Heart Healthy Home Cooking African American Style With Every Heartbeat Is Life
Good food is one of life’s great joys. And good meals are a shared pleasure at the heart of African American family life and special celebrations. This recipe book brings together many African American favorite recipes, prepared in a heart healthy way, lower in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium! It shows how to prepare dishes in ways that help protect you and your family from heart disease and stroke. This is important because heart disease and stroke are the first and the third leading cause of death for African Americans. By making small changes in the way you and your family eat, you can help reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Heart Healthy Home Cooking African American Style
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Racial disparities in diabetes prevalence linked to living conditions
The higher incidence of diabetes among African Americans when compared to whites may have more to do with living conditions than genetics, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study, available online in advance of publication in the October 2009 edition of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found that when African Americans and whites live in similar environments and have similar incomes, their diabetes rates are similar, which contrasts with the fact that nationally diabetes is more prevalent among African Americans than whites.
Researchers from the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine compared data from the 2003 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) with the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities Southwest Baltimore (EHDIC-SWB) Study. The Baltimore study was conducted in a racially integrated urban community without race differences in socioeconomic status.
"I don't mean to suggest that genetics play no role in race differences in health, but before we can conclude that health disparities are mainly a matter of genetics we need to first identify a gene, polymorphism or gene mutation that exists in one race group and not others. And when that gene is found we need to then demonstrate that that gene is also associated with diabetes," LaVeist said. "On the other hand, there is overwhelming evidence that behavior, medical care and the environment are huge drivers of race differences in health. It seems more likely that the answer to health disparities will be found among these factors."
Researchers in this study found that within their sample of racially integrated communities without race differences in socioeconomic and environmental factors, prevalence estimates of diabetes are similar between African Americans and whites. According to the study, "Previous research has demonstrated that when African Americans and whites access similar health care facilities their health care outcomes are more similar."
The study's authors said their findings support the need for future health disparities research and creative approaches to examining health disparities within samples that account for socioeconomic and social environmental factors. ###
Additional authors of "Environmental and Socio-Economic Factors as Contributors to Racial Disparities in Diabetes Prevalence" are Roland J. Thorpe, Jr., PhD; Jessica E. Galarraga, MPH; Kelly M. Bower, MSN, MPH, RN; and Tiffany L. Gary-Webb, PhD.
The study was supported by funding from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), a center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Contact: Tim Parsons tmparson@jhsph.edu 410-955-7619 Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Young Black Women Prone to Gain More Unhealthy Abdominal Fat than Hispanics, Study Shows
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Black women ages 20 to 29 have increased amounts of unhealthy abdominal and visceral fat than Hispanic women the same age, and young women of both age groups have more as compared to their elders, according to researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues.
The new research shows that accumulation of abdominal fat that increases risk of type 2 diabetes is greatest in young adulthood for blacks and Hispanics, said endocrinologist Kristen G. Hairston, M.D., M.P.H., lead author of an article published online June 1 by the American Diabetes Association. The study is the first to look at a large minority cohort using computed tomography (CT) scanning to measure longitudinal changes over time in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue, which are different types of abdominal fat.
Kristen G. Hairston, M.D., M.P.H. Assistant Professor, Department Name: Endocrinology and Metabolism. Appointments: (336) 713-7251, Office Phone: (336) 713-7251, Night Phone: (336) 713-7251, Fax: (336) 713-7255. Clinic Location: University Internal Medicine at Stratford Executive Park, 500 Shepherd Street, Suite 300, Winston-Salem, NC. Office Address: Medical Center Blvd. Winston Salem, NC 27157-1047. Email Address: kghairs@wfubmc.edu | The study followed 389 blacks and 844 Hispanics ages 20 to 69, men and women, grouped by age in 10-year increments. The researchers took baseline measurements of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous abdominal tissue (SAT) from 1999 to 2002 with follow-up measurements in 2005-2007. VAT is fat that resides within the abdominal cavity around internal organs and has been linked to metabolic disturbances. SAT is the kind of fat that one can pinch, like “love handles.” The study found that the young adult age group (ages 20 to 29) had the largest five-year increase in measured adiposity, or fat, regardless of race or gender. The increase in VAT averaged 18 and 12 square centimeters (cm2) among young black and Hispanic women, respectively, and 13 and 7 cm2 among young men. The five-year increase in (SAT) was 89 and 53 cm2 among young black and Hispanic women, respectively, and 76 and 30 cm2 among young men. In general, fat accumulation declined in the older age groups. Abdominal fat accumulation, particularly the visceral type, is significant because previous studies show that VAT changes of this magnitude differentiate those who develop diabetes from those who don’t. Until this study, this pattern of excessive abdominal fat accumulation in young adults has not been reported using CT-measured “fat depots.” |
“Our data may help to further identify unique populations at risk for type 2 diabetes and those for whom behavioral intervention might be most effective,” said Hairston, assistant professor of endocrinology and metabolism.
