By Serena Gordon
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Although the overall incidence of breast cancer dropped dramatically after millions of American women stopped using hormone-replacement therapy in 2002, that decline doesn't seem to have benefited black women.

Black women are at a higher risk for death from cardiovascular disease than white women, but the reasons for this disparity remain a mystery. One possible source of enlightenment in this area was the different medical care and clinical outcomes seen among the two groups of women.

Spirituality helps older black American women with high blood pressure stick to the drug regimens that keep the condition under control, new research suggests.

Older black Americans tend to have poorer anti-hypertensive medication adherence than either younger blacks or white patients, even though adherence helps reduce hypertension-related health problems and deaths, noted a team from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.