Title: Why 7 Deadly Diseases Strike Blacks Most
Headings: Why 7 Deadly Diseases Strike Blacks Most
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Why 7 Deadly Diseases Strike Blacks Most
Health care disparities heighten disease differences between African-Americans and white Americans.

Content: One is that 71% of African-Americans versus 58% of white Americans live in communities that violate federal air pollution standards. When we look at African-Americans in terms of demographic distribution, they are more likely to be located near, if not next to, transportation corridors, and to places where the air is drawn." Another reason is that a higher percentage of black Americans than white Americans live close to toxic waste dumps -- and to the factories that produce this waste. Genetic differences may also play a role. For example, it is clear that cigarette smoking causes lung disease. Cigarette smoking is declining faster among blacks than among whites -- but blacks still die of lung diseases more frequently than white Americans. This could be due to health care disparities -- blacks may get diagnosed later, when diseases are harder to treat -- but it could also be due to genetic susceptibility. "The environment is involved, and there is potential genetic susceptibility -- but we also have to talk about the fact that African-Americans' social and economic status lags behind that of Caucasians," Graham says. " And low socioeconomic status is linked to more disease." Continued
It's not a simple question of access to health care itself, but access to specialists.