Author Archive

    It’s no secret that for years, low-income communities of color have suffered as grocery stores and fresh, affordable food disappeared from their neighborhoods. But few of us stop and take note of what this is doing to our children.

I have become increasingly concern about the health of our young people. As we continue to see higher rates of typical adult health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and the like ...

  With a growing number of foods boasting added caffeine for an energy boost, the Food and Drug Administration says it’s time to investigate their safety. Companies adding caffeine to their products have labeled them as for adult use only. Not much is known about the effects of caffeine on children’s health.

The only time FDA approved the added use of caffeine in a food or drink was in the 1950′s for ...

It is undeniable that drugs do save lives, but few prescription medications are completely free of risks or side effects. Naturally, the more drugs that are taken at the same time, the greater the risk of adverse interactions and potentially devastating side effects.

People 65-years and older are the largest consumers of prescription and nonprescription medications in America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that although the 65-and-over ...

A disturbing email from a friend in an African country has moved me to address an issue that I written about: Black people; attitudes on mistrust; and the subsequent impact on benefiting from developments in medical treatment.
Compounding the problem, diverse patients (especially Blacks) are historically underrepresented in clinical research. The shortage of minority participants and researchers continues despite arguments made in the medical community that minorities should be ...

Many older people worry about becoming more forgetful. They think forgetfulness is the first sign of Alzheimer’s disease. In the past, memory loss and confusion were considered a normal part of aging. Most people remain both alert and able as they age, although it may take them longer to remember things.
The term dementia describes a group of symptoms that are caused by changes in brain function. Dementia symptoms ...

In 2010, there were about 410,000 dialysis patients in the United States.
But did you know African Americans are at increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) leading to dialysis and transplant? Compared to other ethnic groups, the African American population has higher rates of diabetes and high blood pressure, which are the two leading causes of kidney disease.
Based on data from 2009, African Americans account for ...

The older you get, the people dying will more and more be folks you know. It’s just that simple.
What amazes me is how many of us are not willing to accept this very final event in life as a reminder to “get our affairs in order”. I don’t know about you, but it is increasingly difficult for me to see the anguish and suffering for both patients and their ...

There is a serious problem in this country that is an epidemic. The problem is hypertension.
Approximately 35 percent of African-American men and 34 percent of African American women suffer from high blood pressure, or hypertension, which is the number one cause of preventable death among African Americans. Hypertension develops earlier in life in African Americans than in Caucasians and is usually more severe. As a result, African Americans have a greater rate of fatal stroke, heart disease deaths and ...

From the mouths of babes, comes Truth.
The old adage played out recently, when a your girl started a petition, that resulted in PepsiCo to remove a dangerous chemical form some of it’s beverage drinks.
Sarah Kavanagh, the 15-year-old girl from Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Kavanagh started a petition on Change.org, an online petition platform, to ask PepsiCo to remove BVO from Gatorade. It received more than 200,000 signatures, and on Friday, the teenager declared victory.
Seems that while Mayors and Governors ...