Race matters when it comes to health.
It is no coincidence that African Americans are at a higher risk of obtaining a number of diseases and illnesses than any other racial group in America. Some of the most common diseases are, but are not limited to cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and asthma. They also have high infant mortality rates and homicide rates. What causing these illnesses and diseases? There are a number of potential causes however, the main factor for blacks is poverty. The conditions of black low-income communities is what is causing these health disparities.
Food deserts are areas with little to no access to healthy food options and are generally found in low-income areas with minority residents. Typically in food deserts, the only food options are fast food restaurants or convenience stores. From early childhood, having a diet based on junk food containing high amounts of sugar, cholesterol and saturated fats leads to heart complications such as high blood pressure. This diet also leads to diabetes and cancer.
Environmental factors such as pollution and contamination play a key role in contributing to health disparities as well. Black communities are more likely to be placed closer to major freeways, (which means they are exposed to more CO2 emissions) and also toxic waste sites, power plants or oil refineries. The excess of CO2 in these communities causes lung conditions such as asthma and can lead to higher blood pressure. The housing conditions found in these communities can also cause asthma and certain infections due to the high amount of mold, pests, and toxic chemicals such as lead found in certain infrastructures.
The homicide rates for African Americans living in low-income communities are extremely high and can be extremely traumatizing. The effects of losing someone close to violence, are similar to the effects of PTSD. Those who have lost loved-ones to violent crimes can be in a constant state of fight or flight in order to protect themselves from the same outcome. This constant state of being hyper aware of your surroundings is called hypervigilance and can cause toxic amounts of chemicals in such as adrenaline to be produced throughout the body. The high amounts of the adrenaline then deteriorate the brain at a faster rate and lead to illnesses and diseases such as those mentioned before.
So is poverty the main cause of African American health disparities? It is indeed, given the number of factors that contribute to poor health when living in these conditions. However certain things such as infant mortality rates are still apparent within African Americans living above poverty lines because things such as discrimination in the healthcare industry are factors that are hard to control and are not related to socioeconomic background.