Grants from the National Institutes of Health funded the research. The article, titled “Five-year change in visceral adipose tissue quantity in a minority cohort: The IRAS Family Study,” appears online at care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2009/05/28/dc09-0336.abstract. It was published in the August issue of Diabetes Care, a publication of the American Diabetes Association.
Media Relations Contacts: Annette Porter, aporter@wfubmc.edu; (336) 716-2416; or Bonnie Davis, bdavis@wfubmc.edu; or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-4587.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
New Obesity Data Shows Blacks Have the Highest Rates of Obesity
Blacks had 51 percent higher prevalence of obesity, and Hispanics had 21 percent higher obesity prevalence compared with whites, according to researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Greater prevalences of obesity for blacks and whites were found in the South and Midwest than in the West and Northeast. Hispanics in the Northeast had lower obesity prevalence than Hispanics in the Midwest, South or West. The study, in CDC′s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, examined data from 2006-2008. “This study highlights that in the United States, blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately affected by obesity,” said Dr. William H. Dietz, Director of CDC′s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, “If we have any hope of stemming the rise in obesity, we must intensify our efforts to create an environment for healthy living in these communities.”
For this study analysis, CDC analyzed the 2006−2008 BRFSS data. For more information on obesity trends, tables, including an animated map, visit www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends. To learn more about CDC′s efforts in the fight against obesity or for more information about nutrition, physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight, visit www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao. ####
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Contact: CDC Division of Media Relations (404) 639-3286
Thursday, September 17, 2009
JEC Chair Maloney Statement on African American Unemployment
Washington, D.C. - Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its monthly jobs report for August. Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, released the following statement in reaction to the labor market conditions facing the African American community:
“Today's employment numbers show that although the economy shows signs of recovery, employers are still reluctant to hire,” said Rep. Maloney. “I am optimistic that as more stimulus projects get underway in the coming months, more African Americans will be heading back to work."
Some quick facts from the August Jobs Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
· The unemployment rate for African American workers is now at 15.1 percent, up 6.2 percentage points from the start of the recession in December 2007.
· The unemployment rate for African American women age 20 and over has risen 4.8 percentage points since the start of the recession to 11.9 percent.
· Unemployment among minority teens is especially high –1 in 3 African American and Hispanic teens are unemployed. That compares with 1 in 4 for white teens
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Black patients have lower rate of survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest
Compared with white patients, black patients who have an in-hospital cardiac arrest are significantly less likely to survive to hospital discharge, having lower rates of successful resuscitation and postresuscitation survival, although much of this survival difference was associated with the hospital in which black patients received care, according to a study in the September 16 issue of JAMA.
"Survival following in-hospital cardiac arrest represents a unique opportunity to examine racial disparities in medical care and outcomes. In-hospital cardiac arrest is an emergency condition tightly linked to processes of care and for which there is little debate regarding clinical appropriateness of treatment in eligible patients," according to background information in the article. "Racial differences in survival have not been previously studied after in-hospital cardiac arrest, an event for which access to care is not likely to influence treatment."
The researchers found that black patients had a 27 percent lower overall rate, and a 12 percent lower absolute rate, of survival to hospital discharge, compared with white patients. "These unadjusted survival differences by race were, in large part, attributable to black patients being more likely to receive treatment at hospitals with worse outcomes."
These differences narrowed after adjusting for patient characteristics and for the hospital to which the patient was admitted. "However, further adjustment for hospital process variables did not meaningfully [diminish] residual differences, and black patients remained 10 percent less likely to survive to hospital discharge," the authors note.
"Lower rates of survival to discharge for blacks reflected lower rates of both successful resuscitation (55.8 percent vs. 67.4 percent for whites) and postresuscitation survival (45.2 percent vs. 55.5 percent for whites)," they write. "The racial difference in postresuscitation survival was eliminated after multivariable adjustment, and was largely explained by the hospital site at which patients received postresuscitation care."
"Collectively, these findings suggest that strategies to eliminate racial disparities in survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest are not likely to succeed unless they are accompanied by successful identification and implementation of interventions that improve resuscitation survival in those poorly performing hospitals in which black patients are more likely to receive care." ###
Contact: Kaitlin Staniforth kstaniforth@saint-lukes.org 816-932-2826 JAMA and Archives Journals
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Socio-cultural, genetic data work together to reveal health disparities
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When it comes to health disparities between different groups, how society sees people in terms of race might play a greater role than genetics, according to a new University of Florida study.
