The Urban Wellbeing Issue Of Diabetes Among African Americans

The incidences of diabetes are growing annually, and predicted to increase within the coming decades. The number of cases yearly is not only increasing, but the age of onset for diabetes has decreased. This means more individuals are developing diabetes at an earlier age. Diabetes not only affects individuals and communities but countries as well. The prevalence of diabetes has gathered billions of dollars in healthcare costs. [1]Type 2 diabetes also leads to other serious medical conditions such as heart disease, renal failure, blindness, and tissue damage in extremities that will eventually lead to amputation. These illnesses, as a result, result in further costs in the form of disability and the loss of a portion of our workforce. However, incidences of type 2 diabetes are in higher occurrence amongst Hispanic groups. According to the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Mexican Americans have an unusually high prevalence of diabetes compared to that of the general population [2]. Hispanic females have the highest lifetime risk of becoming diabetic – 52% [3], compared to that of the average risk of

The Hispanic ethnic group comprises more than 50 million of the American population; this about 16 percent of the population 1. The USA Census Bureau forecasts that in 2050, one out of three people living in America will be of Hispanic origin 2. Hispanics refer to people of Puerto Rican, Cuban, Mexican, Central or South American background 3. They also include people of other Spanish culture despite their race. This paper focuses on the impact of socioeconomic status of Hispanics on the incidence of Type II diabetes in East Harlem. East Harlem is located on the northeast corner of Manhattan, New York. East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio. In addition, about one-third of the East Harlem residents live below the poverty line, compared to the NYC in general East Harlem has one of the highest proportions of households in poverty 4 . Relationships between socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and chronic disease undoubtedly have complex explanations. The socioeconomic status has been used to explain the higher prevalence and higher

Diabetes  is a serious health condition that is a chronic illness for the African Americans. Diabetes preventions strategies in African American community can be a tricky task to contain and prevent for several reasons I will discuss in this paper.

According to the American Diabetes Association, more Americans die each year from diabetes than from AIDS and breast cancer combined. As a result, researchers have extensively studied the causes, treatments, and interventions for diabetes. Despite efforts to ameliorate its effects, diabetes remains a prevalent danger in society. In 2014, 7% of U.S. adults were living with diagnosed diabetes (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016). In Louisiana that number was even higher - 10.4% of adults have been diagnosed with diabetes. Breaking it down by age group, however, in Louisiana 3% of people aged 18 and 44 have been diagnosed, and 15.2% of people 45-64. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015a). Several studies have predicted future rates of diabetes both in the United States and worldwide - nearly all of these studies reached a similar conclusion: rates of diabetes will continue to rise (Boyle et al., 2001).

In today’s society, there are many different factors that can contribute to one’s overall health and well-being. Since there are so many different factors that can affect one’s health, there are inequalities that exist among people and this is knows as health disparity. "Health disparities are differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions that exist among specific population groups in the United States” (Nhlbi.nih.gov, 2015). Health disparities can be associated with factors such as: socioeconomic status, education, gender, race, ethnicity, age, mental health, and religion. There are certain health problems that can affect different groups more than others, such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS (Surgeongeneral.gov, 2015). One example of a specific population in the United States that is affected by health disparities is the African American Population. While African Americans are affected by various health disparities, one that affects this population more prominently is heart disease.

Diabetes is a prevalent health disparity among the Latino population. Diabetes is listed as the fifth leading cause of death among the Latino population in the website for Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, in 2009. According to McBean, “the 2001 prevalence among Hispanics was significantly higher than among blacks.” (2317) In other words among the Hispanic or Latino community, there is a higher occurrence of diabetes as compared to other racial/ethnic groups such as Blacks and Native Americans. The prevalence of diabetes among Latinos is attributed to the social determinants of health such as low socioeconomic status and level of education. Further, this becomes an important public health issue when it costs the

Diabetes as describes by health. NY. GOV is a disease in which blood glucose (blood sugar) levels are above normal ("Diabetes Basics," 2007). This can lead to a range of serious health consequences, “including vision loss, nerve damage and numbness, high blood pressure, kidney disease, heart disease and death” (DiNapoli, 2015). Diabetes is a growing epidemic in New York City among all age group but has grown significantly over the years among adults especially African American and other minority groups. In 2007, data report from the New York City Health Department reported that “diabetes was higher in NYC than in the U.S. overall (9.1% vs 7.5%). (NYC health data).

The purpose of this research is to identify and measure the most common health disparities that cause African-Americans poor health outcomes, assesses the solutions, and provides alternative suggestions in order to reduce or eliminate the main health disparities.

The United States is a melting pot of cultural diversity. For a country that was founded by individuals fleeing persecution, it has taken us many years to grant African-Americans equal rights, and even longer for those rights to be recognized. Despite all the effort to eliminate inequality in this country, health disparity among this minority group remains a significant issue. Research in this area has pointed to several key reasons for this gap that center on differences in culture, socioeconomics, and lack of health literacy.

This essay will inform readers about the best practices, published guidelines, and clinical pathways for management of diabetes. Diabetes is a serious issue that affects millions of people. Unrecognized pre diabetes is also a growing concern that is increasing dramatically. Diabetes is not diagnosed for most homeless people, because they do not do have a yearly physical check-up. Published guidelines are useful to patients and practitioners because they focus on the improvement of care. Clinical pathways are also important, because they focus on the outcome and assessment of their achievement.

African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives living in N.D are twice as likely to have diabetes than Whites.

Improving the health of the socially and economically disadvantaged is a major task. Many Americans are living with poor health because of their socioeconomic statuses and it has many negative effects on their long term health. Improving access to health care is not enough to help fix the lower death rates among low income families. Our social status in our economy has large effect on our lives including how we are able to live our lives and in tern it has large measurable effects on our health. San Antonio is no exception, in low income areas the mortality rates by diabetes are stunning and need to be changed in order to help improve the lives of so many people. In my essay I will be proposing a plan to help lower

The objective of this qualitative research paper is to explore articles that provide evidence in answering why African Americans living in low SES communities are at high risks of CVD. The articles used in this paper suggest that there are multiple risk factors that influence the health behavior of African Americans living in low-income communities. In addition the articles social determinants of health, such as access to quality health care services, access to quality education and jobs, residential segregation, social norms and attitude. This paper looks to examine the ways that health organizations are addressing health disparities in local communities and ways to drive different results with proven intervention to better health outcome.

Type II Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease that influences the physical and social aspects of life for millions of people living in New York City (NYC). The excess accumulation of glucose in the blood caused by this disease can lead to the breakdown of many organs in the human body leading to increased hospitalizations and mortality. Although diabetes is a manageable disease given the appropriate care and education, the disease and its complications disproportionately affect African-Americans or non-Hispanic blacks then any other ethnic group in NYC. The NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) reports death rates among black New Yorkers are higher than among whites, regardless of neighborhood income. There is a significant number of non-Hispanic blacks afflicted in low-income neighborhoods due to the environmental injustices such as lack of fresh food options, neighborhood poverty, and limited recreational space for physical activity and exercise. With lifestyle modification as the mainstay of treatment, recognizing the environmental deficiencies and rectifying these problems at the local and federal levels will help to decrease this health disparity.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, "[By 1993] death certificates listed diabetes as the fifth leading cause of death for Blacks aged 45 to 64, and the third leading cause of death for those aged 65 and older in 1990.” (Bailey, 2007). These statistics show how serious the problem of diabetes has become in the black community. Epidemiological studies can focus the efforts of the healthcare community to effective interventions aimed at lowering the prevalence and incidence of diabetes among African Americans.