Health and Lifestyle Factors Affecting Middle-Aged Black Men
Research on the health of middle-aged African American males demonstrates that the incidence and treatment of disease in this population is often significantly and negatively affected by poor lifestyle choices and racially-disparate provision of social services. This was the case of the authorÆs father, who died at age 54 from heart disease compounded by a failure to adhere to an appropriate diet and treatment regimen. The survey of the literature covered by this paper demonstrates the need for middle-aged African American males to investigate proper treatment protocols for diseases with high incidence rates in their population. However, greater efforts by community and social medical and service agencies must be made to reach out to this target population with the information and treatment necessary to reduce the disproportionate incidence and mortality rates of certain diseases in the population.
African-American men have a life expectancy of 67.6 years, which is nearly 7 years less than the life expectancy for Caucasian men and African-American women, and 12 years less than for Caucasian women (U.S. News & World Report, 2002). The death rate for middle-aged African Americans is nearly twice that of all other Americans as a group (Papalia et. al.). African-American men have the highest rates of prostate cancer and hypertension in the world and are twice as likely as white men to develop diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Medical Devices, 2002. p. 14). They also have higher rates of obesity than other groups and African-Americans have the highest rates for many specific cancers (Medical Device, 2002, p. 14). ôThere is a tremendous amount of disparity when it comes to comparing the cancer rates of black men to white men,ö said Reed Tuckson, MD, senior vice president of consumer health and medical care advancement, Unit...