NEWS AND EVENTS

7/1/2004  High School Graduates from Immigrant Families Just As Likely To Succeed In College As American–Born Peers

High school graduates from immigrant families are as likely to go on to college and to perform as well academically as their peers from American-born families, according to a study funded in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the National Institutes of Health.

The study also found that students from immigrant families are more likely to support their families financially than are their American-born counterparts and some are more likely to live with their parents.

Youth from Latin American immigrant families have lower rates of college enrollment and are less likely to earn four-year college degrees than their counterparts from East Asian (predominantly Chinese) and Filipino immigrant families.

The study appears in the Journal of Research on Adolescence.

"Children from immigrant families will be a vital part of our nation's workforce when they grow up," said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the NICHD. "This study shows that youth from immigrant families can succeed in our educational system and gain the skills they need for adult life."

More than one in five children in the United States today are in an immigrant family — either immigrants themselves or children of immigrants, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census's March 2002 Current Population Survey. "If current trends continue, the share of American children in immigrant families will continue to rise," said Rebecca Clark, Ph.D., of NICHD's Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch. In addition, a large share of ethnic minority children resides in immigrant families, including 86 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander children and 65 percent of Hispanic children.

Washington, DC - Today HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) launched the first national multicultural diabetes prevention campaign, Small Steps. Big Rewards. Prevent type 2 Diabetes, to take action against the growing diabetes epidemic.

"We need to act urgently to confront the epidemic of type 2 diabetes that is threatening Americans, especially minority populations," said Secretary Thompson. "There are effective steps that people can take for themselves to hold off the progression of type 2 diabetes. We need to reach Americans with the words and pictures that they understand to help them promote and protect their good health."

In response to the diabetes epidemic, HHS' NDEP is taking the lead on delivering the type 2 diabetes prevention message to high risk audiences through its campaign targeted to multicultural and older adult audiences. The campaign focuses on empowering people at high risk to make modest lifestyle changes that can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. Campaign materials include motivational tip sheets for consumers as well as print and radio public service ads. Each set of materials is specifically tailored for one of the high risk groups:

• African Americans;
• Hispanic and Latino Americans;
• American Indians and Alaska Natives;
• Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; and,
• Adults aged 60 and older.

"Diabetes is a growing epidemic in our communities, especially for these high risk groups," said Dr. James R. Gavin III, chair of the National Diabetes Education Program and president of Morehouse School of Medicine. "If we are going to make a difference, we need to reach people where they live, work, and play, so we are partnering with community groups. We have consumer-friendly materials with practical advice in several languages. This campaign provides the tools to help those hardest hit by this growing epidemic to prevent the disease and its serious, deadly complications."

"People need to know if they have pre-diabetes or are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes," said Dr. Allen M. Spiegel, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. "Talk to your health care provider about your risk. By taking small steps today, you can achieve a big reward - delaying or preventing type 2 diabetes."

The WHI is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The estrogen-alone study was stopped at the end of February 2004 because the hormone increased the risk of stroke and did not reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, a key question of the trial. The study was to have ended in March 2005. Initial findings appear in the April 14 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

"These findings confirm that estrogen-alone therapy should not be used to prevent chronic disease," said NHLBI Acting Director Dr. Barbara Alving. "We believe the findings support current FDA recommendations that hormone therapy only be used to treat menopausal symptoms and that it be used at the smallest effective dose for the shortest possible time."

While 90 percent of African Americans surveyed by the National Kidney Disease Education Program (NKDEP) had heard about kidney disease, only 15 percent felt their personal risk for developing the disease was higher than average and fewer knew specifically how to prevent it. This gap in awareness raises serious concern, especially because 44 percent of them had at least one major risk factor for kidney disease - diabetes, high blood pressure or a blood relative with the disease. In addition, only 17 percent named kidney disease as a consequence of diabetes and only 8 percent named it as a consequence of hypertension. These two diseases are the leading causes of kidney failure in the United States and account for 70 percent of kidney failure among African Americans.

"We clearly need to work closely within our community to provide the facts about kidney disease," said Janice Lea, M.D., spokesperson for Atlanta's NKDEP coalition. "One step we are taking is asking dialysis patients to encourage relatives and friends who are at high risk to take the disease seriously and be tested while they can still do something about it."

