Heart Disease in Adult Males Aged 18-35

This work will investigate the multiple factors that influence the heart health and well-being of adult males aged 18-35 in low-income inner-city areas of the United States. This work will further research and explore stated health statistics and influencing social factors. Finally this work will make recommendations as to the alleviation of the heart disease in adult males aged 18-35.

The problem which is the focus of this research is the fact that adult males between the ages of 18-35 in inner city areas of the United States appear to be at a greater risk for heart disease than their male counterparts in other areas of the country such as those living in areas bordering the cities such as suburban areas and rural communities.

Community at Risk

Stated in the work of Berkman, et al. (2002) is the fact that “Socioeconomic inequality and health are closely linked.” Those in “higher socioeconomic groups have been persistently found to be in better health overall than lower SES groups since the very first life tables and quantitative studies were conducted in the mid-seventeenth century.” The work of Berkman et al. (2005) stats the “Recent social policy experiments have only just begun to document how housing policy benefits health, although quasi-experimental studies of litigation-initiated housing programs have suggested positive social and educational effects for black children who relocate to the suburbs from the central city.” Stated in the work of Glaeser et al. (2001) is that although there have been improvement, although they are small ones since the 1970’s those of the African-American race are continuing to experience racial segregation in urban areas. Abramson et al. (1995) points out the fact that segregation in the United States is related more to income than race. Rates of individuals who own their own homes are stated by Simmons (2001) to have reached 66.2% by the year 2000, however, for minorities the rates were stated to be: (1) African-Americans 46.3%; Hispanics 45.7%; Asians 53.2% and for non-Hispanic whites 72.4%. (Simmons, 2001) Educational opportunities, health care opportunities are limited in these areas as well as the health stressors of pollution and disease being present.

Health Statistics

52.2% of all heart disease cases are male (The British Heart Foundation 2004) Heart disease is stated to have caused 3.4% of death in males ages 15-19, 3.6% in males ages 20-24; 7.9% in males ages 25-34; 15.2% in males ages 35-44. 3.2 male adults ages 15.24 per 100,000 population die each year from heart disease as compared to 2.1% for females. 9.6% of male adults ages 25-34 per 100,000 population die each year from heart disease as compared to 5.2% of females. (Health United States, NCHS) Risk factors in heart disease are stated to include: age, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, high LDL cholesterol, family history of early heart disease, diabetes, Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, smoking, physical inactivity, apple-shaped body, high blood homocysteine, atherosclerosis. 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 for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics.

Current Statistics on African-American Health: African-American Health Wellness net online available at http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/aahealth/introduction.cfm

Demography of Aging (1994) Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education.

Heart Disease in Adult Males Aged 18-35 in Inner City Areas