"Black women look at Michelle Obama and see ourselves; we see our potential, and we see our future," said Eleanor Hinton Hoytt, president and CEO of the Black Women's Health Imperative in D.C. and a member of the White House Council on Women and Girls Domestic Violence Workgroup.

In the American Journal of Epidemiology, the results of the hair relaxer and the uterine fibroid tumors study that took place between 1997 and 2009 were posted. The study involved 23,580 pre-menopausal African American women.

In the article, “Theory of perceived Access to Breast Health Care in African American Women,” Sandra Bibb, DNSc, RN, of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences outlines a theory of "perceived access to breast health care"—and how it may help in understanding the increased breast cancer risks among African American women.

Most of us are well aware that obesity is deeply rooted in black culture. It's the result of our culinary legacy, sedentary lifestyles, where we live and what we eat. But what we, at the Black Women’s Health Imperative, are beginning to understand more is the very complex and vexing relationship that black women have with their bodies.

A total of 292 new HIV cases were reported in the state in 2011 compared with 331 cases in 2010, representing a 12 percent decline, according to a new report from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). However, health officials cautioned that certain population groups have seen increases.

A total of 292 new HIV cases were reported in the state in 2011 compared with 331 cases in 2010, representing a 12 percent decline, according to a new report from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). However, health officials cautioned that certain population groups have seen increases.

In a study published in a March issue of the American Journal of Public Health, researchers found that two-thirds of doctors harbored “unconscious” racial biases toward patients. When those biases were present, researchers found that doctors tended to dominate conversations with African-American patients, pay less attention to their personal and psychosocial needs and make patients feel less involved in making decisions about their health.

The U.S. is virtually alone in this trend. In every other region of the world -- except for the areas of Africa hardest hit by AIDS -- maternal deaths have been reduced substantially. Birthing women in the U.S. are now more than twice as likely to die as their counterparts in western European countries.