The study also showed that taking stock of socio-cultural factors might improve our understanding of how genes influence individual health — regardless of race.
Consider high blood pressure, a complex disease governed both by genetic and environmental factors. Not only was social classification better than genetic-based ancestry at predicting disease status, it also brought to light a link between a particular gene and blood pressure that was not apparent when only genetic ancestry was considered.
To examine the link between African ancestry and blood pressure, the UF team studied 87 adults in Puerto Rico, using two variables for which "race" is often used as a surrogate: genetic ancestry and social classification.
Genetic ancestry was assessed using gene variants that show large frequency differences among groups from different continents. Social classification was assessed by observers to estimate how people are perceived in everyday life in terms of skin pigmentation, or "color" (pronounced coh-lohr). The researchers found that the three major "color" categories had overlapping genetic ancestry, and that there was a strong link between "color" and blood pressure, but not between genetic ancestry and blood pressure.
Next, they looked at whether taking account of social factors changed our understanding of genes thought to affect hypertension. When only genetic ancestry was considered, no association was evident between candidate genes for hypertension and blood pressure. But when "color" and socio-economic status were included in the analysis, a significant association between the gene variant and blood pressure was uncovered.
"One of the important points here is that you can have an association between two biological variables like genetic ancestry and blood pressure, but it could be that the social and cultural implications of having African ancestry is what is driving this association," Gravlee said.
Health differences could arise from differing stresses people face based on how society sees and treats them.
"There's no doubt about the fact that perceptions matter," Kaufman said. "This article reinforces the idea that if you don't pay attention to how people are perceived you miss a big chunk of the story."
The researchers found that the group of people who carried the associated genetic variant also contained multiple categories of "color" and socio-economic status. When these different socio-cultural categories were separated, the protective effect of the genetic variant became evident.
"What's exciting about our study, is that we can show the value of including socio-cultural data by revealing a genetic association that would otherwise have been missed," Mulligan said. "This is important in convincing other researchers that it is worthwhile to include nongenetic data in a genetic study rather than simply controlling for nongenetic factors." ###
Contact: Czerne M. Reid czerne@ufl.edu 352-273-5814 University of Florida
Friday, September 11, 2009
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980)
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980).
Owens attended The Ohio State University only after employment was found for his father, ensuring the family could be supported. He was affectionately known as the "Buckeye Bullet" and won a record eight individual NCAA championships, four each in 1935 and 1936.
At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, Jesse Owens, the son of Lawrence County Alabama sharecroppers, Henry and Emma Owens, achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 metres, the 200 metres, the long jump, and as part of the 4x100 meter relay team. and shattered Adolph Hitler's claim of Aryan superiority. His victory transcended athletics; the 110,000 Germans in Olympic Stadium cheered him on, and often stopped Owens on the streets of Berlin for an autograph or picture. Four years after his death, a street outside the Olypmic Stadium was named in his honor.
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) PHOTO: Public Domain Clipart | In 1976, Jesse Owens was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush posthumously awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor for "an unrivaled athletic triumph, but more than that, a triumph for all humanity." Battling Discrimination at the 1936 Olympics--An Unsent Letter. This letter (Page 1) (Page 2) from NAACP leader Walter White to Jesse Owens urges him not to participate in the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin, which was under Nazi rule, but it was never sent. |
The U. S. did send an Olympic team to Berlin, and Owens was its star, winning four gold medals.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
High school put-downs make it hard for students to learn, study says
URBANA – High-school put-downs are such a staple of teen culture that many educators don't take them seriously. However, a University of Illinois study suggests that classroom disruptions and psychologically hostile school environments can contribute to a climate in which good students have difficulty learning and students who are behind have trouble catching up.
"We need to get away from the idea that bullying is always physical. Bullying can also include verbal harassment, which can be just as damaging and detrimental to student learning," said Christy Lleras, a U of I assistant professor of human and community development.
The study used data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study and included 10,060 African American, Latino, and white tenth graders in 659 U.S. high schools. It is one of the first to look at the national incidence of verbal harassment in public and private high schools, she said.
She speculates that verbal put-downs in these schools may be a coping strategy that students use when they don't have the skills to do the work and have little hope of acquiring them in their academic environment.
"When high-achieving minority kids are put down by their peers, it can contribute to a climate in which lower-achieving kids fall farther and farther behind and must struggle to catch up. This hostile school climate isn't a cause of the racial achievement gap--we see evidence of the achievement gap well before middle school--but it contributes to it," she said.
"Sadly, verbal harassment is just one more thing these students have to deal with, and as long as we accept it because it's not physical bullying, we're doing a grave disservice to the kids who need non-disruptive and focused learning environments the most," she said.
