A recent article published by the Association of Black Cardiologists stated that almost 40 percent of black women in the United States die from cardiovascular disease.
All black women are at higher risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease than white women.
“For the past eight years my mother has suffered from high blood pressure,” said Alicia Reed, a senior computer science major from Lake Charles. “Because it runs in my family, I make sure I get annual checkups and workout regularly to monitor my health.”
Black women are twice as likely to develop heart disease according to a recent publication in an American Heart Association journal.
Although black women are predisposed to heart disease, the quality of care they received is less adequate than for white women.
The cause of the disparities in the treatment of heart disease is unclear.
“This is a real concern for me, because my family members may one day be at risk and still may not receive proper treatment,” said Krystle Oates, a junior mathematics major from Los Angeles. “All women, regardless of race, should receive the proper healthcare they need.”
Heart disease has been known as the silent killer, because its symptoms are sometimes unrecognizable.
According to a recent National Vital Statistics Report publication by the Center for Disease Control, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the nation.
Black women are 30-40 percent more likely to die of heart disease than white women.
The Heart Disease Information Center lists the three major forms of heart disease as coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms.
Heart disease, which results from the accumulation of plaque in the arteries, takes years to develop.
The disease is largely preventable, as choosing a healthier diet and increasing one’s amount physical activity can decrease its rate of development.
“Physicians often advice diagnosed sufferers of heart disease to take an aspirin daily,” said Crystal Johnson, a Southern University graduate and research assistant who has a bachelor’s degree in Dietetics. “It decreases the patient’s blood pressure by thinning the blood.”
