In African American Women
By: Tove Freeman & Van Williams
1

“ Cardiovascular Disease is an abnormal function of the heart involving the narrowing or blocking of blood vessels.
”
- Cardiovascular Disease Foundation (figure 7)
2

What is a health disparity?
How is CVD a health disparity?
3
* Health disparity = when an incident of a disease is not equal to the general population.
* CVD is the #1 killer of women in
Massachusetts, especially in the
African American community.

More than 500,000 women die of cardiovascular disease every year.
• Almost double the death rate of men.
• The rate of mortality in women with CVD has increased steadily over the past 30 years-the rate of men has decreased!
4
Specifically, in MA CVD targets women of
African American and Hispanic/Latina descent.
• African American women = 35% more likely than
Caucasian women to die of CVD.
• 68% of Caucasian women know that CVD is the leading cause of death among women compared to 31% of black women.

▫ be screened for cholesterol or offered cholesterol lowering medications.
▫ receive therapies like heparin, beta blockers or use aspirin.
▫ be referred for cardiac rehabilitation
▫ Treadmill stress tests can yield both false positive and false negative caused by hormones
▫ Nuclear stress testing, the breasts can compromise the images of the heart
5

Structural
Defects
Infection Inflammation
Environment
Genetics
Poor Diet
6

• Chest Pain/ Chest Discomfort
• Pain in one or both arms, left shoulder, neck jaw, or back.
• Shortness of breath
• Dizziness
• Faster heart beats
• Nausea
• Abnormal heart beats
• Fatigue
7

Obesity
High
Cholesterol
Physical
Inactivity
High
Blood
Pressure
Diabetes
8

25
5
40
35
30
20
15
10
0
Obesity among MA adults in
2007
MA men
MA women
• African American adults are more likely than any other race/ethnicity to be overweight, significantly increasing their risk of cardiovascular disease.
• About four out of five
African American women are overweight or obese.
9

Reported Exercise in MA Adults in
2002
• Exercise is less prevalent in the African American and Hispanic populations.
• Less active, less fit people have a 30-50 percent greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Source: Brigham and Womens Hospital (figure 3)
10

8
6
4
2
0
18
16
14
12
10
Diabetes in MA from
2006-2008
• Massachusetts’ African Americans are 3.2 times more likely to have diabetes than Caucasians.
MA male
MA female
• Approximately 11.4% of all African
Americans in MA aged 20 years or older have diabetes.
• Adults with diabetes are 2-4 times as likely to die of heart disease than those without diabetes
White Black Hispanic
11

12
• Adults with hypertension are up to 4 times more likely to develop
CVD.
• African Americans are less likely to have controlled hypertension, with African American women being the least likely.
• High blood pressure is more likely to occur at a younger age in the African American population.
Source: Brigham and Womens Hospital (figure 6)

• Too much cholesterol in your blood clogs arteries, causing atherosclerosis thus blood flow to the heart muscle is slowed down or blocked.
• 10% decrease in cholesterol may reduce the incidence of CVD by
30%
13

Physically
Active
Do Not
Smoke
Eat
Healthy
Normal
Weight
14
Be
Healthy
Maintain
Numbers
Reduced
Risks
Cholesterol
Blood
Pressure
Triglycerides

CVD’s the #1 cause of death for MA women
CVD is a disparity for African American Women
Women’s diagnoses are different then men’s
15

16
-" Brigham And Women's Hospital - A Teaching Affiliate of Harvard Medical School ."
Brigham And Women's Hospital - A Teaching Affiliate of Harvard Medical School . N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2011. <http://www.brighamandwomens.org>. (Figure 1,3,5,6) -
"Cardiovascular Disease Foundation." Cardiovascular Disease Foundation . N.p., n.d.
Web. 12 July 2011. <http://www.cvdf.org/>.
-"Research Activities, April 2011: Disparities/Minority Health: Blacks Less Likely Than
Whites to Use Either Statins or Aspirin in the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease."
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Home . N.p., n.d. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.ahrq.gov/research/ (figure 4)
"Cardiovascular - PubMed Health." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2011. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p (figure 7)
"Modified Fat Diet Key to Lowering Heart Disease Risk." Cardiovascular Disease
Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2011.
<http://www.cvdf.org/articletext.aspx?ARTID=352>. (figure 2)

-"CDC - DHDSP - National Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program -
Massachusetts." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. 12
July 2011. <http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/programs/nhdsp_program/ma.htm>.
-"Framingham Heart Study." Framingham Heart Study. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 July 2011.
<http://www.framinghamheartst
-"Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Center - Massachusetts General Hospital,
Boston, MA." Massachusetts General Hospital Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2011.
<http://www.massgeneral.org/heartcenter/treatmentprograms.aspx?id=1012>.
-"Heart disease - MayoClinic.com." Mayo Clinic. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2011.
<http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-disease/DS01120>.
-"Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy and Risk of Cardiov... [JAMA. 2007] - PubMed result." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2011.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17405972?dopt=Abstract>.