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African Americans more susceptible to cancer: Report

According to a report published by American Cancer Society, blacks are more vulnerable to deadly cancer than whites. Main facts, which peeped out through this report were as under:-

1. Cancer death rate in 2003 was 35 percent higher in black men and 18 percent higher in black women than in white men and women.

2. 153,000 of the 1.4 million people diagnosed with cancer in the United States in 2007 will be black.

3. 63,000 of the estimated 560,000 people who will die of the disease this year will be black.

4. The death rate from all cancers combined has decreased on an average of 1.7 percent per year from 1995 to 2003 among African Americans, compared to 1 percent per year among whites from 1992 to 2003.

5. Blacks have the highest death rate amongst any racial and ethnic group for all cancers combined and for most major cancers.

A look at these facts is enough to evince that African American are more susceptible to cancer, especially in the U.S. It is important to mention here that obesity, lack of exercise, poor diet has been associated with cancer risk, and if we look at the data regarding obesity in the U.S. then we find that seventy-six percent of black adults are considered overweight and 45 percent are considered obese. Therefore, associating higher susceptibility to cancer with obesity would not be wrong.

However, this fact can also not be ignored that most of the African Americans get diagnosis at a later stage when there are fewer and less effective treatment options.

This whole issue is quite serious but the good thing is that in the period of 1993-2003 there has been a decline of 1.7 per cent in African Americans deaths due to cancer.

Image credit: Fullerton

Via: Yahoo

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