Diseases Most Common to African Americans in Society

Diseases are part of life and people have to contend and deal with them. There are so many interventions and remedies available due to great medical strides technologically. For this reason, many that get access to health care and information all around the world will reduce their chances of going down with disease dramatically. There are certain diseases that have been rife among particular groups of people. An example is black Americans who only form less than 15% of the American population; yet some chronic ailments among them are at a record high. The following is a look at all the most common diseases that have been seen prevalent in the African American community.

In 2006, statistics showed that almost half of all new AIDS cases were reported from the members of this community. Furthermore in the same year, bisexual and gay black men were the leading in numbers of most affected groups of the American society regarding HIV and AIDS. This shows clearly that the sexually transmitted disease is quite common perhaps most common in this particular group of people in America.

Another disease that has been seen pretty common in the African American society is Asthma. According to observations, black people and the Hispanics have been affected more by Asthma in the country. There have been several reasons cited for the widespread of this disease including poverty and genetics. Many poor children from the black and Hispanic communities have plenty of exposure to elements that trigger asthma like smoke from cigarette sparking health problems.

Another common disease among African Americans is Sickle cell anemia. This condition sees cells take an abnormal shape that can somewhat be described as rigid. The cells will look like sickles and for this; they will be compromised in function. It has been found that 1 person in 12 black Americans will have the sickle cell trait. There are many complications that are associated with the disease including renal failure, jaundice, stroke and others.

Diabetes is another common disease among black Americans. Experts have continued to find out whether there is a genetic link that makes this community prone to the illness. Men and women of the African American community who are over 20 years and suffer with diabetes are estimated to be 2.5 million. Many are those that do not know they suffer from the disease. This problem has been seen to be caused by poor feeding habits, lack of physical exercises and so on. The complications brought about by diabetes include blindness, amputation and even kidney failure.

Coronary heart disease is another problem in the community. Factors like intake of high-cholesterol foods and weight problems have contributed to the ailment. However, the above diseases are being managed better in the present day and overall deaths due to the diseases have declined over the past few years.