“Since most obese adolescents remain obese as adults, this age group is a very important group to reach through preventive programs addressing issues of diet and sedentary lifestyles,” the study authors wrote.

10/29/2003 Intervention Improves Control of High Blood Pressure in Young Inner-City African American Men

In East Baltimore's inner city, a group of hypertensive young African-American men gained control of their high blood pressure, thanks to a comprehensive intervention conducted at the community level by a multidisciplinary health care team. Forty-four percent of the men receiving the intensive form of the intervention attained control after three years, whereas at the study's start, only 17 percent had control.

Conducted by The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, the research is described in an article entitled "Hypertension Care and Control in Underserved Urban African American Men: Behavioral and Physiologic Outcomes at 36 Months, " which appears in the November issue of The American Journal of Hypertension. The study was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services.

According to principal investigator Martha N. Hill, PhD, RN, Dean of the School of Nursing, "To my knowledge, until now no hypertension studies have targeted high-risk, young urban African American men, who are underserved by the health care system. We found that in many cases, participation in our study was the first time some of the men had contact with formal health care. They were pleased to be part of the research and to improve their health." Dr. Hill added, "The evidence suggests modifications of care are necessary. Culturally appropriate outreach that includes one-on-one visits in the home to supplement clinic visits are effective strategies, as is care that addresses lifestyle risk factors, such as poor nutrition and alcohol abuse."

Dr. Patricia A. Grady, Director of the NINR, stated, "This study is an important example of research that addresses health care disparities in our country. Ethnically and culturally sensitive research is vital when dealing with vulnerable populations at the community level, such as young urban African-American men, and this research shows how it can work well."

10/10/2003 HHS Awards More Than $65 Million to Eliminate Health Disparities
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the awarding of $65.1 million, by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD). These funds support the advancement of health disparities research and the elimination of health disparities among racial and ethnic minority and medically underserved communities.

"These awards reinforce our continuing commitment to eliminate health disparities experienced by traditionally disadvantaged populations across the nation," Secretary Thompson said. "Our comprehensive effort to close the health gap among minorities continues to strengthen our nation's health care safety net and provide more health services to more Americans."

The NCMHD was designated by Congress to lead, coordinate, support and assess the NIH research effort to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities as they affect racial and ethnic communities and medically underserved individuals.

"Broadening collaborative relationships developed through partnerships between NIH and institutions and researchers from all populations is necessary to advance progress that will translate scientific discovery into tangible health benefits for all Americans." NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni said.

"This year's awards will expand the reach of the center as well as the impact these programs have on strengthening our nation's research infrastructure and ability to advance the work to eliminate health disparities," said John Ruffin, Ph.D., director of NCMHD. "If we are to solve the problem of health disparities, we must be more inclusive in our research endeavors."

10/09/2003 New Treatment Significantly Improves Long-Term Outlook for Breast Cancer Survivors
A Canadian-led international clinical trial has found that post-menopausal survivors of early-stage breast cancer who took the drug letrozole after completing an initial five years of tamoxifen therapy had a significantly reduced risk of cancer recurrence compared to women taking a placebo. The results of the study appear in today's advance on-line edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The clinical trial has been halted early because of the positive results and researchers are notifying the 5,187 women worldwide who participated in the study. Women on letrozole will continue taking the drug and those on the placebo can begin taking letrozole, if they wish.

"This very important advance in breast cancer treatment will improve the outlook for many thousands of women," said Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D., director of the National Cancer Institute which led the study in the United States. "This is one more example of the ability to interrupt the progression of a cancer using a drug that blocks a crucial metabolic pathway in the tumor cell."

9/30/2003 NIH Announces Strategy to Accelerate Medical Research Progress
In a move to transform the nation's medical research capabilities and speed the movement of research discoveries from the bench to the bedside, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., today laid out a series of far-reaching initiatives known collectively as the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research.

Soon after becoming NIH Director in May 2002, Dr. Zerhouni convened a series of meetings to chart a "roadmap" for medical research in the 21st century - a process that identified major opportunities and gaps in biomedical research that no single institute at NIH could tackle alone, but that the agency still needed to address.

