Heart Diseases Among African American Women, Research Paper Example

African American women are at a disproportionate risk for many diseases due to a combination of genetics and environmental factors. However, many individuals do not understand why this is the case. It is therefore important to address what genetic factors cause African American women to be at high risk for heart disease and to determine what changes they could make in their daily lives to offset these risks. Heart disease is defined as any disease that negatively impacts the cardiovascular system and the most commonly suffered from disorders include atherosclerosis and hypertension. It is important to consider that these illnesses are related to obesity, which is a possible confounding factor in the relationship between race and incidence of heart disease (CDC).

Although many doctors believe that there are genetic factors that cause someone to have an increased likelihood of getting heart disease, it appears that environmental factors are more closely related to disease development. Statistics have shown that “if a first-degree male relative (e.g. father, brother) has suffered a heart attack before the age of 55, or if a first-degree female relative has suffered one before the age of 65, you are at greater risk of developing heart disease” (World Heart Federation). It is important to consider that family history of disease is a good marker as to whether a relative is likely to get an illness, but heart disease is such a broad disease category that it is difficult to identify specific genes that indicate the likelihood of getting the illness. Therefore, since there are no effective genetic screenings available to determine the risk of disease, it seems to be important for all individuals to ensure that they are minimizing their risk in terms of disease environmental factors.

Even though studies have shown that African American women are disproportionately more likely to suffer from heart disease, it appears that this is related to demographic factors of these individuals. Furthermore, research has shown that nearly every individual, regardless of their race could avoid suffering from heart disease if they switch to a healthy lifestyle (Ignarro et al. 326). Since a large demographic of African American women have a low socioeconomic status, these individuals live in food desserts and are not able to gain a proper nutrition. Therefore, it is important for these individuals to find affordable ways to begin eating a well-balanced diet. Individuals living in areas where food accessibility is not a problem should begin to pay more attention to the vitamin and nutritional content of the foods they eat and remain within the recommended daily intake for them as well.

Furthermore, it is important for African American women to exercise regularly. Even though it is difficult for many individuals to find time to do so, it is an important practice because it reduces the risk of heart disease significantly. For individuals who do not have time to go running or the funds to join a gym, they could become more active simply by going for works or choosing to take the stairs at work instead of the elevator. Slight alterations in lifestyle could contribute to health benefits that will last a long period of time.

After learning more about the relationship between African American women and heart disease, I recognized that it is important to educate this group about ways that the disease could be avoided because it is completely preventable. It would therefore be useful to educate them about the disease in addition to realistic ways that the risk factors can be prevented. Education programs should include real statistics of the relationship between African American women and heart disease in addition to personal stories of disease victims and their family members to create the type of urgency that is needed for this cause.

While community health organizations and agencies recognize the importance of this issue, they have not been addressing it effectively, which is evident based on the continuous incidence of the disease. Rather than observing a decrease in the amount of heart disease cases among African American women, this number is continuing to increase. Therefore, it is necessary to provide more detailed nutritional programs that will not only help the obese members of the population lose weight, but learn how to more adequately track the foods they are eating in terms of nutrition. Furthermore, attention should be called to how meals are prepared and how similar tastes could be created using different ingredients. It is likely that these organizations are not succeeding because they are trying to implement lifestyle changes in these individuals without providing them with realistic and simpler means by which they can do so. It is not easy to completely change one’s diet very quickly, and the failure to do so immediately can become discouraging. Therefore, it is important for these groups to provide a greater extent of motivation.

This was not particularly surprising to me because many of my friends have tried to go on diets and failed because they did not receive the proper motivation to do so. Ultimately, the individuals who were successful with this venture needed to try to alter their habits repeatedly before they became successful. Therefore, it is likely that the same is true of African American women who wish to alter their unhealthy lifestyles to reduce their likelihood of suffering from heart disease. To do so, it is important that these groups provide them with a greater degree of support. I was very surprised that despite gaining the knowledge required to change their lifestyle, therefore living for a longer period of time, many African American women chose to not follow the advice they were given. It is important for them to understand the full impact of their health in regards to their own lives and those of the ones they love (Taylor et al.). Therefore, it is important to for public health educators to determine new ways to motivate these individuals to make changes in their lives for the better. Ultimately, benefitting this population of the community will benefit the community as a whole.

The major thing that occurs in this group that I would like to change is their eating habits. Many members of the African American culture enjoy soul food, which is very rich in oil and fats. While the food is very tasty, it is certainly something that should not be eaten regularly in order to avoid harmful health effects. Therefore, it would be useful to modify these traditional recipes into more health friendly ones. Although African American women do not have to avoid eating soul food altogether, it is important for them to reduce the frequency with which it is consumed.