The Femitist = Feminism + Scientist
This is a journal for a Women's Studies class I'm taking at SDSU in San Diego, CA. Although it is intended for the class, I appreciate any feedback or discussion.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Increase in diabetes: ‘A public health emergency in slow motion’ - Chicago Sun-Times
This article is related to class discussion on 9/13 regarding women, race and prevalence of disease. In class we discussed that blacks and black women in particular are more likely to get diseases, have diseases untreated, suffer major complications from disease and die from disease when compared to whites.
This is due to a combination of:
- Poverty
- Discrimination
- Ignorance resulting from poverty and discrimination
- Fear of doctors and the medical “establishment” as a result of years of abuses dating back to times of slavery and still continuing today in the inner cities.
As we discussed in class, my research confirms that “sensitive groups” (class on 9/13) are much more likely (25.34%) to contract diabetes then majority groups.
I researched figures on race, gender, age and diabetes in the US from the NIH (source) with some interesting results:
The NHW (non-hispanic white) group has the highest overall prevalence of diabetes, but most of this is Type 1 (genetic) diabetes. Whites constitute a very small percentage of Type 2 diabetes. The two racial groups with the highest prevalence of Type 2 diabetes overall are AI (American Indians) at around 40% and NHB (non-hispanic blacks) at around 37%.
As our government continues to look for places to save money, public healthcare and education continues to be cut. But as education and healthcare are cut, diabetes, obesity and other preventable conditions increase (direct linear correlation). Since these conditions are highest among the poorest populations, populations that traditionally receive government aid, it would seem common sense that it is to everyone’s benefit to focus on health education programs and preventative care in the inner cities. Not only will it save lives, but it will save millions.
Comparing diabetes rates between whites and blacks by State (source), I found that overall, black Americans are 25.34% more likely than whites to have diabetes. The states with the most disparity between the races are:
- West Virginia (46.5%)
- Nebraska (43.4%)
- Oregon (43.2%)
Oregon was a surprise to me because it is a relatively developed and liberal state.