"There has been a scientific revolution in the last few years. The opportunities for discoveries have never been greater, but the complexity of biology remains a daunting challenge. With this new strategy for medical research, NIH is uniquely positioned to spark the changes that must be made to transform scientific knowledge into tangible benefits for people." Said Dr. Zerhouni.

"We have made remarkable progress in medical research in recent decades, and NIH-led research has changed the landscape of many diseases. However, very real - and very urgent - needs remain," Dr. Zerhouni said. "NIH is now drawing all fields of science together in a concerted effort to meet these challenges head-on."

9/9/2003 NHLBI Study Finds Moderate Physical Activity Promotes Weight Loss as well as Intense Exercise
Women trying to lose weight can benefit as much from a moderate physical activity as from an intense workout, according to a new study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.

Prior studies had focused on short-term loss. Data were lacking about the optimal degree and amount of physical activity for long-term weight loss.

The study - "Effect of Exercise Dose and Intensity on Weight Loss in Overweight Sedentary Women: A Ranomized Trial" - appears in the September 10, 2003, issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

8/18/2003 New Prevalence Study Suggests Dramatically Rising Numbers of People with Alzheimer's Disease

Scientists project that some 13.2 million older Americans will have Alzheimer's disease (AD) by 2050 unless new ways are found to prevent or treat the disease. According to these latest estimates of the current and future prevalence of AD, reported by Denis A. Evans, M.D., and colleagues of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, the numbers of older people with AD - now at 4.5 million - will grow dramatically as the population ages. The most notable increases will be among people age 85 and older, when by mid-century 8 million people in that age group may have the disease.

The projection appear in the August 2003 issue of the Archives of Neurology. "These updated estimates from Evans and his group underscore the challenge that we face in the fight against AD," says Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, Ph.D., NIA Associate Director for the Neuroscience and Neuropsychology of Aging Program, which funded the research. "But I am also optimistic that current research will lead to strategies for intervention early in the disease so that we can keep these projections from becoming a reality."

7/14/2003 NHLBI Study Tests Novel Ways to Help Americans Keep Weight Off
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) today announced the launch of a major study that could help solve one of the hardest aspects of weight loss-keeping off lost pounds. The study, called the "Weight Loss Maintenance Trial," will be done in two phases at four clinical sites.

The study will include 1,600 men and women in its first phase, and 800 in its second. Phase I is a 5-month weight loss program; phase II will try to help those who lose 9 or more pounds in phase I keep the weight off for 2 ½ years.

The study has begun seeking participants, who must be overweight or obese, age 25 or older, and taking medication to control high blood pressure and/or high blood cholesterol. About 60 percent will be women and 40 percent will be African American.

"Maintaining weight loss is a critical element in the struggle against overweight and obesity, which have reached epidemic proportions in the United States," said NHLBI Director Dr. Claude Lenfant. "Two of every three adults are overweight or obese. This study could yield answers that can help Americans lead healthier lives."

7/1/2003 Medication and Psychotherapy Treat Depression in Low-Income Minority Women
Treatment with medication or psychotherapy reduced depressive symptoms in women from minority populations, according to research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Most of the participants in the controlled trial were low-income African American and Latino women who are at high risk for depression and use county health and welfare services. Research findings appear in the July 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"This study broadens the knowledge base by evaluating depression treatments among young, predominantly minority women. It is the first study to let providers know that treating depression in this population can significantly improve the ability of these women to feel and function," says Dr. Jeanne Miranda, Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles Neuropsychiatric Institute.

6/20/2003 NIH Launches Pilot Program to Prevent Kidney Disease in African Americans
Today marked the launch of the first NIH pilot education program to increase awareness about kidney disease and promote early testing among African Americans, who are among those hardest hit by kidney disease. The National Kidney Disease Education Program (NKDEP) and its partners held the kick-off during the Steering Committee meeting in Bethesda, Maryland.

"You Have the Power to Prevent Kidney Disease," is a year-long pilot program in four cities - Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland and
Jackson, Mississippi - chosen for their relatively large African American communities and because some resources already existed.

"This education program has been built with members of the communities it aims to serve, so its messages - that kidney disease can be prevented and treated - are on target to reach the people who most need to know," says Griffin Rodgers, M.D., deputy director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part o the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which supports NKDEP.

