Black Women at Higher Risk for Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a leading cause of death of women. There have been several studies, leads, and improvements in the treatment of breast cancer over the past 30 years but the disease still has an impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of women. The Journal of Oncology evaluates the impact that socioeconomic status has on African American women diagnosed with breast cancer. The article is a meta-analysis of 20 studies of breast cancer between 1980 and 2005. The survival rates of over 90,000 African American and white women were analyzed. The results are alarming. Statistically, African American women have a much higher rate of mortality then their white counterparts. Once age, stage and socioeconomic are taken out of the question, African American ethnicity continues to have a negative impact on the mortality rate.

Does African American ethnicity have such a significant impact on diagnosis and mortality? The health of African Americans needs to be further analyzed. Fixing disadvantages caused by age, income level, and the stage of the disease is one thing but how does one fix the disadvantage of being black. What aspect of being black has such a detrimental affect once a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer? The Washington Post suggests that blacks are more likely to have health problems because of they don't receive as many life saving treatments and tests. The health of the socioeconomically disadvantaged needs to further analyzed and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans should be a national agenda.

The health of lower class Americans needs to be analyzed more for several reasons. Inadequate healthcare has an adverse effect on the life expectancy of African American women diagnosed with breast cancer. There could be other implications. If the success rate of breast cancer is affected by social status and race, other diseases have to be affected too. The health implications associated with socioeconomic status needs to be further analyzed because it is unclear which specific aspect has the biggest impact. It could just be access to healthcare. It could also mean that then mental and physical effects of being disadvantaged could also be a significant impact on survival rates. Stress alone has an impact on the quality of life. African Americans have historically been disadvantaged.

Healthcare is a national issue. Men, women and children should not have higher health risks because they are poor. All Americans deserve good healthcare. Preventative healthcare and maintenance should be a priority at a minimum. The lives of the rich shouldn't be valued more than the lives of the poor. This spreads so much further than breast cancer. HIV, Heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and mental illness are all health epidemics in the country that could be avoided with proper healthcare. The health of our nation will be improved when all of its citizens are equally valued. The health of one group of Americans impacts the general well being of all Americans.