What’s Up Miss Lil: Harlem Woman Is Member Of The Black Women’s Health Study

By Lil Nickelson

Black women are more likely to develop certain health problems than white women — breast cancer, lupus, premature birth, hypertension, colon cancer, diabetes, uterine fibroids — the list is long.

Until the 1990’s, most of the studies of women’s health included only small numbers of Black women or none. Improving the health of Black women required more knowledge of the causes of these health problems and more knowledge about how women stay healthy. More knowledge meant more research. The Black Women’s Health Study (“BWHS”) that began in 1995 is playing a key role in carrying out this research.

Back in 1995, I received a sixteen-page questionnaire asking me if I wanted to become a participant in this groundbreaking research study. Because of the study design of the BWHS, only those 59,000 women who completed the first BWHS questionnaire, in 1995, can participate in the study. The BWHS is a research study led by Dr. Lynn Rosenberg and Dr. Julie Palmer at Boston University and Dr. Lucile Adams-Campbell at Georgetown University. Through the years BWHS researchers also have worked with health researchers from other institutions when expertise in particular areas is needed.

Advice is provided by an advisory board knowledgeable about the health issues of African American women. Follow-up questionnaires are sent every 2 years to all participants in the BWHS to update information and learn about the occurrence of illnesses like cancer, heart disease, stroke, and lupus. Women who develop certain illnesses were asked for permission to review their medical records pertaining to that illness. Cancer registry and Medicare/Medicaid data are obtained by study investigators. There is no harm to participants, other than the possibility of discomfort from answering sensitive questions.

The chief benefit is to public health, in that the study will provide information on causes of common cancers and other illnesses in Black women. Many of the illnesses to be studied affect Black women disproportionately. The information provided by the BWHS could be useful in efforts to prevent illness. The value of the BWHS continues to grow—the study has produced multiple scientific publications on health issues of importance to Black women.

The 2011 health survey studied factors that promote overall well-being, and included questions about your general health, whether you can go to friends and family for help when you need it, whether you have care-giving responsibilities and how they affect your life, and how you are coping. Some problems affect us more as we get older, such as not always getting to the bathroom in time (incontinence”), so the survey contains questions about this problem. And the researchers encourages participants to keep telling them about health and life issues that we think the BWHS should be looking at.

Take for example the 2013 health survey studied factors that affect hair loss, and some participants asked if the chemicals in hair straighteners and relaxers risking women’s lives? So, the researchers added some questions on that problem to the health survey. By 2017 participants efforts have contributed to over 215 scientific articles exploring the reasons why there continue to be higher rates of certain diseases in the African American community. The BWHS gathers information on many conditions that affect Black women.

Through countless media reports the world learned in 2020 the Black community was disproportionately affected by COVID-19, with mortality rates and complication rates due to COVID-19 2- to 3-fold greater than those in other racial/ethnic groups. This was alarming and BWHS was interested in learning more about participants’ current experiences with COVID-19 (even if you have not been diagnosed with COVID-19). BWHS needed to help provide insight and solutions to decrease the impact on Black communities. In the calendar year 2020 I walked over two million steps (to relieve my stress levels about the pandemic of NYC, and the murder of George Floyd), and by 2023 I was up to walking 2.4 million steps a year over the streets of Harlem. My first injury occurred that year, six little tears to my Achilles tendon in my right ankle. As a type 2 diabetic I do not heal as quickly as non-diabetics, and it took me to 2025 to get back to my new normal.

In February 2025, the BWHS began researching the impact of environmental factors on health. To measure the air quality where I live, I wore a silicone wristband for a week. The wristband collected trace substances I came into contact within my daily life, including particles in the air. I was also required to inform them of my taking aqua aerobics classes twice during that week. After one week I returned the wristband to the researchers along with a brief survey. I am waiting to receive $25 for the effort of wearing the band. I am looking forward to the newsletter they email participants that will disclose statistical data about their findings.

I have spent the past thirty-five years working on taking care of my health starting in 1990 when a joined a health club from being too sedentary working in corporate America. When type 2 diabetes came into my life twenty-two years ago in 2003, I made sure to avoid all processed foods, I got back into cooking most of my meals from its rawest state to what I want to eat and to only dine out in eating establishments that cook from scratch like me. I exercise four to six hours a week, I get seven to eight hours sleep most nights, and when I feel stressed out, I walk to reduce my stress levels. I am fitter now than when I joined the study back in 1995 because I made being healthy a priority in my daily life, not an afterthought. If you want to find out more about BWHS, I encourage you to explore their web site (https://www.bu.edu/bwhs/) and their publications listed on it.

Lil Nickelson

Lil Nickelson is a Senior Consultant with an MBA degree focused on Finance and Financial Management Services from New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Skilled in sales, management, business development, marketing strategy, and social media, with a history of working in the food and beverages industry. Her column “Dining with Miss Lil” has been featured in Harlem newspapers and with Harlem World Magazine for numerous years.

Photo Credits: BWHS website.

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