5/14/03 NHLBI Issues New High Blood Pressure Clinical Practice Guidelines
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) today released new clinical practice guidelines for the prevention, detection, and treatment of high blood pressure. The guidelines, which were approved by the Coordinating Committee of the NHLBI's National High Blood Pressure Education Program (NHBPEP), feature altered blood pressure categories, including a new "prehypertension" level-which covers about 22 percent of American adults or about 45 million persons.

"Since 1997, much more has been learned about the risk of high blood pressure and the course of the disease." Said NHLBI Director Dr. Claude Lenfant. "Americans' lifetime risk of developing hypertension is much greater than we'd thought. For instance, those who do not have hypertension at age 55 have a 90 percent risk of going on to develop the condition."

"Unless prevention steps are taken, stiffness and other damage to arteries worsen with age and make high blood pressure more and more difficult to treat. The new prehypertension category reflects this risk and, we hope people to take preventive action early," said NHLBI Director Dr. Claude Lenfant.

4/24/03 HHS and NCI Launch National Campaign to Address Diet-Related Diseases Affecting African American Men
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director Andrew von Eschenbach today announced a national campaign to reduce the risk of chronic diseases among African American men. Launched during National Minority Cancer Awareness Week, April 20-26, the campaign will focus on motivating black men to eat 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day to reduce their risk for diet-related diseases that disproportionately affect the black community. NCI's campaign to reach African American men is among four national initiatives launched today by HHS.

"African American men suffer much higher rates of almost every type of cancer than white men, and they're more likely to have heart disease and high blood pressure," said Secretary Thompson. "Theses leading causes of death are largely preventable through changes in our lifestyle choices. The 9 A Day campaign will help us to start emphasizing prevention of this epidemic by letting African American men know the vital importance of eating fruits and vegetables to their overall health."

"We must not ignore the excessive burden of cancer in black men," said von Eschenbach. "Black men have the highest rates of prostate, lung, colon, oral, and stomach cancers and are over 140 percent more likely to die from cancer than white men. Since we recognize one-third of all cancers are related to diet, this is one area that demands our attention. By eating 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, the risk of diet-related diseases affecting the African American community can be lowered."

4/14/03 International Consortium Completes Human Genome Project All Goals Achieved; New Vision for Genome Research Unveiled
The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, led in the United States by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the Department of Energy (DOE), today announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project more than two years ahead of schedule.

Also, today, NHGRI unveiled its bold new vision for the future of genome research, officially ushering in the era of the genome. The vision will be published in the April 24 issue of the journal Nature, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Nature's publication of the landmark paper by Nobel laureates James Watson and Francis Crick that described DNA's double helix. Dr. Watson also was the first leader of the Human Genome Project.

"The Human Genome Project has been an amazing adventure into ourselves, to understand our own DNA instruction book, the shared inheritance of all humankind," said NHGRI Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., leader of the Human Genome Project since 1993. "All of the project's goals have been completed successfully - well in advance of the original deadline and for a cost substantially less than the original estimates."

2/20/03 NIH Study Will Test Best Ways to Lower Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes
A major new study will test the best approaches to lowering the risk of heart disease and stroke in adults with type 2 diabetes. The Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) study is being sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The National Institute on Diabetes and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), another part of NIH, is providing additional support for the study.

The ACCORD clinical trial seeks to enroll 10,000 adults with type 2 diabetes in 70 clinics around the United States and Canada. All eligible participants will be in the blood sugar control part of the trial. Patients will be randomly assigned to a treatment regimen involving either aggressive or standard control of blood sugar. Then, depending on their blood pressure and cholesterol levels, they will be assigned to either a high blood pressure or high blood fats (cholesterol and triglycerides) part of the study.

"This is the first large-scale study in patients with diabetes to test the effects of intensively controlling blood sugar along with aggressive control of blood pressure and lipids," said NHLBI Director Claude Lenfant, M.D. "Given the serious consequences of type 2 diabetes, we expect that the ACCORD study will meet its overall goal to address this significant public health challenge," added Dr. Lanfant.

1/30/03 Summits Seek to Reduce SIDS Risk In African American Community
In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has joined forces with three national African American Women's organizations in a year-long program to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) among African American infants. The leadership and members of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Women in the NAACP, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., will work with the NICHD to conduct SIDS risk reduction training and outreach activities in communities around the country. "The research points in one direction: unless there is a medical reason not to, infants should be placed to sleep on their backs to help reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome…We need to work harder to ensure that culturally appropriate messages reach families and infants." Said Yvonne T. Maddox, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the NICHD.