The study was published in the Journal of School Violence. ###
Contact: Phyllis Picklesimer p-pickle@illinois.edu 217-244-2827 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Office of Naval Research's Rear Admiral addresses diversity with HBCU presidents
ARLINGTON, Va. - Saying America's future depended on its ability to compete in the global marketplace, the U.S. Navy's Chief of Naval Research addressed a gathering of presidents of historically black colleges and universities on Sept. 1 in Washington, D.C. He told them "in order to maintain the health of the defense science and engineering workforce, we must continue to engage every bright young mind that has the capability to help us invent the future."
Rear Admiral Nevin P. Carr Jr., whose office provides the science and technology needed to maintain the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps' technological war-fighting dominance, was among more than 1,200 participants attending the 2009 National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference. Held from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, the White House-sponsored event attracted federal, state and local agencies interested in invigorating the relationship between the surviving 105 HBCUs and the government.
"Today, our HBCU programs include the summer faculty research program, the research and education partnership program, and the research partnership program--all directed towards increasing the participation of HBCU institutions in naval science and technology," Carr said. "We do this because we need to attract every bright young mind we can to a career in science and technology."
According to the National Science Foundation, only 31 percent of U.S. graduate students pursue degrees in science and engineering. As of 2004, only 35 percent of those graduates were from under-represented populations, such as African-American, Hispanic and Asian.
Carr's presence at the event underscored ONR's commitment to building the Navy's future force through investment in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics pipeline. The rear admiral was among distinguished speakers that included CIA Director Leon Panetta, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson.
"Shifting demographics in the U.S. means we must focus our attention on reaching out more to diverse communities," Carr said. "The demographic trends are well established and clear.No single segment of any population can provide the needed capacity. We need to tap the entire crew." ###
About The Office of Naval Research
The Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR) provides the science and technology necessary to maintain the Navy and Marine Corps' technological war-fighting dominance. Through its affiliates, ONR is a leader in S&T with engagement in 50 states, 70 countries, 1,035 institutions of higher learning, and nearly 1,000 industry partners. ONR employs approximately 1,400 people, comprising uniformed, civilian and contract personnel.
Contact: Peter Vietti onrcsc@navy.mil 703-588-2167 Office of Naval Research
Friday, September 4, 2009
Pancreatic cancer affects blacks at higher rates
PHILADELPHIA – Regardless of risk factors linked to pancreatic cancer, such as smoking and body mass index (BMI), blacks experienced higher rates of pancreatic cancer death than whites.
"Reducing overweight/obesity and smoking will help reduce pancreatic cancer overall, as well as prevent other diseases," said Lauren D. Arnold, Ph.D., M.P.H., postdoctoral research associate in the department of surgery at Washington University in St. Louis.
"We still have a long way to go towards understanding pancreatic cancer disparities."
Results of this cohort study are published online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Regardless of gender and race, findings showed that smoking was the biggest risk factor for pancreatic cancer. Increasing risk of pancreatic cancer was associated with increasing BMI. When considered by race, blacks had a 42 percent increased risk of pancreatic cancer death compared to whites.
Excess risk of disease remained, even when the researchers eliminated all other risk factors from the calculation.
"We hoped to find that by accounting for known and suspected pancreatic cancer risk factors, such as smoking, diabetes and BMI, and by looking at this in the context of race and gender, we'd be able to explain the higher rates of pancreatic cancer in blacks," Arnold said. "Unfortunately, we were unable to explain these differences."
Maria Elena Martinez, Ph.D., M.P.H., said although differences in risk factor patterns were shown, overall, they did not account for the pancreatic cancer mortality rates evident by race. Martinez is the Richard H. Hollen Professor of Cancer Prevention at the University of Arizona, director of the Cancer Health Disparities Institute at the Arizona Cancer Center, and an editorial board member for Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
"The results most certainly point to the need for additional work to explain these racial disparities in risk of pancreatic cancer," she said. "Factors other than those assessed by the researchers may be responsible for the disparities. These can include unidentified lifestyle and/or environmental factors, genetic factors or unique gene-environment interactions."
What makes this study different from previous studies that explored differences in relationship to risk for pancreatic cancer is that this study comes from a large group of cancer-free individuals and examines their risk of developing pancreatic cancer over a long period of time.
Arnold noted one limitation with this study is that higher death rates from an illness in certain populations may be the result of limited or no access to health care. However, past studies have shown that problems with access to health care might not be causing the higher pancreatic cancer death rates in blacks; blacks and whites are both usually diagnosed in relatively late stages of disease, which makes treatment difficult and survival low.
