Frank Talk About HIV/AIDS with Black Men
December 8, 2011 by admin
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HIV/AIDS is increasingly an epidemic in the black community. African Americans account for a whopping 50% of all those living with HIV today, 45% of those newly infected each year and about half of all deaths.
If black America were its own country, it would rank 105th in the world for life expectancy, behind places like Algeria, the Dominican Republic and Sri Lanka (the US as a whole is 49th).
It is past time to have some FRANK talk about HIV in the black community! So watch this video below and join in on the discussion…
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African American Women Die from Breast Cancer Twice that of Whites??
November 25, 2011 by admin
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Breast cancer in African American women is something we can’t afford to stop talking about. Each year, an estimated 40,000 women will die from breast cancer. Nearly 6,000 will be African-American women. You do the math. African American women make-up roughly about 7% of the U.S. population but account for 15% of the deaths from breast cancer every year. It’s been estimated that African American women ages 35 to 44 have a death rate from breast cancer twice that of white women the same age.
Black women in their twenties to fifties are twice as likely to die of breast cancer as white women who have breast cancer. About 33% of African-American women who get breast cancer are younger than 50 years old.
Part of the reason for this difference may be due to that fact that studies have estimated that 20 to 30 percent of breast cancers in African-American women are triple-negative breast cancers. Triple-negative breast cancers lack estrogen, progesterone, and HER-2 receptors. Typically these receptors are found on breast cancer cells and are used by drugs/ chemo to target and kill the cancer cells. Obviously if cancer cells don’t have these receptors they won’t respond to many available drug treatments known to block the cancer’s growth. Genetics are likely behind this difference, but no one knows for sure.
Additionally, some studies suggest African American women don’t get screened for breast cancer as early and as often as white women, and aren’t being referred to specialists in a timely fashion. Some studies also suggest that the difference in death rates may be due to black women in America experiencing more stress than whites, but this factor has yet to be fully explored.
Taking all these factors into account and in lieu of the Task Force’s recent new recommendation of not starting screening mammograms until age 50, one could easily conclude that a lot of African American women are being missed as it relates to early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. This also suggest that there should be consideration made for creating separate guidelines for African-American women other than the task force’s recommendation of starting at age 50.
As a physician, I’m still recommending that black women, and all other women for that matter, continue getting screening mammograms starting at age 40, or even sooner in African American women who may be at higher risk. The key message here is that you must take charge of your own health. Don’t expect or wait for someone else to do it for you. It may be too late if you do.
As usual be sure to talk to your health care provider about your risks for breast cancer and be your own best health care advocate!
by Jeffrey B. Brown, MD
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Lower Vitamin D Levels in African-Americans May Up Heart Disease Risks
November 25, 2011 by admin
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New research suggests that low blood levels of vitamin D may increase a person’s risk of heart disease and stroke, among other serious illnesses such as:
- diabetes,
- peripheral artery disease,
- high blood pressure,
- cancer and
- kidney disease.
Vitamin D is found very rarely in unfortified food, and is mostly produced in the body when sunlight interacts with skin cells. This is particularly concerning for people of color, because the darker the skin the less vitamin D that is produced in the body.
This lower level of production of vitamin D usually is not a problem when people of color are exposed to high levels of sunlight (at low latitudes or near the equator), but becomes a problem when people of color live in places of low sunlight (higher latitudes) or get very little sun exposure.
The researchers in the study looked at data on more than 15,000 U.S. adults in a national nutritional study. They found that, overall, the 25 percent of adults with the lowest levels of vitamin D had a 40 percent higher risk of cardiovascular death. When they singled out African-Americans, the report found a 38 percent higher incidence of such deaths than among whites. As vitamin D levels rose, however, the risk of death was reduced.
The jury is still out on this research, but the evidence for a real cause-and-effect relationship between low levels of vitamin D and cardiovascular disease is growing. I think the simplest way to approach this potential health problem for all people and particularly people of color is to have your blood vitamin D level checked by your health care provider; if it is too low, make the proper adjustments to your diet and/or use vitamin supplements to get it within a normal range.
The current recommendation is a daily intake of 400 international units (IUs) of vitamin D for most adults, and 600 IU for those over 70. Some experts are recommending a higher amount for most people — up to 2,000 IU a day — and some are even recommending that African-Americans probably need closer to 3,000 to 5,000 IU a day.
Again, this issue is not yet resolved. But at a minimum, people of color should work with their health care providers to try to get their blood vitamin D level within the current standard of normal limits: 30 to 74 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL); 40ng/mL would be ideal.
As always, be sure to discuss these issues with the primary health care provider who knows your unique health status best. I will continue to keep you posted on this important and evolving issue.
Written by Jeffrey B. Brown, M.D.
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