Heart Disease in Adult Males Term Paper

The estimated age-adjusted prevalence of angina in women age 20 and older were 3.5% for non-Hispanic white women, 4.7% for non-Hispanic black women and 2.2% for Mexican-American women. Rates for men in these three groups were 4.5, 3.1 and 2.4%, respectively. Among American adults age 20 and older, the estimated age-adjusted prevalence of coronary heart disease for non-Hispanic whites is 8.9% for men and 5.4% for women; for non-Hispanic blacks, 7.4% for men and 7.5% for women; and for Mexican-Americans, 5.6% for men and 4.3% for women. (NHANES, 1999-2002)

Coronary heart disease was the cause of death for 136.3 out of 100,000 African-Americans while killing only 95.1 per 100,000 whites in 1998. Paraphrased. (www.netwellness.com)

Influencing Social Factors

In the work entitled "Demography of Aging (1994) it is stated that:.".. Although views may differ about the desirable or appropriate extent of inequality, few would argue that inequality is irrelevant or outside the suitable domain of government action. Second, the widely available data on socioeconomic differentials in mortality and health sometimes provide important clues regarding the etiology of particular diseases, as in the case of polio, breast and cervical cancer, and coronary heart disease." (Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, 1994)

Stated as well is: "If educational differentials in heart disease mortality were eliminated, the excess mortality of those with 0-8 years of schooling, relative to those with some college, would be reduced by 41% for males aged 25-64." (Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, 1994)

Finally the work states "Heart disease is the principal cause of death responsible for social class differences in mortality from all causes combined. The principal approaches used to identify the courses of these differences are economic and social-psychological." (Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, 1994)

Recommendations

Recommendations from this research are that more information is needed and should be obtained through case studies. It is critical that the lack of educational opportunities, inferior housing, healthcare opportunities as well as the plethora of other socioeconomic factors affecting the rate of heart attacks among those in crowded city areas be addressed.

References

Berkman, L. et al. (2002) Social Inequality and Health: the Impact of Social, Economic and Health Policies on Population Health - Health Effects of housing mobility policy. A report to the Russell Sage Foundation Online available at http://www.russellsage.org/publications/workingpapers/sihealth/document

Glaeser, E.L., J.L. Vigdor and T. Sanford. (2001) Racial Segregation in the 2000 Census: Promising News. The Brookings Institution, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, Washington, DC.

Abramson, A.J., M.S. Tobin and M.R. VanderGoot (1995) The Changing Geography Of Metropolitan Opportunity: The Segregation Of The Poor In U.S. Metropolitan Areas, 1970-1990. Housing Policy Debate 6: 45-72.

Simmons, P.A. (2001) Changes in Minority Homeownership during the 1990s. Fannie Mae Foundation Census Notes 7: 16.

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 1999-2002), Centers.....