Title: Why Are African-Americans at Greater Risk for Heart Disease?
Headings: Why Are African-Americans at Greater Risk for Heart Disease?
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Why Are African-Americans at Greater Risk for Heart Disease?
African-Americans are at higher risk for heart disease, yet they're less likely to get the care they need.
African-Americans and Heart Failure
African-Americans and Health Care

Content: One had a heart attack in church, and four months later, one had a heart attack in the post office." When Drummond's father succumbed to heart disease at age 50, she was shaken. " Particularly when my dad died, I wanted to make sure that I was OK," she says. In 2002, she went to her doctor for testing and learned that her heart was mildly enlarged, placing her at risk for heart failure. Drummond, a registered dietitian, took strenuous measures to ward off trouble. But not all African-Americans are aware of the danger. African-Americans and Heart Failure
In a startling 2009 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that African-Americans have a much higher incidence of heart failure than other races, and it develops at younger ages. Heart failure means that the heart isn't able to pump blood as well as it should. Before age 50, African-Americans' heart failure rate is 20 times higher than that of whites, according to the study. Four risk factors are the strongest predictors of heart failure: