SOUTHFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Compared to white Americans, African Americans are disproportionately affected when it comes to Alzheimer’s disease. The progressive neurological disease can turn deadly if not attended to, and it has become a leading cause of death for African Americans as they age.
Corewell Health is looking into the disparities of Alzheimer’s among Black Americans with a $4.8 million national study in collaboration with Hampton and Johns Hopkins universities.
Alzheimer’s disease is the fourth leading cause of death among older Black Americans. It’s a fact the Sula family in Beverly Hills knows all too well. They try to overcome it with signage and creative activities, but it is a statistic they want to see changed.
"It’s just unbelievable and I wish it wasn’t true," LaVern Sula said.
Sula was born in Belize. Her mother, Jean Giddens, moved the two to New York City, where Giddens cleaned homes until she became an ambulance driver. However, the sharp and hard-working woman's neurological health took a turn as she neared 80 years old.
“Didn’t necessarily know what words to call it," Sula said. "But she was not herself.”
Sula's husband, Dan, also noticed a change in his mother a few years back after not being able to remember simple tasks. Norma Sula was a dedicated artist but also took a decline. Norma Sula, now 88 years old, and Giddens, now 90 years old, were both diagnosed with Alzheimer's and moved into the Sula family home.
“They’re not the same person at all. We’ve got new people that have hints and remnants of the person they used to be," LaVern Sula said.
Thankfully, both LaVern and Dan Sula are engineers and have completely remodeled their home to better fit the declining mental state of their mothers. Daily schedules, alarms, signage, biometric locks and Apple AirTags fill their home.
"They have Apple tag jewelry, so we can find them," Dan Sula said.
However, even in all their creativity, there's something that separates Jean, who is African American, and Norma, who is white.
According to the National Institutes of Health, despite representing approximately 13% of the U.S. population, African Americans are twice as likely as white Americans to develop Alzheimer's and face significant disparities in diagnosis, treatment and care.
“It’s just not something we talk about in the Black community. There’s always a stigma, especially if you roll back time not that long ago — a stigma with being the crazy aunt," LaVern Sula said.
That's why Dr. Stewart Graham, the director of Alzheimer’s Disease Research at Corewell Health’s Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, alongside other researchers, is spearheading a five-year, $4.8 million research project funded by the National Institutes of Health.
“The objective is to identify multiple modifiable environmental and social factors of cognitive aging in older Black adults to gain a better understanding of why they are up to two times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s and dementia,” Graham said.
Using remote cognitive assessments, risk factors and chemical biomarkers collected from 600 Black Americans age 55 and older with varying levels of education, the project aims to examine the biopsychosocial factors that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
For more information or to volunteer to participate in this study, visit secure.ba-umap.com.
