ed Health Group (Medical Devices, 2002, p. 14).
Middle-aged African-American men are also more likely than white men to die of complications of diabetes and they are at increased risk of glaucoma (U.S. News & World Report, 2002). Black men older than 35 are 26 percent more likely to die of heart disease than White men and nearly twice as likely to die of heart disease than Hispanic men (Jet, 2001, p. 26). African Americans are also more likely not to be diagnosed until the later stages of these diseases, thereby increasing the mortality rates (Shipp, 2003, p. 41).
A 2001 study titled ôMen and Heart Disease: An Atlas of Racial and Ethnic Disparities Among Men With Heart Diseaseö found that about 40 percent of heart disease deaths in black men occur before they are 65 years old, compared with 21 percent of white men (Jet, 2001. p. 26). Black men also tend to develop heart disease and become sicker at an earlier age than whites (Jet, 2001. p. 26). Elizabeth Barnett, director of the Office for Social Environmental and Health Research at West Virginia University (WVU) led the study. She pointed out that the effects of racism, discrimination and job stress also contribute to the high rates of heart disease. ôThese mental health factors also affect people physically over long periods of time and promote development of this disease,ö she noted (Jet, 2001, p. 26). But Dr. Gerald Pohost, noted cardiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and head of the Alabama Task Force on Cardiovascular Disease, also pointed out that another reason heart disease hits blacks harder is that they have higher levels of diabetes and high blood pressure (Jet, 2001, p. 26).
HIV disease is the third and tenth leading cause of death among African Americans 45-54 and 55-64 respectively (Health Watch, 2002). Among African American men aged 45-54, HIV disease is the third leading cause of death. It is the seventh leading cause of death a...