"Our data do not explain what is causing these disparities, but we hope it encourages researchers to continue looking for reasons why blacks develop and die from pancreatic cancer at higher rates than whites," Arnold said. "Clinicians who have patients with a family history of pancreatic cancer or other risk factors for the disease should communicate the benefits of losing weight and quitting smoking, if anything, to help reduce their risk of pancreatic cancer." ###
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes more than 28,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and nearly 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field.
Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists. CR provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.
Contact: Tara Yates tara.yates@aacr.org 267-646-0558 American Association for Cancer Research
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Patient-doctor communication is worse for blacks than for whites, study finds VIDEO
CHAPEL HILL – Black patients with high blood pressure experience poorer communication with their doctors than white patients do, a study led by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher has found.
"This is an important finding because poorer communication is associated with worse patient satisfaction, adherence to therapy and blood pressure control, which in turn may lead to worse disease outcomes for black patients compared to white patients," said Crystal Wiley Cené, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicine and lead author of the study.
The study is published in the September 2009 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Caption: Dr. Crystal Wiley Cené from the UNC School of Medicine discusses her study, which shows that how physicians communicate with their patients has an impact on overall satisfaction, quality of care and health outcomes. Credit: Video produced by Stephanie Crayton of UNC Health Care. Usage Restrictions: None. | Cené, a native of Sneads Ferry, N.C. and a graduate of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, led the study while completing a fellowship in general internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md. In her study, Cené and colleagues analyzed audio recordings of patient visits with their primary care physician as part of a study of interventions aimed at improving patient adherence to high blood pressure therapy. |
The results showed that the black patients had shorter office visits, less biomedical and psychosocial exchange and less rapport building with their doctors than white patients. These differences were statistically significant for psychosocial exchange and rapport building but not for biomedical exchange. Blacks with uncontrolled high blood pressure fared somewhat worse than blacks whose blood pressure was controlled by medication, whereas there were no significant differences among whites based on blood pressure control status.
The researchers found that for each outcome blacks, regardless of whether their blood pressure was controlled or not, had worse communication with their doctors than whites, regardless of the white patients' blood pressure control. The only exception was for an outcome called "patient positive affect," which is a sum of ratings of patients' interest, friendliness, engagement, sympathy and assertiveness behaviors. For this outcome they found that blacks with uncontrolled blood pressure had less positive affect than any of the other groups.
"It seems that in general blacks talk less overall to their physicians than white patients," Cené said. "As a result, communication about specific topics occurs less often. There are several possible reasons why they may talk less to their physicians -- they might not trust the physician or feel that they are 'disconnected' from their doctors, for whatever reasons. This lack of communication by black patients may in turn make their physicians talk less to them." Cené said.
"We believe there also may be an 'unspoken subtext' that occurs in visits between patients and doctors that influences the communication that occurs during the visit," Cené said. "It's possible that black patients are more likely to pick up on that 'unspoken subtext' and it alters their communication with their doctor. This might explain why we found that black patients had less positive affect towards their doctors than white patients. Essentially they are more sensitized to 'cue' into things that the coders could not easily capture just by listening to the audiotapes."
The study concluded that patient race was more important than blood pressure control status in determining the quality of patient-doctor communication and recommended the testing of interventions designed to improve patient-doctor communication as a way to reduce racial disparities in the care of patients with high blood pressure. ###
Contact: Tom Hughes tahughes@unch.unc.edu 919-966-6047 University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Monday, August 31, 2009
Racial disparity studied in patients undergoing liver transplantation for hepatitis B
HBV recurrence higher in Caucasians compared to Asian- and African-Americans -- further study needed
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1.5 to 2 million Americans are infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Prior studies have shown there to be significant racial differences in access to and outcomes of liver transplantation. Recently, doctors from across the U.S. conducted a multicenter retrospective-prospective study of the waitlist status and outcomes of liver transplant patients with HBV infection. This study led by Natalie Bzowej from California Pacific Medical Center and Anna Lok from the University of Michigan and funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found there to be similar waitlist and post-transplant outcomes among Asian Americans, African Americans, and Caucasians with HBV. These research findings appear in the September issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, published by Wiley-Blackwell.
Of the total number of study participants, 170 received transplantations between 2001and 2007. The probability of post-transplant survival at 5 years was 94% for African Americans, 85% for Asian Americans, and 89% for Caucasians. "Analysis indicated that HCC recurrence was the only predictor of post-transplant mortality while race, indication for transplant, and HBV recurrence were not," the authors explained.
