“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God . . . and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.” ― Orson F. Whitney¹.

African Americans have endured many hardships in the United States. Fundamental human rights such as a good education, an opportunity for a decent job, decent housing, and healthcare are constant struggles. The political will to improve the lives of all Americans is lacking today.

Some people will wonder if black people are worse off today than in the past. Jay Harold says No!  African Americans are more educated, connected to each other, and taking an active role in shaping their future. The cooperation Jay Harold has seen among African Americans is very high. For example, the basis of the political activism of the younger black generation can be easily linked to gains made in the 1960’s.

The Great Society Programs² of Lyndon B. Johnson had a significant impact on the black community. President Johnson built on the plans of President John F. Kennedy and transformed American Society.

The children born during the 1960’s  and 1970’s directly benefited from the Great Society programs designed to help poor people. One such program was the creation of neighborhood community centers. These centers offered programs for youth, teens, adults, and seniors. Another program introduced was Head Start³.  Head Start promotes school readiness of children under 5 from low-income families through education, health, social and other services. Head Start filled a gap left by state and local governments.

Kids were allowed to turn the hopes and dreams for a better future that their parents harbored into reality. Many kids did go to college or get vocational tech training⁴. The kids were determined to provide a better life for their own children, which are young activists of today.

Many Americans are suffering financial problems today. This applies in particular to African Americans. African Americans’ median household income for 2013 was $34,560. Their income is 35% below the overall U.S. average for all American families is $53,046. Jay Harold has an article has talked about this income gap. Learn more here.

Good News about Black People’s Health

African Americans are paying more attention to their health and living longer. Jay Harold has seen this improvement over his 25-year career as a pharmacist and found a report that proves this fact. Here’s the report:

The National Center for Health Statistics has produced a report on the Leading Causes of Death Contributing to Decrease in Life Expectancy Gap Between Black and White Populations: The United States between 1999 and 2013⁴.

Key findings

Data from the National Vital Statistics System, Mortality

• The gap in life expectancy between the black and white populations decreased 2.3 years between 1999 and 2013 (5.9 to 3.6 years).
• The decrease in the gap was due to larger decreases in death rates for the black population for heart disease, cancer, and HIV disease.
• The gap in life expectancy between black and white males decreased 2.4 years between 1999 and 2013 (6.8 to 4.4 years).
• The decrease in the gap was due to larger decreases in death rates for black males for HIV disease, cancer, and unintentional injuries.
• The gap in life expectancy between black and white females decreased 2.2 years between 1999 and 2013 (5.2 to 3.0 years).
• The decrease in the gap was due to larger decreases in death rates for black females for heart disease, HIV disease, and cancer.

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The trend in U.S. life expectancy since 1900 has been one of gradual improvement (1). Nevertheless, differences in life expectancy by race have persisted at least since official estimates were recorded. Measuring health disparities, including those in life expectancy, is part of the Healthy People 2020 recommendations (2). In 1999, the difference in life expectancy between the white and black populations was 5.9 years. The gap decreased to 3.6 years in 2013. Black and white population differences in causes of death are explored to determine how they contribute to the decrease in the gap in life expectancy from 1999 through 2013.

What are the recent trends in life expectancy?

Life expectancy at birth increased steadily from 77.3 years in 1999 to 79.1 years in 2013 for the white population (2.3% increase) (Figure 1). For white males, the increase was from 74.6 years to 76.7 years (2.8% increase), and for white females, from 79.9 years to 81.4 years (1.9% increase).

African Americans are living longer and the life expectancy gap.

Life expectancy at birth for the black population increased steadily from 71.4 years in 1999 to 75.5 years in 2013 (5.7% increase). For black males, the increase was from 67.8 years to 72.3 years (6.6% increase), and for black females, from 74.7 years to 78.4 years (5.0% increase).

How did the racial gap in life expectancy change over time?

In 2013, the difference in life expectancy at birth between the black and white populations was 3.6 years (Figure 2). For black and white males, this difference was 4.4 years, and for black and white females, the difference was 3.0 years.

In 1999, the difference in life expectancy between the black and white populations was 5.9 years. For black and white males, this difference was 6.8 years, and for black and white females the difference was 5.2 years (1).

Between 1999 and 2013, the gap in life expectancy between the black and white populations decreased by 2.3 years. For black and white males, the decrease in the gap was 2.4 years, and for black and white females, the decrease in the gap was 2.3 years.

What leading causes of death influenced the decrease in the life expectancy gap between the black and white populations from 1999 to 2013?

