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

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ed 32 volunteers (24 of whom were African American) with newly diagnosed prostate cancer tomato sauce every day for three weeks. In addition to causing significant reductions in DNA damage to prostate cancer cells and white blood cells, the treatment resulted in reduced blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein whose increased levels are strongly linked to a higher prostate cancer risk, according to the researchers. However researcher Phyllis Bowen, Ph.D. cautioned that ô[t]his study does not say that tomato sauce reduces cancer. It says that it reduces DNA damage that we think is associated with cancerö (Health & Medicine Week II, 2001). Diet Diet is a risk factor for many diseases that affect black men (). A 2002 study found that black men had greater reductions in blood pressure than white men from eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Yet, in the general population, black men have the lowest consumption of fruits and vegetables (Medical Devices, 2002, p. 14). For example, research studies have shown that African-American men between the ages of 35 and 50 eat only 3.5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, which is only approximately one-third of the 9 servings recommended for men by national h
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Approximate Word count = 2762
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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