Results from NIH HBV liver transplant study indicate similar waitlist and post-transplant outcomes across the three racial groups studied. "More study is necessary to determine whether the disparity between African Americans, Asians, and Caucasians in outcomes of liver transplantation for HBV persists in the most recent era," concluded Dr. Howell. ###
Article: "Liver Transplantation Outcomes among Caucasians, Asian Americans and African Americans with Hepatitis B," Natalie Bzowej, Steven-Huy Han, Bulent Degertekin, Emmet Keeffe, Sukru Emre, Robert Brown, Rajender Reddy, Anna Lok, Liver Transplantation, September 2009.
Editorial: "Racial Disparities in Liver Transplantation for Hepatitis B: To Be or Not to Be," Charles D. Howell, MD, Liver Transplantation, September 2009.
Contact: Dawn Peters medicalnews@wiley.com Web: Wiley-Blackwell
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The Civil Rights March on Washington 08/28/1963
Birmingham was a real victory, but a costly one. The long-term solution could not be for African Americans to defeat segregation one city at a time or by absorbing beatings, dog bites, and hosings. Even as the civil rights movement scored real gains, each advance came over dogged opposition. Federal troops were needed to ensure the admission of James Meredith, the first black to study at the University of Mississippi, in 1962. The following year, Alabama’s governor, George Wallace, whose inaugural address promised “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” staged a “stand in the schoolhouse door.” Only the intervention of federal marshals ensured the enrollment of African Americans Vivian Malone and James Hood at the University of Alabama. The very next day, Medgar Evers, leader of the Mississippi NAACP, was murdered outside his home in Jackson. And in Birmingham itself, on September 15, 1963, three Klansmen planted 19 sticks of dynamite in the basement of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, the unofficial headquarters of the Birmingham movement. Four young girls — Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Denise McNair — were killed and 22 injured.
On June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy told the nation that he would submit to Congress legislation prohibiting segregation in all privately owned facilities: hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and the like. “We are confronted primarily,” the president said, “with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and as clear as the American Constitution.” But the obstacles to passage of effective civil rights laws remained imposing.
Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; A. Philip Randolph, organizer of the demonstration and veteran labor leader who helped to found the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, American Federation of Labor (AFL), and a former vice president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); and Walter P. Reuther, President of the United Automobile Workers Union and Vice President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, leading marchers down the street.] Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Leaders marching from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. In the front row, from left are: Whitney M. Young, Jr., Executive Director of the National Urban League; Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, American Federation of Labor (AFL), and a former vice president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); Walter P. Reuther, President, United Auto Workers Union; and Arnold Aronson, Secretary of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.] Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Crowd of marchers at the Lincoln Memorial.], 08/28/1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Young women at the march.], 08/28/1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Close-up view of a crowd at the march.], 08/28/1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [A crowd of marchers.], 08/28/1963 | A number of black leaders were determined to change the political reality in which members of Congress would consider civil rights legislation. One was A. Philip Randolph. Now well into his 70s, Randolph had earlier organized and for decades led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union. African Americans had long supplied large numbers of rail car attendants. These were among the best jobs open to blacks in much of the country, and Randolph, as leader of these porters, had emerged as an important figure in the American labor movement. Back in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had sought to boost defense production in anticipation of possible U.S. entry into the Second World War. Randolph confronted Roosevelt, demanding an end to segregation in federal government agencies and among defense contractors. Otherwise, Randolph warned, he would launch a massive protest march on Washington, D.C. Roosevelt soon issued an executive order barring discrimination in defense industries and federal bureaus and creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee. After the war, pressure from Randolph contributed to President Harry S Truman’s 1948 order desegregating the American armed forces. Now Randolph and his talented assistant Bayard Rustin contemplated a similar march, hoping “to embody in one gesture civil rights as well as national economic demands.” A “Big Six” group of civil rights leaders was formed to organize the event. Included were Randolph, King, Roy Wilkins (representing the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), James Farmer (Congress of Racial Equality), John Lewis (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), and Whitney Young Jr. (Urban League). They fixed a date: August 28, 1963, and site for the main rally: the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” would be the largest political demonstration the nation had ever seen. Chartered buses and trains carried participants from throughout the nation. A quarter-million Americans, and by some estimates even more, gathered that day, among them at least 50,000 whites. On the podium stood a stellar assemblage of civil rights champions, Christian and Jewish religious leaders, labor chiefs, and entertainers. The black contralto Marian Anderson, who had performed at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 after being refused permission to sing at Washington’s Constitution Hall, offered the national anthem. Each of the Big Six addressed the crowd that day, except for Farmer, who had been arrested during a protest in Louisiana. The best-remembered moment would be King’s. Considered by many the finest oration ever delivered by an American, King’s “I Have a Dream” speech drew on themes from the Bible and from such iconic American texts as the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. King organized his remarks in the style and structure of a sermon, the kind he had delivered at many a Sunday morning church service. The speech began by linking the civil rights cause to earlier promises unfulfilled. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, King said, appeared to the freed slaves as “a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” But 100 years later, he continued, “the Negro … finds himself an exile in his own land.” When the nation’s founders wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, “they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable rights’ of ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ ” America, King continued, had defaulted on that promissory note, at least to her citizens of color. We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. “There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights,” King warned, but he also noted that in the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Some believe that King spoke extemporaneously as he delivered the “dream” portion of his address. The famed gospel singer Mahalia Jackson was on the stage while King spoke, and she addressed him during the speech: “Tell them about the dream, Martin,” she said. And he did. … and so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today! As the words and images of the day’s events sped across the nation and around the world, momentum for real change accelerated. But there were battles still to be fought, and victory, while ever closer, still lay in the distance. This article is excerpted from the book Free At Last: The U.S. Civil Rights Movement, published by the Bureau of International Information Programs. View the entire book Free At Last (PDF, 3.6 MB). |
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Fisk/Vanderbilt program receives $3.7 million to increase minority Ph.D.s in the physical sciences
A unique collaboration between Fisk and Vanderbilt universities that is poised to become the nation's top source of Ph.D.s in physics and astronomy awarded to underrepresented minorities has received a major boost from three federal grants totaling $3.7 million.
The Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge program was established in 2004. In just five years the program has attracted 31 underrepresented minority students, 60 percent of whom are women, and has become the nation's top producer of blacks earning master's degrees in physics. One of the new grants will be used to strengthen the astronomy/astrophysics infrastructure at Fisk, a historically black university, as well as increase recruitment and retention of underrepresented students. The second grant will fund the expansion of the program to a second historically black institution, Delaware State University, and expand the program from its current focus on astronomy and astrophysics to include materials science. The third grant will provide generous fellowships to support the students participating in the program.
"Through this partnership, more students will have the opportunity to develop valuable, marketable skills at the interface of astronomy, materials science and high-performance computing," added Keivan Stassun, associate professor of astronomy at Vanderbilt and adjunct professor of physics at Fisk who is one of the program's architects. "The result will be enhanced research capability at both Fisk and Vanderbilt, as well as a cadre of highly skilled astrophysics Ph.D. students who will significantly enhance the diversity and quality of the nation's astronomy and astrophysics workforce."
The largest grant, totaling $1.8 million, is directed to Fisk to support the Graduate Opportunities for Fisk Astronomy and Astrophysics Research (GO-FAAR) project. The funds will be used to strengthen Fisk's research infrastructure in astronomy and astrophysics. It will also be used to increase recruitment, retention and degree attainment by underrepresented students. Funding for the project comes from the National Science Foundation's Partnerships in Astronomy & Astrophysics Research and Education (PAARE) program.
The second NSF grant of $1.2 million will fund the expansion of the Bridge Program to include Delaware State University. Students from all three institutions will collaborate in graduate research and instruction and receive full funding support. This grant comes from NSF's Innovation through Institutional Integration project, which supports initiatives that enable faculty, administrators and others in institutions to think and act strategically about the creative integration of NSF-funded awards. The grant enables the Bridge program to expand into the field of materials science, which also suffers from extremely low minority representation.
In addition to these grants, the program has received $784,000 from the Department of Education's Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program. This grant will provide attractive fellowships ($30,000 per year plus tuition) for graduate students in science disciplines deemed essential to the nation's economic competitiveness. It will support six to seven new graduate students per year, who will be evenly apportioned among those entering the Bridge program and those entering directly into the Vanderbilt Ph.D. program.
"This significant investment by the federal government is a dramatic recognition of the success of the joint Fisk/Vanderbilt program," said Vanderbilt Provost Richard McCarty. "The complementary strengths of Fisk's master degree and Vanderbilt's Ph.D. programs have combined in a remarkable fashion that provides minority students with the support, encouragement and the skills that they need to succeed in the physical sciences." ###
ABOUT FISK
Fisk University is a coeducational university in Nashville, Tenn., that is grounded in liberal arts and is ranked fourth among 81 schools listed in U.S. News and World Report's "Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Top Schools." A recent National Science Foundation study revealed that Fisk alumni earned more doctorate degrees in the natural sciences than African American graduates from any other college or university in the nation. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Fisk is ranked No. 1 of all moderately selective colleges when it comes to graduating low-income students.
ABOUT VANDERBILT
Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately 6,500 undergraduates and 5,300 graduate and professional students. Founded in 1873, the university comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute, a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Vanderbilt, ranked as one of the nation's top universities, offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, engineering, music, education and human development, and a full range of graduate and professional degrees. For more news about Vanderbilt, visit the Vanderbilt News Service homepage on the Internet at www.vanderbilt.edu/News.