• The decrease in the gap in life expectancy between the black and white populations was due to larger decreases in death rates for the black population for heart disease, cancer, HIV disease, unintentional injuries, and perinatal conditions (Figure 3), which together accounted for 59.1% of the 2.3-year decrease in the gap.
• Greater decreases in heart disease mortality for the black population accounted for 0.370 year of the decrease in the gap in life expectancy.
• The decline in the gap was attenuated somewhat by greater increases in death rates from an aortic aneurysm, Alzheimer’s disease, and maternal conditions (Figure 3) for the black population. The increase in death rates for these causes accounted for 90.6% of the total increase in the gap.

What leading causes of death influenced the decrease in the gap in life expectancy between the black and white male populations from 1999 to 2013?

Life expectancy in black females increased from 74.7 years to 78.4 years from 1999 to 2013.

• Greater decreases in death rates for black males due to HIV disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, heart disease, and perinatal conditions (Figure 4) together accounted for 64.8% of the 2.4-year decrease in the gap.
• Greater decreases in HIV disease mortality alone accounted for 0.426 year in the decrease in the gap in life expectancy between black and white males.
• Greater increases in death rates for black males due to hypertension, aortic aneurysm, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and kidney disease attenuated the decline in the gap between black and white males over the period.

What leading causes of death influenced the decrease in the gap in life expectancy between the black and white female populations from 1999 to 2013?

• Greater decreases in death rates for black females due to heart disease, HIV disease, cancer, diabetes, and unintentional injuries (Figure 5) together accounted for 54.7% of the 2.2-year decrease in the gap.
• Greater decreases in heart disease mortality alone accounted for 0.534 year in the decrease in the gap in life expectancy between black and white females.
• Greater increases in death rates for black females due to Alzheimer’s disease, maternal conditions, and atherosclerosis attenuated the decline in the gap between black and white females over the same period.

Summary

Life expectancy at birth has increased steadily since 1900 to a record 78.8 years in 2013. But differences in life expectancy between the white and black populations still exist, despite a decrease in the life expectancy gap from 5.9 years in 1999 to 3.6 years in 2013. Differences in the change over time in the leading causes of death for the black and white populations have contributed to this decrease in the gap in life expectancy.

Between 1999 and 2013, the decrease in the life expectancy gap between the black and white populations was mostly due to greater decreases in mortality from heart disease, cancer, HIV disease, unintentional injuries, and perinatal conditions among the black population. Similarly, the decrease in the gap between black and white male life expectancy was due to greater decreases in death rates for HIV disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, heart disease, and perinatal conditions in black males. For black females, greater decreases in diabetes death rates, combined with decreased rates for heart disease and HIV disease, were the major causes contributing to the decrease in the life expectancy gap with white females.

The decrease in the gap in life expectancy between the white and black populations would have been larger than 3.6 years if not for increases in death rates for the black population for an aortic aneurysm, Alzheimer’s disease, and maternal conditions. For black males, the causes that showed increases in death rates over white males were hypertension, aortic aneurysm, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and kidney disease, while the causes that showed increases in death rates for black females were Alzheimer’s disease, maternal conditions, and atherosclerosis.

This NCHS Data Brief is the second in a series of data briefs that explore the causes of death contributing to differences in life expectancy between detailed ethnic and racial populations in the United States. The first data brief focused on the racial differences in life expectancy for a single year, 2010 (3).

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”  This quote by Anne Bradstreet summarizes the push for a better life for black people.

Click this link to get free Health and Wealth information to improve your life. Play the free  “Slow Roll Through Civil Rights” Game found on the Jay Harold website. Enjoyed this post? Share it and read more here.  Questions?  “Ask the Pharmacist a Question!”

References

1. Xu JQ, Murphy SL, Kochanek KD. Deaths: Final data for 2013. National vital statistics reports; vol 64 no 2. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2016 [Forthcoming].
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Developing Healthy People 2020, Phase I report: Recommendations for the framework and format of Healthy People 2020, Appendix II: Measuring health disparities and health equity. 2008.
3. Kochanek KD, Arias E, Anderson RN. How did cause of death contribute to racial differences in life expectancy in the United States in 2010? NCHS data brief, no 125. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2013.
4. Arias E. United States life tables, 2010. National vital statistics reports; vol 63 no 7. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2014.
5. Arriaga E. Measuring and explaining the change in life expectancies. Demography 21(1):83–96. 1984.
6. Arriaga EE. Changing trends in mortality decline during the last decades. In: Ruzicka L, Wunsch G, Kane P, editors. Differential Mortality: Methodological issues and biosocial factors. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. 1989.
7. WHO. International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, tenth revision (ICD–10). 2nd edition. Geneva, Switzerland. 2004.

Bibliography

1. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/941154.Orson_F_Whitney
2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2014/05/17/the-great-society-at-50/
3. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs
4. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vocational%20education
5. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db218.htm