Political Wrinkles  

Go Back   Political Wrinkles > General Forum > Open Discussion
Register FAQDonate PW Store PW Trivia Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Open Discussion Discuss Black, white breast cancer death disparity at the General Forum; Black, white breast cancer death disparity Breast cancer death rates have decreased for white women in every U.S. state, but ...

Reply
 
Share LinkBack (1) Thread Tools Display Modes
  1 links from elsewhere to this Post. Click to view. #1 (permalink)  
Old 03-03-2008, 05:25 AM
cnredd's Avatar
Administrator
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Philadelphia
Gender: Male
Posts: 39,804
Thanks: 1,149
Thanked 19,438 Times in 12,292 Posts
Default Black, white breast cancer death disparity

Black, white breast cancer death disparity

Quote:
Breast cancer death rates have decreased for white women in every U.S. state, but are flat or rising for African-American women, a study said.

The study, published online ahead of print in the journal Cancer Causes and Control, found breast cancer death rates among African-American women decreased in 11 of 37 states with sufficient numbers for analysis and in the District of Columbia. However, death rates were flat in 24 states and higher in Arkansas and Mississippi.

American Cancer Society researchers led by Carol DeSantis analyzed mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics from 1975 through 2004 by state and race.

At the national level, death rates began to decline in 1990 for white women and in 1991 for African-American women. However, the death rare decreased far slower in African-American women.

In 1991, death rates among African-American women were 18 percent higher compared to white women; by 2004, they were 36 percent higher, DeSantis said.

Access to and utilization of screening as well as regional variations in the quality and timeliness of treatment likely play important roles in the disparity, the researchers said.
This perplexes me...

I agree with the last sentence, but I think there's alot more to it...

I'm wondering if a difference in genetic makeup or lifestyle (taboo in a "multicultural society") has some to do with this...
__________________
"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd
Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to cnredd For This Useful Post:
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 03-04-2008, 03:58 PM
saltwn's Avatar
PW Enlightenment
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: in the natural state
Posts: 41,185
Thanks: 30,678
Thanked 16,990 Times in 11,529 Posts
Send a message via Yahoo to saltwn
Thumbs up Re: Black, white breast cancer death disparity

Quote:
Originally Posted by cnred View Post
Black, white breast cancer death disparity

This perplexes me...

I agree with the last sentence, but I think there's a lot more to it...

I'm wondering if a difference in genetic makeup or lifestyle (taboo in a "multicultural society") has some to do with this...

Diet, diet, diet!
Oriental women had low rates of breast cancer till some of their countries started with the the fast food.
And when an Asian woman enters the U.S. her statistics rise with the longevity of her subsequent generations' stay here.Breast Cancer Rising Among Asian-American Women
African American's eating habits are just the opposite of Asians. Fat for flavor. Salt. Pork.
Another interesting diet story is the native American had no phrase in any tribal language that described the disease Diabetic. Soon after the reservation system was instituted (and white flour, sugar, and wheat were introduced into most of their diets for the first time), the native American became the dubious recipient of "A" number one culture for incidence of Diabetes[reference William Katz, Historian and retired Chair of Malheur County College History dept. Ontario, Oregon, also former educator with the Indian affairs for Wallowa tribe, Washington] They still hold that record today, unfortunately.
__________________

Last edited by saltwn; 03-04-2008 at 04:02 PM.. Reason: sorry my auto fix spell chk went crazy
Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to saltwn For This Useful Post:
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 12-18-2011, 10:25 PM
Aide
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Okolona
Gender: Male
Posts: 250
Thanks: 227
Thanked 83 Times in 64 Posts
Cool Re: Black, white breast cancer death disparity

Hope for breast cancer patients...

New Breast Cancer Treatment Shows Great Promise
December 16, 2011 - In clinical trials at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center in Baltimore, Maryland, doctors report they successfully pumped cancer-fighting medicine directly into a breast tumor.
Quote:
There's some promising news about breast cancer treatment. In clinical trials at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center in Baltimore, Maryland, doctors report they successfully pumped cancer-fighting medicine directly into a breast tumor. Early results show the treatment not only kills the tumor, but spares the patients disfiguring surgery and the side effects of more radical treatments. The earliest stages of breast cancer are usually discovered during a mammogram. Right now, the standard treatment when tumors are found is surgery, followed by radiation therapy and then hormone treatment. Some women who have a high risk of getting breast cancer even opt to have mastectomies - the surgical removal of one or both breasts - just to reduce their risk.

At Johns Hopkins Cancer Center in Baltimore, one oncologist has been studying a less radical approach. "Since most cancers originate within the breasts and the cells that line the milk ducts within the breasts, can we possibly eliminate those dangerous cells, and by doing so, eliminate breast cancer?" asks Dr. Vared Sterns. The idea is simple. Give a small concentration of a chemotherapy drug directly through the patient's nipple and into the milk ducts where cancer cells or even pre-cancerous cells are forming. The entire procedure takes about 30 minutes. In clinical trials, researchers found this technique was more effective and less toxic than the conventional practice of administering chemotherapy through the vein. "What we found was that the concentration of the drug within the breast was very, very high, while the concentration of the drug within the blood system was very low," said Sterns.

