Black Health Matters: The Vital Facts You Must Know to Protect Your Health and That of Your Loved Ones

It's no secret that the black community tops the list of groups afflicted by hypertension, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, and cancer. What the statistics do not show is the pain, misery, and despair that these conditions create--not only for the individual but also for family and friends. As an African-American doctor, Dr. Richard Walker has studied these conditions among his patients for many years. Now, presented for the first time in his book Black Health Matters, Dr. Walker believes that research has found a number of commonsense ways to prevent, reduce, and possibly eliminate these killers, turning the tide of African-American health.

Dr. Walker begins by looking at the black community's lifestyle, which has radically changed over the centuries, shifting people from hours spent under a blazing sun to a life of minimal sunlight exposure. From there, it is clear that the missing puzzle piece of African-American health is a chronic lack of Vitamin D3. Most important, Dr. Walker explains how this crucial factor can be added to a daily routine along with components such as nutritional supplements, diet, exercise, and even dental care. He focuses on each major illness affecting the black community and explores what it is, what its symptoms are, and how the reader can avoid or treat the problem using the latest treatments available.

A concise yet critical guide, Black Health Matters offers an important first step towards achieving a healthier, longer life for millions of people.

Richard W. Walker, Jr., MD, MBA, IFMCP is the founder and CEO of Walker Health Care Holdings, Inc. and The Virtual Primary-Care Connection, Inc. a management service organization. These companies were designed to serve the health needs of seniors, the chronically ill, and veterans who find themselves abandoned by a non-compliant U.S. health care model.

Dr. Walker grew up in the Johnson Projects, in Spanish Harlem, ("El Barrio") New York. He is the fifth-generation grandson of Richard Walker, birth 1855, a Virginia slave. He is the second generation in his family to receive a formal education, and the first generation to go to college. After graduating high school in 1964, he enlisted in the US Air Force and married his wife Marvia. Having served his country during the height of the Vietnam War, he was honorably discharged in 1968. In 1969, he entered John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, receiving his BS in Forensic Science, in 1971. In that year, he was accepted into the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He received his Medical Doctorate in 1974.

He completed his Obstetrics and Gynecology residency, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1978, and did his Pediatric/Adolescent Gynecology Fellowship at the Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI in 1979. In pursuit of being a better physician, he went on to receive the following certifications: trained in STD Epidemiology at John Hopkins, Baltimore, MD (1995); Environmental Medicine at SW Naturopathic College, Tempe, AZ (2005); Age Management Medicine at the Cenegenics Medical Institute, Las Vegas, NV (2006); two-year graduate program in Functional Medicine at The Institute for Functional Medicine (2016); and an MBA at the Jack Welch Management Institute/Strayer University (2017).

In 2011, Dr. Walker was appointed the Medical Director of Concentra's Houston Medical Center Clinic, the largest Urgent Care and Occupational Medical company in the U.S. In 2015, after thirty-five years, he retired from his clinical practice to serve as a consultant specializing in matters of Quality and Risk Management. Dr. Walker is the author of numerous peer reviewed articles. And in addition to being a published writer, Dr. Walker is a highly sought-after speaker. He and his wife Marvia have two children and five grandchildren. The couple currently resides in Houston, Texas.