The term “heart disease1” refers to several types of heart conditions. The most common type of heart disease in the United States is coronary artery disease, which affects the blood flow to the heart. Decreased blood flow can cause a heart attack.
The United States Office of Minority Health2 has provided data about heart disease and African-Americans. The information could be better organized, but Jay Harold feels that it’s important for you to know the facts about heart disease.
Although African American adults are 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure, they are less as likely than their non-Hispanic White counterparts to have their blood pressure under control.
- In 2010, African Americans were 30 percent more likely to die from heart disease than non-Hispanic whites.
- African American women are 1.6 times more likely (60 percent more likely) than non-Hispanic white women to have high blood pressure.
At a glance – Diagnosed Cases of Coronary Heart Disease:
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black/Non- |
|---|---|---|
|
6.5 |
6.2 |
1.0 |
Rates are about the same for Blacks and Whites
Source: CDC 2014. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2012. Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_260.pdf
At a glance – Death Rate:
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black/Non- |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Men |
289.1 |
217.9 |
1.2 |
|
Women |
176.4 |
134.6 |
1.3 |
|
Total |
215.5 |
171.8 |
1.3 |
Rates are worse for African Americans
Source: CDC, 2014. National Vital Statistics Report. Vol. 64, Num 2 Table 17.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf
At a Glance – Risk Factors:
There are several risk factors related to heart disease. Some of these risk factors are:
Obesity and Overweight – See Obesity and African Americans3
Hypertension
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black/Non- |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Men |
42.5 |
29.6 |
1.4 |
|
Women |
44.2 |
27.5 |
1.6 |
Rates are much worse for African Americans
Source: CDC 2015 Health United States, 2014. Table 60.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus14.pdf
Improving your health is Jay Harold’s constant goal.
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black /Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
|---|---|---|
|
33.2 |
23.4 |
1.4 |
Rates are worse for African Americans
Source: CDC 2014. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2012. Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_260.pdf
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black/Non- |
|---|---|---|
|
48.7 |
53.9 |
0.9 |
African Americans are less likely to have blood pressure is under control
Source: CDC 2015. Health Indicators Warehouse.
http://www.healthindicators.gov/Indicators/Blood-pressure-control-adults-with-hypertensionpercent_882/Profile
High Cholesterol
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black/Non- |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Men |
25.6 |
28.1 |
0.9 |
|
Women |
26.3 |
28.2 |
0.9 |
African Americans are less likely to have high cholesterol Than White Americans
African Americans were 30 percent more likely to die from heart disease than non-Hispanic whites.
Source: CDC 2015. Health United States, 2014. Table 61.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus14.pdf
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black/Non- |
|---|---|---|
|
76.9 |
74.1 |
1.0 |
Rates are about the same for Blacks and Whites
Source: AHRQ 2015. National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. Table 7 _5_ 1_ 4_2.1.
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query
Heart Disease and African Americans
|
Age-adjusted percentage of adults aged 20 and over-screened for cholesterol, 2011-2012 |
|||
|
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black /Non- Hispanic White Ratio |
|
Men |
66.8 |
70.6 |
0.9 |
|
Women |
75.9 |
72.9 |
1.0 |
|
Total |
71.9 |
71.8 |
1.0 |
Rates are about the same for Blacks and Whites
Source: CDC 2013. NCHS Data Brief, No. 132, Figure 5.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db132.pdf
Cigarette Smoking
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black/Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Men |
22.5 |
22.1 |
1.0 |
|
Women |
14.9 |
19.2 |
0.8 |
Black Women are less likely to smoke than White Women and Men in general
Source: CDC, 2015. Health United States, 2014 Table 54.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus14.pdf
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black/Non- |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Men |
59.0 |
66.3 |
0.9 |
|
Women |
61.5 |
73.8 |
0.8 |
|
Total |
60.5 |
70.5 |
0.9 |
African Americans are less likely to have received advice to quit smoking than White Americans
Source: 2013 National Healthcare Quality Report. Table T2_10_1_1-1_2b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr12/index.html
At a Glance – Treatment:
|
Black |
White |
Black/ |
|---|---|---|
|
97.5 |
96.1 |
1.0 |
Rates are about the same for Blacks and Whites
Source: AHRQ 2015. National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. Table 6_2_3_1_1.1.
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query
ACE inhibitors5 are used to treat heart disease. These medicines make your heart work less hard by lowering your blood pressure. This keeps some kinds of heart disease from getting worse. Most people who have heart failure take these medicines.
Lack of private insurance could be a factor in the bad heart disease results in African Americans. In 2012, 50.4 percent of African-Americans in comparison to 74.4 percent of non-Hispanic Whites used private health insurance6. Also in 2012, 40.6 percent of African-Americans in comparison to 29.3 percent of non-Hispanic Whites relied on Medicaid, public health insurance. Finally, 17.2 percent of African-Americans in comparison to 10.4 percent of non-Hispanic whites were uninsured.
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Bibliography
- https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/about.htm
- http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=19
- http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlID=25
- http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=3&lvlid=61
- https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000087.htm
- http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=3&lvlid=61