1/22/03 HHS Budget Proposal to Include $100 Million Increase to Prevent Diabetes, Obesity and Asthma Across the Country
Under the "Steps to a Healthier US" Initiative, HHS would fund specific projects at the state and community level that would use proven medical and public health strategies to reduce the burden of diabetes, obesity and asthma among their populations. The initiative includes target goals for disease reduction. Projects under the initiative would include:

• State programs to motivate and support responsible health choices that would reduce the burden of preventable disease;
• Community initiatives to promote and enable healthful choices, especially those focused on youth and older Americans;
• Health care and insurance systems that put prevention first and reduce people's risk factors for chronic disease and reduce potential health care complications.

"This new initiative will support community programs aimed at getting results and helping those at risk to avoid these diseases through proven prevention method", said Secretary Thompson.

12/17/02 NHLBI Study Finds Traditional Diuretics Better Than New Medicines for Treating Hypertension
Less costly, traditional diuretics work better than newer medicines to treat high blood pressure and prevent some forms of heart disease, according to results from the largest hypertension clinical trial every conducted. The long-term, multi-center trial, which was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, compared the drugs for use in starting treatment for high blood pressure. Findings of the "Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial," or "ALLHAT shows that diuretics are the best choice to treat hypertension and reduce the risk of its complications, both medically and economically," said NHLBI Director Dr. Claude Lenfant.

11/20/02 Kidney Disease and Hypertension in African Americans
The largest clinical trial ever conducted in African Americans with kidney disease has concluded that an antihypertensive drug in the class of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors is superior to two other classes of drugs for slowing kidney disease due to hypertension. The study also found that a very low blood pressure provides no additional benefit for the kidneys than the established standard. Results appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association, November 20. "The results of this trial will significantly improve the health of thousands of African Americans who suffer from kidney disease due to hypertension", said Dr. John Ruffin, director of the National Center on Minority Health & Health Disparities, which co-funded AASK. "The study also demonstrates the benefit of focusing research on populations most affected."

11/4/02 HHS Awards $85 Million to Eliminate Health Disparities
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the awarding of $85 million to support the elimination of health disparities among racial and ethnic minority communities. The awards further augment the department's Initiative to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health and highlights strategies discussed during the July 2002 national health disparity summit."African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Asians and Pacific Islanders suffer an unequal burden of death and disease, despite improvements in the overall health of the general population over the past decade," said Secretary Thompson.

Specifically, the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) provided $74.5 million distributed among a number of its programs - the Centers of Excellence Program, the Endowment Program, the Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions Program, and Loan Repayment Programs. In addition, HHS' Office of Minority Health (OMH) awarded 65 grants totaling $10.5 million to support community and state-based efforts to eliminate HIV/AIDS and other health disparities in racial and ethnic minority communities. Of this amount, $4.6 million is supported by funding from the Minority AIDS initiative. "To eliminate health disparities, all of us at NIH must continue to work together with our many research partners across the country to build a more collaborative biomedical and behavioral research enterprise of institutions and individuals from all populations that will benefit all Americans." NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni said.

9/26/02 Sisters of Women with Breast Cancer for Landmark Search for Its Causes
At this month's Tampa-Bay area Race for the Cure, medical researchers will begin recruiting women for a unique effort to determine the causes of breast cancer - the "Sister Study." Researchers hope to eventually enroll 50,000 women volunteers nationally, ages 35 to 74, whose sisters have been diagnosed with breast cancer. "Our recruiting plan includes working with breast cancer advocacy and support groups to spread the word about the Sister Study and our need for 50,000 women participants," said Dr. Dale Sandler, acting Chief of the NIEHS Epidemiology Branch.

8/29/02 Fogarty International Center Announces New Research Program in Stigma and Global Health
The Fogarty International Center (FIC) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced a new research program to support international collaborations to study stigma and global health. FIC, with 11 NIH partners, the Health Research Services Administration, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) with the International Development Research Centre, has a issued a Request for Applications for the Stigma and Global Health Research Program. "Our goal in this program is to support research that leads to better understanding of the role of stigma in health throughout the world. Research in this area is the best hope for developing evidence-based interventions to prevent or mitigate stigma's negative effects on the health of individuals, families, and societies worldwide",said FIC Director Gerald T. Keusch, M.D.

