BEWARE:The Deadly Killers in the African American Community!
September 28, 2003
Do you know someone in your family with diabetes, high-blood pressure, AIDS or obesity?
If you are in the African-American community, you are MORE than likely to answer yes. According to BlackHealthCare.com, “The prevalence of diabetes among African Americans is about 70 percent higher than among white Americans, infant mortality rates are twice as high for African Americans as for white Americans and the 5-year survival rate for cancer among African Americans diagnosed for 1986 to 1992 was about 44%, compared with 59% for white Americans.”
So are African Americans genetically predisposed to these diseases, or is there something we can do about it? BlackHealthCare.com states, “Researchers suggest that African Americans and recent African immigrants to America have inherited a “thrifty gene” from their African ancestors. Years ago, this gene enabled Africans, during “feast and famine” cycles, to use food energy more efficiently when food was scarce. Today, with fewer “feast and famine” cycles, the thrifty gene that developed for survival may instead make weight control more difficult. This genetic predisposition, along with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), often occurs together with the genetic tendency toward high blood pressure.”
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Genetic predisposition is not the only factor that contributes to the risk of receiving diabetes; obesity is also a leading cause. Obesity as we all know is caused by a lack of diet and exercise. This is something that African Americans as well as all Americans need to take into consideration.
Sweet potatoes, ribs and chicken may be oh so scrumptious for the holidays, but everyday, I don’t think so. I doubt we college students are eating those foods until we go home anyway. But if we just take a look at what we eat, before we actually put it in our shopping carts and then eventually in our mouths, we may save ourselves from kidney failure, visual impairment and amputations, which are all the complications caused by diabetes.
High blood pressure, or sugar to the African-American community, is a leading cause for heart disease. The African-American community is more likely to develop hypertension than Anglo-Americans. But it is treatable, and is also preventable.
According to BlackHealthCare.com, African Americans with a high normal blood pressure, those with a family history of hypertension and individuals with one or more lifestyle factors that contribute to age-related increases in blood pressure are more susceptible to high-blood pressure. The lifestyle factors include a high sodium chloride intake, excessive consumption of calories, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption and deficient intake of potassium. High blood pressure causes stroke, heart attacks and even death! Again, it is preventable and treatable. The first thing we can do is just ask our parents about diseases that may run in the family and then go get tested.
Again, we must watch our food intake. And don’t just watch it go in your mouth, but look at the labels! If the foods we eat on a daily basis are high in sodium, saturated fat and sugar, it probably is not a food that we should consume regularly. Don’t deny yourself, but please be conscience about what you are eating and ultimately what you are feeding your children.
Lastly, the most recent epidemic in the African-American community is the deadly monster called AIDS. According to BlackHealthCare.com, “AIDS is the number-one killer of African-American males, among every and any minority group; the rate of new AIDS cases reported in 1998 in the United States (per 100,000 population) was 66.4 among blacks, 28.1 among Hispanics, 8.2 among whites, 7.4 among American Indians/Alaska Natives and 3.8 among Asians/Pacific Islanders.”
Although AIDS is not curable, new research has guided AIDS patients to new drugs that help them live healthier and prolonged lives. Although these medications are out there, the uneducated African-American community is suffering the most.
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According to Journal of the National Medical Association, there are new treatments that slow the progression of HIV, but lack of access to care and poor treatment adherence is a major issue.
A study investigated the association between education literacy to HIV treatment adherence and barriers to care among African Americans living with HIV/AIDS. They recruited 85 African-American men and 53 women receiving HIV treatment completed measures of health literacy, health status, treatment adherence, emotional well-being and barriers to care. Nearly one-third (29 percent) of the participants had less than 12 years of education or were functionally illiterate, and those with low-education literacy were less likely to be adherent to HIV medications within the previous two days. Lower-education literacy also was related to reasons for missing medications and barriers to accessing medical care.
These results indicate education and health literacy are important factors in HIV-treatment adherence and access to medical care.
Now that we know the documented facts about these deadly diseases, we need to take actions in our own lives as well as the lives in our own community.
Take your grandparents to the doctor the next time you are home, eat healthier, have protected sex and exercise. If you take my advice you may lower the statistics in our community that were previously discussed; and you will also lead better lives spiritually, physically and emotionally.
Until next time, take care of yourself and each other.
Do something NOW! Appears every Monday. Tifair is a junior in journalism. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Eygptian.
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