Few population-based data support the hypothesis that hypertensive retinopathy is more common in African Americans than in whites. We examined racial differences in the prevalence of and risk factors for hypertensive retinopathy in a population-based sample of 1860 African Americans and 7874 white persons, aged 49 to 73 years, without diabetes. Retinal photographs were taken of one randomly sel...

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease (AD) presents with an earlier onset age and increased symptom severity in African Americans and Hispanics. OBJECTIVE Although the prevalence of plaques and tangles may not exhibit ethnicity-related differences, levels of neurodegenerative proteins have not been described. METHODS Here, levels of five proteins (i.e., S100B, sRAGE, GDNF, Aβ40, and Aβ42) and the ...

The molecular basis for the genetic polymorphism of thiopurine S -methyltransferase (TPMT) has been estab-lished for Caucasians, but it remains to be elucidated in African populations. In the current study, we determined TPMT genotypes in a population of 248 African-Americans and compared it with allele frequencies in 282 Caucasian Americans. TPMT genotype was determined in all individuals with...

BACKGROUND African Americans have a higher risk of developing lung cancer than European Americans. Previous studies suggested that certain circulating cytokines were associated with lung cancer. We hypothesized that variations in serum cytokine levels exist between African Americans and European Americans, and increased circulating cytokine levels contribute to lung cancer differently in the tw...

We tested the hypothesis that African Americans would show greater anxiety than their European American counterparts when entering laboratory research settings. We examined subjective and physiological anxiety measures obtained both inside and outside the research laboratory from 126 African Americans and 147 European Americans in three separate studies. Consistent with our hypotheses, African ...

Introduction Cancer incidence, mortality, and survival rates differ among racial/ethnic populations in the United States. African Americans have the highest overall cancer mortality rates and the lowest survival rates. Published reports have highlighted challenges faced by African Americans with regard to cancer prevention, early detection, and disparities in treatment outcomes. Past initiative...

BACKGROUND Low serum potassium appears to be independently associated with incident type 2 diabetes, and low dietary potassium is more common in African Americans than in whites. OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that low serum potassium contributes to the excess risk of diabetes in African Americans. DESIGN We analyzed data collected from 1987 to 1996 from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (...

The objective of this study was to investigate variations in UGT1A1 polymorphisms and haplotypes among African-American and Caucasian women and to assess whether variants other than UGT1A1*28 are associated with total serum bilirubin levels. The (TA)(n) repeats and 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the UGT1A1 gene were genotyped in 335 African Americans and 181 Caucasians. Total seru...

The demographics of bird watchers have recently become a topic of increased interest. Race or nationality is one demographic parameter that has been discussed in some depth. This paper further quantifies the relative prevalence of African Americans among U.S. bird watchers and identifies potential barriers that may prevent African Americans from becoming bird watchers. Two questionnaires (one f...

BACKGROUND In the general population, compared wtih their White peers, African Americans suffer premature all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) deaths, attributed in part to reduced access to care and lower socioeconomic status. Prior reports indicated younger (aged 35 to 44 years) African Americans had a signficantly greater age-adjusted risk of death. Recent studies suggest that in a more egalita...