10 biggest killers of black women - diseases

THEY are, the bedrock of the Black family: the nurturers and healers of everyone in the household from age 1 to 100. Yet for all the doctorin' they do on all of the people under their roof, Black women, as a whole, are often neglectful about maintaining their own health. "Black women have the worst health status of any group on nearly all of the major health indices," says Lorraine Cole, president and CEO of the National Black Women's Health Project. "But there's no national sense of urgency about that. The issue of Black women's health gets lost in the larger discussion of minority and women's health."

Still, a look at the 10 leading causes of death for African-American women age 18 to 80 paints an a alarming picture of the health risks they face. It shows a range of illnesses and physical threats--many of them preventable--that alter the landscape of the Black community by eliminating the mothers, grandmothers, sisters and daughters who are at the foundation of so many families.

Leading the list of the top killers of Black women is heart disease, a national scourge, but one that is particularly threatening to African-Americans, especially women.

While many people believe that breast cancer is the greatest threat to women (it is the fifth leading cause of death in Black women), the fact is that heart disease, and its related illnesses, imperils nearly twice as many Black women, particularly those in the age range of 35 to 80. And Black women face a greater risk of death from heart disease than women of other races. The heart disease rate among Black women is 1.4 times higher than that of White women; 2.1 times higher than that of Latinas.

While there have been no long-range studies to indicate precisely why African-American women are more susceptible to heart disease, studies of certain behavior patterns and risk indicators help illuminate the underlying causes. "Clearly our diet plays a factor," says Patricia Golden, the National Center for Health Statistic's liaison for minority health data. "Among Black women there is a tendency to be overweight. But diet alone may not be the only reason. We need to do more research to look at Black women and their health status over a longer period of time to get a clear picture of what separates us or what makes our health issues different."

What is clear, however, is that by being more proactive about their health, Black women can reduce their susceptibility to many of the leading causes of death.

Take, for example, stroke and diabetes, the second and third leading causes of death for Black women. While both diseases have hereditary links (if you have a history of these diseases in your family, your risk increases), you can lessen your chances of contracting one or the other by controlling some of the risk factors that lead to their onset.

High blood pressure and high cholesterol levels are two of the prime indications that heart disease, stroke and diabetes may be lurking in your future. Exercising and changing to a low-fat diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables could dramatically reduce your risk.

Two of the leading causes of death among Black women are completely preventable--lung cancer and HIV. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in American women, according to the American Cancer Society. It accounts for 21 percent of the cancer deaths in Black women, 90 percent of whom contracted the disease through smoking. Smoking also is a major contributor to heart disease. So it is relatively simple to decrease one of the risk factors that could contribute to the development of either heart disease or lung cancer--don't smoke "If you smoke, quit," says Lorraine Cole. "If someone in your house smokes, help him or her quit."

Just as preventable is HIV infection. HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death for Black women age 25 to 44, and while advances in treatment and heightened awareness about its prevention have dramatically reduced HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths over the past 10 years, the disease continues to run rampant in Black America. "The biggest increases in HIV are among African-Americans, and in that population you're seeing the increase mostly among Black women," says Kate Brett, senior research scientist with the National Center for Health Statistics.

Fueling this epidemic is the cloud of embarrassment, discomfort and shame that continues to surround the subject of HIV/AIDS. "We have not done a very good job of providing climate in our homes and in our schools where people are comfortable talking about sex and where they feel safe and protected getting treatment or protection from HIV," says Sandra Crouse Quinn, an associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh.

At the same time, some believe that Black community has become so inured to messages about various health risks that the HIV/AIDS prevention message is falling on deaf ears. "Reports that the African-American community is dying have become so commonplace that these realities have lost the power to shock," says Cole. "It seems we are always dying of something--heart attacks, strokes, cancer, diabetes, poor nutrition, lack of access to medical drive by shootings. The resultant numbing effect of these reports makes it difficult for some of us to realize the urgency of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is upon us. It is here and it will only worsen if we do not change behaviors and educate our community about protecting ourselves. AIDS kills. It doesn't kill as quickly as it once did, but it still kills."