Black Americans have a much higher risk for Alzheimer's than whites

• Alzheimer's disease is a silent epidemic striking black Americans, who seem more susceptible to the brain-wasting condition than any other group of Americans, new research finds.
• One possible explanation: Black Americans are at greater risk of vascular disease, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.
• And studies have found that people with a history of either high blood pressure or high cholesterol are twice as likely to succumb to Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association.
• Statistics are hard to come by because black Americans aren't well represented in studies on Alzheimer's.
• But recent research has found dementia is anywhere from 14% to 100% more prevalent among the black American population than among whites, according to Stephanie Johnson, a research associate at Duke University Medical Center's Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
• "Highlighting the racial difference in prevalence rates for Alzheimer's wasn't really on the radar screen because of all the other health disparities we focus on.
• "Hypertension, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol, which are highly prevalent among African-Americans, are significant risk factors for the development of Alzheimer's disease," Johnson said, and could be the reason first-degree relatives are at high risk for the disease as well.
• According to a 2002 report by the Alzheimer's Association, 65% of black Medicare beneficiaries have hypertension compared to only half of white beneficiaries.
• Less access to health care means that diagnoses often come when the disease has progressed to a serious stage.
• It's an organization that includes community leaders, caregivers and church pastors that seeks to educate the black community about the high rates of Alzheimer's within its ranks.
• Among his goals is to persuade black Americans to seek medical care, especially preventive care, to reduce their risk for the disease and to also persuade them to work with health professionals by participating in university and government-sponsored Alzheimer's studies.