With conventional chemotherapy, the opposite was true: Drugs administered through the vein concentrated in the blood system and but were less concentrated where they were most needed - in the breast. The clinical trials have been so promising that this type of treatment might eventually become the standard for patients with very early stages of breast cancer or those who are at risk of developing it. "It is my hope that the treatment can be delivered in just your usual mammogram suite. This has been done in our study quite easily on an outpatient basis. It doesn't take very long. It's not painful," said Sterns.

She likens this procedure to a colonoscopy. If there's a polyp, the doctor removes it before it can become cancerous. Dr. Sterns said researchers need to find out how much of the drug is needed and how often it should be administered to rid the breast of cancer. She estimates that work will take another 10 years. Then, if this procedure is as promising as it seems, it may become standard treatment for patients with early stage breast cancer.

Source
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 12-18-2011, 10:46 PM
Oftencold's Avatar
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 13,300
Thanks: 6,700
Thanked 6,260 Times in 4,078 Posts
Default Re: Black, white breast cancer death disparity

It could have something to do with cultural aggression. All of us whites of European descent have roots in cultures that are very warlike. I'm not saying that it's a genetic difference, but maybe a surviving attitude.

Most white people I've known with cancer take a pugilistic attitude towards it. That is the "fight it," "battle it," "don't let it win," and so on. It seems to me that this would lead to earlier and more aggressive treatment and compliance with the treatment, than a less assertive attitude might engender.
__________________
“Quod scripsi, scripsi"



"Sometimes, the source of the beautiful dawning light that drives back the darkness, is your house burning"


Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 12-18-2011, 11:17 PM
1069's Avatar
Bookworm.
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 5,072
Thanks: 4,720
Thanked 4,817 Times in 2,597 Posts
Default Re: Black, white breast cancer death disparity

Quote:
Originally Posted by cnredd View Post
Black, white breast cancer death disparity

This perplexes me...

I agree with the last sentence, but I think there's alot more to it...

I'm wondering if a difference in genetic makeup or lifestyle (taboo in a "multicultural society") has some to do with this...
This has been common knowledge for awhile.
Part of it is that black women are more likely to be uninsured, so they are less likely to get screenings, mammograms, etc. Also less likely to get early and aggressive treatment. When you're poor and uninsured, you simply don't get health care. Period. It doesn't matter if you have friggin' cancer.
The uninsured can get acute care by walking into the emergency room... but they can't get chemotherapy that way. They can't get radiation treatment or a mastectomy that way.
There may be some programs that help poor and uninsured cancer patients get treatment... but I don't know of any specific program. I guess they'd have to contact the American Cancer Society and see if there are any such programs. Planned Parenthood would probably also be a good resource for information on that.

Beyond that (the being poor and uninsured issue), black women are more likely than white women to get a more aggressive and deadly form of breast cancer- a type that strikes younger women. Beginning in their 20s, into their 50s, black women are twice as likely to die of breast cancer as white women.

So, part of it is physiological. Black women are more prone than white women to an aggressive form of breast cancer that strikes younger, premenopausal women. This type of breast cancer is rare in white women, who are more likely to get breast cancer after age 50.
And part of it is socio-economic: many black women are uninsured. They don't get regular screenings, so they don't get diagnosed until the cancer is already at a later stage. Even after diagnosis, they don't get the same quality of care that an affluent or middle-class woman with medical insurance would get.

So, that's the answer, as far as I know.
Statistically, blacks are more prone to many diseases than whites, including many forms of cancer: prostate and colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, and oropharyngeal (throat) cancer.
It is not taboo to say so. Black educators try to educate the black community about their increased risk of HIV, of Diabetes, of certain types of cancer. Nearly all black people- as well as most people of other races- are aware that blacks are physiologically more predisposed than whites to get certain diseases. Other diseases are more common in whites than in blacks- ovarian cancer, for instance. And breast cancer actually is more prevalent in whites; it's just that more blacks die from it, since they are more prone to the aggressive form that strikes at a younger age.
I don't think anyone feels it's taboo to warn people about what specific diseases they might be prone to and should watch out for.

Last edited by 1069; 12-18-2011 at 11:29 PM..
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
black, breast, cancer, death, disparity, white

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Forum Jump

LinkBacks (?)
LinkBack to this Thread: http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/open-discussion/2363-black-white-breast-cancer-death-disparity.html
Posted By For Type Date
oriental medicine blog » Blog Archive » Black, white breast cancer death disparity This thread Pingback 03-03-2008 07:14 AM


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:14 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2013, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0