Understanding heart disease in African-Americans

Mississippi’s ‘Heart Man’ Examines Links Between Race and Disease

Around Jackson, where a common breakfast can be eggs fried in lard, Dr. Taylor, a University of Mississippi cardiologist, is known as “heart man.” He is the director of the Jackson Heart Study, the largest epidemiological investigation ever undertaken to discover the links between cardiovascular disease and race.

From now until 2014, Dr. Taylor and his team will be following 5,302 black residents of three Mississippi counties — Hinds, Rankin and Madison — observing their lives and how their heart health is related to their environment.

For the study’s participants, there will be periodic medical examinations and referrals for care when problems are detected. The ultimate aim of the $54 million investigation, Dr. Taylor said, “is to gain the information we need to stop an epidemic of cardiovascular diseases within the African-American community.”

When I first moved to Birmingham in the early 90s, Dr. Taylor worked at UAB. He is an outstanding cardiologist and human being. He left UAB to do this research. Some opportunities must be taken.

Please read this interview – it is very enlightening.

Q. Why do a health study in Jackson?

A. What did the bank robber Willie Sutton answer when asked why he robbed banks? “Because that’s where the money is!” Mississippi is where the heart disease is. We have the highest rates of it in the country.

Q. You’ve just finished collecting your base line data. Have you found anything interesting?

A. Very high levels of obesity, higher than the national average. African- American women lead the way in obesity nationally, and our numbers here are significantly higher than that. The rates of diabetes and hypertension are quite high.

Interestingly, alcohol consumption among the women is much lower than average. There are some other findings, but we’ll have to hold off on announcing them until they are published in professional journals.