Interesting Facts about the Health of Minority Women by Nicole Thomas, RN, MSN, CCM, LNC

Health is defined as the state of being free from illness or injury. Health is what keeps all individuals in a state of harmony and balance because when our health is good, we are good. However, the state of being free from illness or injury is not equal across all spectrums of the human species. Some of you may deal with health related issues on a daily basis, occasionally, or rarely. Despite your frequency, it’s doubtful time allows you to look up interesting facts and figures on this topic. For instance, did you know that black women have a shorter life expectancy than White women by 5 years, 50% higher all-cause mortality rates, and death rates from major causes such as heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, and diabetes that are often 2 to 3 times higher than those for Caucasian  women? Knowledge is power, so here are a few interesting facts and figures about the health of minority women that make you go hmmm.

• Caucasian women are more likely to develop breast cancer than African American women. But African Ameri- can women are more likely to die of this cancer because their cancers are often diagnosed later and at an advanced stage when they are harder to treat and cure. There is also some question about whether African American women have more aggressive tumors.
• African American women between the ages of 35-44, have an increased breast cancer death rate of more than twice the rate of White women in the same age group—20.02 deaths per 100,000 com- pared to 10.2 deaths per 100,000.
• Black women develop high blood pressure earlier in life and have higher average blood pressures compared with white women. About 37 percent of black women have high blood pressure.
• About 5.8% of all white women, 7.6% of black women, and 5.6% of Mexican American women have coronary heart disease.
• A 2011 Journal of Women’s study indicated that 57 percent of Latina women, 40 percent of African American women, and 32 percent of white women had three or more risk factors for having a heart attack.
• According to the article published by the Diabetes Sisters, the prevalence of diabetes is at least 2-4 times higher among African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander women than among white women.
• One in four African American women over 55 years of age has diabetes.

So, which fact do you find most interesting?

References:
Breast Cancer: A Resource Guide for Women. (2009). Retrieved from:http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/assets/pdf/checked/bcrg2005.pdf
Pryor, David. Diabetes in African American Women. Retrieved from:http://www.blackwomenshealth.com/blog/diabetes-in-african-american-women/.
Women of Color Have More Risk Factors for Heart Disease. (2012). Retrieved from:http://www.hhs.gov/ash/news/2012/20120206.html.
Women and Diabetes. (2012). Retrieved from:https://diabetessisters.org/women-diabetes.

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Nicole Thomas, RN, MSN, CCM, LNC

Founder and Registered Nurse at Impact Nurse Consulting, LLC

Nicole Thomas, RN, MSN, CCM, LNC, the founder of Impact Nurse Consulting, LLC.,is a Masters prepared Registered Nurse licensed by that state of Louisiana who has 10 years of extensive clinical nursing experience. Her multi-faceted nursing background consist of medical-surgical nursing, home health care, certified case manager, pre-certification, utilization management, managed care, nurse educator, and legal nurse consultant.