Spectrum News: UC researches racial health disparities in dementia
Hyacinth I. Hyacinth, PhD, MBBS, is currently leading a study seeking to determine how biological differences among racial groups contribute to higher rates of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias among non-Hispanic Black compared with non-Hispanic white patients. Dementia is more than twice as prevalent in non-Hispanic Black populations compared to non-Hispanic white populations in the United States, after controlling for known risk factors.
Hyacinth, associate professor of neurology and rehabilitation medicine and the Whitaker and Price Chair in Brain Health in UC’s College of Medicine, told Spectrum News the research in part will examine whether there is a higher disease burden of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) in non-Hispanic Black patients compared to non-Hispanic white patients. A higher CSVD burden could be one reason for higher rates of dementia and cognitive impairment in non-Hispanic Black patients, he said.
“If we can demonstrate that there is some biology behind these racial disparities and cognitive impairment and dementia, then that becomes a potential target for therapy,” Hyacinth told Spectrum News.
Watch the Spectrum News story.
Featured photo of Hyacinth I. Hyacinth. Photo/Andrew Higley/University of Cincinnati.
Related Stories
Mural by UC grad honors U.S. military history
July 17, 2024
Local 12 highlighted a new mural by University of Cincinnati graduate and artist Brandon Hawkins that pays tribute to U.S. military history.
Social media fuels extreme political rhetoric
July 17, 2024
UC College of Arts and Sciences Professor Jeffrey Blevins tells Local 12 that online algorithms fuel political polarization on social media.
Camp aims to empower children, teens who stutter
July 17, 2024
A one-week, evidence-based program for children and teens who stutter at the University of Cincinnati will teach kids to communicate effectively, advocate for themselves and develop confidence about their communication abilities. Camp Dream. Speak. Live., which is coming to Cincinnati for the first time July 22-26, began in 2014 at the University of Texas at Austin. The Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research at UT expects to serve more than 2,000 children at camps across the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe this year.