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Is AIDS Really a " Black Disease"? By Carl Gilbert, M.D. During the 16th International Conference on AIDS held recently in Toronto, Canada, several African-American speakers  ( mostly politicians) raised the specter of AIDS as a 'black disease' in order to ply the conscience of others so the fight against the disease can be aggressively done in the African-American communities. African-Americans represent only 13 percent of the US population but when it comes to AIDS, their community is affected at a staggering rate. Some 49 percent of the 1.2 million Americans living with HIV or AIDS are black, according to the Kaiser Foundation, a non-governmental organization..   This is not news! For the alarm went off many years ago, and the CDC has been publishing report after report showing the trend. Without minimizing the problem, I believe the politicians should not now dramatize the situation and create all of a sudden a new focus of discrimination for the people suffering of the disease.  In a country  where  "it's a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart..." (said recently President Bush discussing racism in front of NAACP), I feel that characterizing AIDS as a " Black Disease" is far-fetched.   Those politicians should go instead to the inner cities and  areas where the high risk populations are (jails, crack-houses, etc) to educate people about behavior changes. They should be talking  to young blacks about responsibility, on how to avoid contracting the disease instead of telling them that AIDS is a black disease, which carries a fatalistic connotation.  I know some of those politicians may be using metaphoric speeches just to put the problem on the front burner. But  using negative, pejorative, demeaning terms to make your point in a context where racists and bigots are looking for any opportunity to be racists is wrong. Do not give yourself the permission to apply the  "n" word to us, because we of the black race in America do not allow you  (politicians) or anybody else to use it against all of us!                                         Stroke striking hard the African-American (AA) Communities By Carl Gilbert, M.D. After the death of Kirby Puckett, the Hall of Fame baseball player,  I read somewhere that stroke can strike everybody anywhere at any time. Conceptually it is true, but I want to point out that in the African-American communities, the rate of this tragic event is disproportionably high.  Remember Luther Vandross, the legendary R&B artist! He too died young, at age 54, of the complications of a stroke. And many other AA not as famous or known as Luther or Kirby also died young because of stroke. So, when I heard or read that we all can be stricken at any time by this catastrophic ailment, I want to say that is not true for all of us,  as I know that  some people, such AA, are more at risk to be victims  of it than some others.                                                                                                                                   It is up to the AA then to try to change the stats. _________________________________________

Race a Factor in Pancreatic Cancer Surgery  By Carl Gilbert, M.D. A retrospective study conducted in California by researchers affiliated with the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, showed that African Americans had a higher age-adjusted incidence rate of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (8.78) compared with non-Hispanic whites (5.89), Hispanics (5.09), Asians (4.75), and all race/ethnicities combined (5.82). Gender differences were also noted. Males maintained a higher incidence rate of pancreatic adenocarcinoma than females across all race/ethnicities, and females were diagnosed at an older age and an earlier stage of disease than males. The study also showed African Americans presented at a later stage of disease and received less surgery than all other race/ethnicities, despite equal availability of medical insurance. The reasons for this treatment disparity were not clear, according to the authors of the study.  Sources:  Cancer, January 15, 2005 The Study was funded by California Cancer registry, the Cancer Surveillance Program of Orange County/San Diego Imperial Organization for Cancer Control and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program Editorial Note: Not surprising!!!  Until African Americans and other minorities at risk are more informed or educated about their diseases so they can discuss care options with their doctors, this disparity in treatments  is not going to go away.

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The Shorter Life Expectancy of Blacks at issue in the Social Security Debates By Carl Gilbert, M.D. The White House and its allies who back overhauling Social Security are using the African-American shorter life expectancy to convince blacks that President Bush's plan to create private investment accounts would have special benefits for them. Those pushing for the reform proposals contend that the president's plan for private accounts would particularly benefit blacks by allowing them to build wealth more rapidly and pass a portion of their Social Security contributions to their heirs. But critics of the Bush plan disagree and some black leaders cite government statistics showing that blacks benefit disproportionately from the current system and stand to lose the most from the proposed changes. Government statistics show that the average lifespan for a newborn black male is 69, compared with 75 for a newborn white male. But critics of that argument say the six-year advantage that white males hold over blacks in lifespan is due to the higher infant mortality rates in black communities, as well as to the higher rates of violent crime, which affect black children and young adults more than whites. Sources: · Los Angeles Times · Social Security Administration · U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. · Congressional Black Caucus Foundation

Editorial Note: Both sides may be right.  But let us hope  when the issue is settled, steps will be aggressively taken to  close the health disparities plaguing the minority communities.

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  Dr. CG for Allabh