Contact: David F. Salisbury david.salisbury@vanderbilt.edu 615-343-6803 Vanderbilt University
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Minorities have poorer results, higher rates of inappropriate surgery to prevent stroke
DALLAS – Aug. 25, 2009 – Minorities have poorer results and higher rates of unnecessary surgery from a common procedure used to remove plaque from inside the carotid artery, according to a UT Southwestern Medical Center doctor who is lead author of the study in the journal Stroke.
The multicenter study, available online and appearing in the July issue of the journal, found that higher rates of poor surgical outcomes for carotid endartectomy (CEA) – a procedure performed to prevent stroke – appeared to be due not only to elevated patient clinical risk in African-American and Hispanics, but also to the individual skill and experience of the doctor performing the operation.
"Identifying how various patient, physician and hospital-level factors may contribute to disparities has important implications for the design of clinical and health policy strategies for reducing them," said Dr. Ethan Halm, chief of the William T. and Gay F. Solomon Division of General Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern.
However, minorities were more likely to be cared for by less-experienced surgeons and hospitals. Adjusting for these patient and provider factors explained the worse results in African-Americans, but did not explain the poorer outcomes in Hispanics.
Rates of unnecessary surgery were also higher in minorities. For Hispanics, CEA was inappropriate in 17.6 percent of the cases; for African-Americans, 13 percent; and for Caucasians, 7.9 percent. The disparity in rates of unnecessary surgery was largely due to the higher burden of serious health conditions among minorities, which put them at much higher short-term risk of complications. If the short-term risk of carotid surgery is too high, the procedure is considered inappropriate.
"These results show we have the worst of all worlds," Dr. Halm said. "CEA is, paradoxically, both overused and underused in minorities and with worse results. More work is needed to help better understand the multiple factors that influence patient selection and surgical referral patterns. Developing evidence-based decision aids to help physicians and patients more accurately weigh the potential risks and benefits of CEA is one strategy we are pursuing to help improve this situation." ###
The NYCAS study was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Scientists from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and New York University School of Medicine also contributed to the research in Stroke.
Visit www.utsouthwestern.org/surgery to learn more about clinical services in surgery at UT Southwestern.
Contact: Erin Prather Stafford erin.pratherstafford@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Disparities in cancer care reflect hospital resources, U-M study finds
Hospital quality among factors leading to survival differences
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Hospitals that treat more black cancer patients have worse survival rates on average for patients with breast and colon cancer, regardless of race, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The research helps explain why African-Americans with breast or colon cancer are less likely than white patients to survive the disease.
"This work highlights the importance of how where a patient receives treatment for cancer affects survival after cancer surgery. An important next step will be to determine which system factors are amenable to interventions aimed at improving the quality of cancer care," says study author Tara M. Breslin, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at the U-M Medical School.
Tara M. Breslin, M.D. Assistant Professor of Surgery. University of Michigan Health System. 3303 Cancer & Geriatrics Center, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5932 e-mail: tarabres@umich.edu | The study used five year survival data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results–Medicare-linked database, a federal collection of cancer incidence, survival, and prevalence. The researchers analyzed data from 25,571 breast cancer patients, 9.7 percent of whom were black, and 22,168 colon cancer patients, 11.8 percent of whom were black. The patients were treated in 436 hospitals. The study appears in the Aug. 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Survival rates were lower for black patients than for white patients with both breast and colon cancer. But hospitals where more than half the patients were black had an increased risk of dying after five years for both black and white patients, compared to hospitals where fewer than 10 percent of patients were black. |
The researchers also examined patient factors, such as age, cancer stage, other medical conditions and socioeconomic status. They found that after accounting for these factors, black patients still had higher mortality rates.
"Efforts aimed at increasing early detection through screening and decreasing incidence with preventative services are essential for decreasing racial disparities in mortality, but where a patient receives care after a cancer diagnosis may be equally important," says senior study author Arden M. Morris, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of surgery at the U-M Medical School and chief of general surgery at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.
The study did not identify what specific hospital factors were at play, but the researchers plan further analyses to determine which hospital systems and aspects of standard therapy are poorly delivered or absent in hospitals serving a high percentage of minority patients. ###
Cancer statistics: 194,280 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and 106,100 will be diagnosed with colon cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Additional authors: Niya Gu, Sandra L. Wong, Emily V. Finlayson, Mousumi Banerjee and John D. Birkmeyer, all from U-M
Funding: National Cancer Institute
Reference: Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol. 27, No. 24, pp. 3945-3950
Resources: U-M Cancer AnswerLine, 800-865-1125. U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, www.mcancer.org
Contact: Nicole Fawcett nfawcett@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System