8/1/02 NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study Finds Strong Link Between Overweight/Obesity and Risk for Heart Failure
According to a new study supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), excess body weight is strongly and independently associated with an increased risk of heart failure. This risk, which increases continuously with increasing degrees of body weight, is 34 percent higher for overweight individuals and 104 percent higher for obese persons. "Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and it is increasing," said NHLBI Director Dr. Claude Lenfant.

7/24/02 New Campaign "Cuide Su Corazon" to People with Diabetes
According to a new national health awareness campaign unveiled by the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) during the National Council of La Raza's annual conference, Hispanic and Latino Americans with diabetes are at higher risk of heart disease, but they can reduce that risk.

7/24/02 RAND Study Offers New Insights Into Disparities in Health
According to a study from RAND, socioeconomic disparities in health can be reduced and possibly even eliminated in some cases by specific interventions, such as adoption of a rigid treatment plan and intensive patient monitoring, that help patients better manage their own treatment.

7/17/02 NCI Study Shows Increased Risk of Ovarian Cancer is Linked to Estrogen Replacement Therapy
According to a study from NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, postmenopausal women who used estrogen replacement therapy for 10 or more years were at significantly higher risk of developing ovarian cancer than women who never used hormone replacement therapy.

6/26/02 NIA Study Shows Diet with Vitamin E May Reduce Alzheimer's Disease Risk
According to a new study sponsored by the National Institute on Aging, a diet rich in foods containing vitamin E may help protect some people against Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study is also noteworthy for its finding that vitamin E in the form of supplements was not associated with a reduction in the risk of AD. The latest in a series of reports on vitamin E and dementia, the study findings heighten interest in the outcome of clinical trials now underway to test the effectiveness of vitamin E and other antioxidants in preventing or postponing cognitive decline and AD.

6/6/02 NHLBI Study Shows Weight Concerns Increase Girls' Risk of Becoming Smokers
According to a new study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), concern about weight and the drive to be thin increase the risk a girl will become a daily smoker by the time she's 18 or 19 years old. The study found that other factors early in life also increased the risk of later smoking, including stress, a parent with high school or less education, being from a one-parent household, drinking alcohol, poor academic performance, and poor conduct. Each factor affected the risk to differing degrees in black and white girls.

5/17/02 NCI Report Shows That Death Rates for All Cancers Combined Continued to Decline in the United States.
The "Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1973-1999, Featuring Implications of Age and Aging on the U.S. Cancer Burden" states that although death rates for all cancers combined continued to decline, the number of cancer cases can be expected to increase because of the growth and aging of the population in coming decades.

4/02/02 NCI Report Shows Decrease In Teen Smoking, But Highlights Need For More Research
The report shows that after teen smoking increased through much of the 1990's there has been a promising decline over the past few years. The report also emphasizes the need for more research, particularly among racial/ethnic groups.

3/13/02 NICHD Study Shows Many Obese Youth Have Condition That Precedes Type 2 Diabetes
The study was undertaken to determine if obese children and teens have impaired glucose tolerance, which, in adults is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The researcher found that the children with impaired glucose tolerance frequently had insulin resistance, a condition that usually precedes type 2 diabetes in adults and is characterized by the inability of fat, muscle, and liver cells to use insulin properly.

2/26/02 NHLBI Study Shows Vast Majority Of Middle-Aged Americans At Risk Of Developing Hypertension
The report shows that middle-aged Americans face a 90 percent chance of developing high blood pressure at some time during the rest of their lives but that the risk of developing severe degrees of high blood pressure has decreased in the past 25 years.

1/24/02 HHS Report Finds Health Improves for Most Racial, Ethnic Groups But Disparities Remain in Some Areas
The report presents national trends in racial- and ethnic-specific rates for 17 health status indicators during the 1990s. All racial and ethnic groups experienced improvements in rates for 10 of the 17 indicators. Despite these overall improvements, in some areas the disparities for ethnic and racial minorities remained the same or even increased.