HEALTH AND WHOLENESS MINISTRY NEWSLETTER: April 2005

Posted on Tue, Jul 26, 2005:

April is National Minority Health Month

HEALTH AND WHOLENESS MINISTRY NEWSLETTER: April 2005
April is National Minority Health Month
 
This year�s focus is on preventing and treating hypertension in minority communities. Did you know...Hypertension is very common and affects as many as 50 million Americans. This condition, in turn, can silently contribute to heart disease, stroke and kidney failure and thus plays a part in about 500,000 deaths every year.  However, hypertension appears to be dangerously undertreated in major minority groups.  Inadequately controlled hypertension is the major factor for the higher mortality rate from heart disease among African Americans.
The number of adults in the United States with high blood pressure increased 30 percent over the last decade (from 1988-94 to 1999-2000), according to a study published in the August 2004 edition of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. 
  • African Americans develop high blood pressure at an earlier age and, at any decade of life, hypertension is more severe in Blacks than in Whites. This results in a 1.3-fold greater rate of nonfatal stroke, a 1.8-fold greater rate of fatal stroke, a 1.5-fold greater rate of heart disease deaths and 5-fold greater rate of end-stage renal disease (American Heart Association).
  • According to the June 2002 edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the longer Asian immigrants have lived in North America, the more likely they are to have high blood pressure.
  • The leading causes of death for Hispanic males and females are diseases of heart and stroke. For Hispanic men, 27.9% of the deaths are attributed to diseases of heart and stroke, while 34.9% of female deaths are caused by diseases of heart and stroke.
  • According to US Department of Health and Human Services, heart disease and stroke, the principal manifestations of cardiovascular disease (CVD), are the first and fifth leading causes of death among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). 
There are some simple things you can do to help avoid a visit from this silent killer:
� Keep a healthy weight.
� Exercise every day.
� Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods.
� Cut down on salt and sodium.
� Drink less alcohol.
Most importantly, Follow your doctor�s orders.
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