My favorite substance is at it again. NIH research indicates that estrogen releases nitric oxide (which is good for your blood vessels), but estrogen drops significantly in black teenage girls when they’re under stress–and could leave blood vessels more prone to potential damage. This could be another factor, in addition to a lower ability to secrete sodium following stress, in the higher rates of cardiovascular disease among blacks.

Shockingly, this report says black women die of hypertension not only more frequently than black men but also at twice the rate of white women. Read more here.

With every discovery, it becomes clearer that, much as we are alike, medicine will continue to discover more personalized ways to help us as individuals.