African American Health Issues - Dr. jackie stiff - Uhc tv

A viewer wants to know, "my doctor told me that African Americans are at a higher risk for certain medical conditions. What does she mean?" Well, many years of research have shown that there are a variety of, what we call, health disparities when you compare diverse communities to the majority population, and the same is seen for the African American community. African Americans have the highest rate of hypertension than any other group in the world. 40 percent of African Americans over the age of 20 have high blood pressure. As for cancer, the rate of cancer has decreased over the years and we've seen lots of improvement in the African American community; but, even today, the rates of death due to cancer in the African American population is higher than in the non-Hispanic white population. As for diabetes, the rates of diabetes are twice that for non-Hispanic whites. So, why has this been seen in the literature? Why does this occur? Well, there are a multitude of complex factors ranging from health access, insurance status, education, income, environment, and a little bit due to genetics. But, even when you control for insurance status and education, health disparities are seen. So, what can one do about health disparities? Well, it's best to know your own, personal risk. When you meet with your doctor, make sure you discuss your risk factors. Make sure you know your family history. What's the history of disease? And, develop a family tree that lists the various cancers, or heart disease, or types of illnesses that may have occurred in your family. And there are various, modifiable risks, we call them, that you can be in control of. For example, having a healthy weight. Eating healthy and exercising, at the appropriate levels, may lead to a decrease in pre-diabetes and diabetes. As for cancer, make sure you discuss, with your doctor, what types of cancer screenings you should get. When should you begin your mammography screening? Whether you should be screened for prostate cancer. And, when you turn 50, make sure you discuss with your doctor, when you should have your colorectal cancer screening. So, there are really a variety of different risk factors that you have control over, and discussing these with your health provider are some very important first steps, that you can take, to really increase your health.