Take control of your health

The Center for Disease Control’s recent “Working to Improve the Health of Black Communities: Addressing Disparities in Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease” event provided valuable information on preventing and maintaining these dangerous but controllable medical conditions disproportionately affecting the Black Community. Dr. Christopher Holliday, the director of the CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation, and Dr. Janet Wright, the director of the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, shared statistics representing how widespread and dangerous these conditions are, how people can take control of their health, and answered questions from guests attending the Feb. 21 event. Diabetes statistics According to Holiday, 38 million people in America have diabetes and 98 million have pre-diabetes. It is also the eighth leading cause of death in the US. More than 12% of Black adults have been diagnosed with diabetes, and research has found that more than 40% of Black adults have pre-diabetes – a rate higher than that of Asian, Hispanic, and white adults. These higher numbers are not a coincidence, according to Holliday. “Research shows that centuries of racism have a profound and negative impact on health outcomes, including the prevalence of diabetes. Racial and ethnic minority communities often experience inequities in...