

GRADUATION RATES FOR BLACKS ARE LOWER The graduation rate of Black students at most U.S. medical schools is lower than that of the nation’s top-ranked institutions. Across the country, Black medical students are twice as likely to leave medical school without a degree as White students. Black male medical students have the highest rate of dismissal. T hese disproportional derailments continue into residency , where young Black medical residents continue to see a higher dismi

Black medical residents face a higher rate of dismissal from residency programs compared to their white counterparts nationwide. These systemic issues in medical education and the healthcare system further threaten the need for more Black doctors. Even worse, Black aspirants endure emotional and financial hardship, often derailing their medical careers just short of completing a grueling obstacle course of educational achievements. An article in a leading medical journal outl

Eric Kyere , IUPUI Some critics of Black Lives Matter say the movement itself is racist . Their frequent counterargument: All lives matter. Lost in that view, however, is a historical perspective. Look back to the late 18th century, to the very beginnings of the U.S., and you will see Black lives in this country did not seem to matter at all. Foremost among the unrelenting cruelties heaped upon enslaved people was the lack of health care for them. Infants and children fared

Nikita Wright , Georgia State University When a woman finds a lump in her breast, her doctor’s first move is usually to recommend a biopsy – that is, to remove a small portion of the lump for analysis. If the lump is cancerous, doctors test for three different clinical markers : estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor. The results determine what kind of hormone or growth factor receptor treatment the patient receives. About 15-20 pe

Ryan Huerto , University of Michigan and Edwin Lindo , University of Washington In today’s America, minority patients still have markedly worse health outcomes than white patients. The differences are greatest for black Americans: Compared to white patients, they are two to three times as likely to die of preventable heart disease and stroke . They also have higher rates of cancer, asthma, influenza, pneumonia, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and homicide. For many of them, structural ra

The 2025 inauguration is here, bringing a mix of emotions and questions about what to expect and what the aftermath may bring. This year’s event, coinciding with MLK Day, has stirred a range of reactions from clients, friends, and family members. Many are feeling anxious, caught up in a “What will happen?” mindset. If this sounds familiar, take a deep breath (SLOW. DOWN. BREATHE RIGHT NOW…good). Let’s reset and focus on five simple steps to help you stay grounded during and a

A lot has been written in the news about endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDCs. Many of these chemicals are found in shampoo, lotions, conditioners, lipstick, makeup, moisturizers, sunscreens, creams, and much more. It is believed by some that the increase in obesity, or being overweight, particularly in African American women, is the cause. Black women have the highest rate of obesity and a high diabetes risk as well.  Similarly, Black girls have the earliest age at pubert

Many of the plastics that we use could be damaging to our health.  Do you store food in plastic containers or even wrap food in plastic wraps?  Science has shown that small amounts of dangerous chemicals are absorbed by the food while they are in direct contact. These chemicals could change the level of hormones in your body. Some believe the higher occurrence of infant and mother mortality, diabetes, and obesity may be related to these chemical exposures . . . particularly i

A calorie is a calorie is a calorie, at least from a thermodynamic standpoint. It’s defined as the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius (2.2 pounds by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit). But when it comes to health and your body’s energy balance, not all calories are equal. For example, some studies have reported that diets that are high-protein , low-carbohydrate or a combination of the two do yield greater weight loss than die

Renã A.S. Robinson , Vanderbilt University Blacks are at higher risk for several health conditions in the U.S. This is true for heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and stroke, which are often chronic diseases. And it is also for Alzheimer’s disease, in which blacks have two times higher incidence rates than whites. So, why do these disparities exist, especially in Alzheimer’s disease, which isn’t typically considered a chronic disease but a progressive one, or one t

Ivan Martinez , West Virginia University In an amazing twist of fate, the aggressive cervical cancer tumor that killed Henrietta Lacks , a 31-year old African American mother, became an essential tool that helped the biomedical field flourish in the 20th century. As a cancer researcher who uses HeLa cells in my everyday work, even I sometimes find it hard to believe. Lacks’ cervical cancer cells, called “HeLa” after the first two letters of her first and last name, are immo

Lynn Gardner , Morehouse School of Medicine Few things are more challenging than trying to vaccinate a terrified and uncooperative child. I have seen children wedge themselves into a corner and refuse to budge. I have seen them thrash and yell. And I have seen them sit perfectly still, but cry the entire time. I’m an associate professor of pediatrics and have been a primary care pediatrician for more than 25 years. I’ve encountered these situations thousands of times in my c

Deborah Fuller , University of Washington The two most successful coronavirus vaccines developed in the U.S. – the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines – are both mRNA vaccines. The idea of using genetic material to produce an immune response has opened up a world of research and potential medical uses far out of reach of traditional vaccines. Deborah Fuller is a microbiologist at the University of Washington who has been studying genetic vaccines for more than 20 years. We spoke to