Women over the age of 40 who give birth have a 51 percent chance of having an autistic child compared with those who bear children between the ages of 25 and 29, according to a recent news report.

The father's age also is a factor, but only if he is older and the mother is under 30, according to an article published by CNN. The piece cites findings by researchers at the University of California, Davis, which first appeared in the February issue of the journal Autism Research and examined 10 years of data from births in California. It is unknown why the mother's age is more influential than the father's on a child's chances of developing autism.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges, occur in all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups and are four times more likely to occur in boys than in girls, according to the Web site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The image of a black baby and the words: "Black Children Are an Endangered Species" are prominently displayed on an ad in Atlanta as part of a campaign conducted by anti-abortion advocates.

The campaign comes at a time when statistics show that black women account for 37 percent of abortions, compared with 34 percent of non-Hispanic white women and 22 percent of Hispanic women, according to Mary Mitchell, the Chicago Sun-Times columnist, who cites a study by the Guttmacher Institute.

Single women who have never been married receive two-thirds of all abortions, and the age range of those more likely to receive one is between 18 to 24. Most are either separated or unmarried and have annual incomes of less than $15,000 or have Medicaid, Mitchell writes, citing statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In what promises to be good news for African American diagnosed with HIV/AIDS -- an epidemic that continues to be a major health crisis for the United States -- scientists may have found a new development after 20 years that could lead to better treatment, British and U.S. researchers announced at the beginning of the year.

Researchers from Imperial College of London and Harvard University say they have grown a crystal that reveals an enzyme structure known as integrase, which is found in retroviruses like HIV and is a target for some of the newest HIV medicines, according to Reuters. That means researchers can gain a better understanding of how the integrase inhibitor drug works to prevent HIV from developing a resistance to them.

Bill Clinton's recent health scare underscored the importance of maintaining good heart health. The former president had been eating well, exercising and keeping his blood pressure and cholesterol under control since his quadruple bypass surgery in 2004, according to recent news reports.

In spite of all of their efforts, sometimes patients like Clinton still need to have blocked arteries repaired up to a decade after bypass surgeries, according to the Associated Press article. Genetics and prior eating habits may play a role in the necessary repairs. Clinton was famous for indulging his cheeseburger habit.

Indeed, heart disease can be a lifetime struggle and even deadly. It is the leading cause of death among men and women in the United States, and accounts for 26 percent of deaths among African Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

That is why the CDC encourages prevention of heart disease. Methods include following a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and not smoking.

Millions of Americans are celebrating Valentine's Day this weekend by sending each other flowers, going out to brunch or dinner, or even getting engaged. Of course, advertisers want us to believe that love is about heart-shaped boxes, diamonds, flowers, chocolate and candlelit dinners. But true love is much more substantive than that. In fact, our addiction to the fairy tales we see in the movies not only makes it unlikely that we'll experience love, but also leaves us more vulnerable to heartbreak -- or worse.

Regardless of our race, age, gender, sexual orientation or even marital status, being sexually active in today's world -- particularly for those of us who are Black --requires that we talk about difficult issues: our beliefs about monogamy; the importance of getting tested for HIV and other STDs; our sexual history and risk factors; and, for many of us, disclosing the fact that we have an STD, such as HIV.

Countless numbers of us who say we are in love aren't having the difficult conversations that true love requires. Instead we are engaging in a fantasy, for example, not wanting to "ruin the mood," or pretending that people in love don't have to talk about difficult issues.

I'm excited to be back as a regular contributor to Black Voices as we commemorate both Black History Month and National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Sunday, February 7th. This is "Greater Than AIDS," a new monthly column that will run in conjunction with the national Greater Than AIDS movement. Our goal is inform Black people about activities that our community is already engaged in -- and to enlist your support in what we still need to accomplish -- to overcome HIV/AIDS and bring the epidemic to an end.

Black people have been greater than any challenge we have confronted in the past. We were greater than the Middle Passage. We were greater than slavery. We were greater than Reconstruction. We were greater than Jim Crow. And, we will be greater than AIDS as well.

Yet each year more than 56,000 Americans contract HIV -- almost half of whom are Black. Black people account for two-thirds of the infections that occur among women. Among youth, that number rises to 70 percent. Research conducted among young Black gay and bisexual men suggests that about half of them are HIV-positive. And the AIDS rate in our nation's capital is as high as that of many African countries. These are the challenges we face. These are the challenges we cannot afford to ignore.

Effective this month, patients seeking cosmetic surgery in California will have to undergo a physical exam thanks to a new law named for Kanye West's late-mother, who died a day after receiving cosmetic procedures, according to news reports.

The Donda West Law also requires written clearance from a doctor within 30 days before a patient receives elective cosmetic surgery, according to a CNN news report. West, 58, who received cosmetic procedures on her breasts and abdomen in Los Angeles, Calif., died on Nov. 10, 2007. The Los Angeles County autopsy report attributed her death to "coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors,'' not to surgical error, which was widely believed at the time.