Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and is a major cause of adult disability1. About 800,000 people in the United States have a stroke each year2. One American dies from a stroke every 4 minutes, on average.
Strokes happen when blood flow to your brain stops. Within minutes, brain cells begin to die. There are two kinds of stroke. The more common type called ischemic stroke is caused by a blood clot that blocks or plugs a blood vessel in the brain. The other kind called hemorrhagic stroke, is caused by a blood vessel that breaks and bleeds into the brain.
Why is this important to African Americans? Here’re a couple of facts that should give you pause:
- African American men are twice as likely to have a stroke as their white adult counterparts.
- Black men are 60 percent more likely to die from a stroke than their white adult counterparts.
Jay Harold has a post on the terrible effects of strokes on Black Americans. “Five signs and three questions about Stroke,” should be read to get additional information about this disease. Additionally, Strokes can also cause five types of disabilities3 :
- paralysis or problems controlling movement
- sensory disturbances including pain
- problems using or understanding a language
- problems with thinking and memory
- emotional disturbances
The United States Office of Minority Health4 has provided data about Stroke and African-Americans. The information could be better organized, but Jay Harold feels that it’s important for you to know the facts about Stroke.
At a glance – Diagnosed Cases of Stroke:
|
Non-Hispanic Black |
Non-Hispanic White |
Non-Hispanic Black/ |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Men and Women |
3.9 |
2.4 |
1.6 |
|
Men |
4.7 |
2.3 |
2.0 |
|
Women |
3.3 |
2.4 |
1.4 |
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 |
55.5 |
34.9 |
1.6 |
|
Women |
45.9 |
34.5 |
1.3 |
|
Total |
50.3 |
35.0 |
1.4 |
Black men are 60 percent more likely to die from a stroke than their white adult counterparts.
Source: CDC, 2014. National Vital Statistics Report. Vol. 64, No. 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 stroke. Some of these risk factors are:
Obesity and Overweight – See Obesity and African Americans
Hypertension – See Heart Disease and African Americans
High Cholesterol – See Heart Disease and African Americans
Cigarette Smoking – See Heart Disease and African Americans
Lack of private insurance could be a factor in the bad stroke 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 insurance5. Also in 2012, 40.6 percent of African-Americans compared to 29.3 percent of non-Hispanic Whites relied on Medicaid, public health insurance. Finally, 17.2 percent of African-Americans compared to 10.4 percent of non-Hispanic whites were uninsured.
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!”
Bibliography
- https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/
- https://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v%3Aproject=medlineplus&v%3Asources=medlineplus-bundle&query=stroke
- http://spaldingrehab.com/service/disabilities-related-to-stroke
- http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=28
- http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=3&lvlid=61
