Drug Resistant Cancer, Threat to Black Women

We've really gotta start taking better care of ourselves:

Black women are more likely to have diabetes, hypertension and certain forms of breast cancer than the general community. Yet many are reluctant to seek early treatment.

African-American women in general don't get the appropriate care they need," says Shonda Perry, a physician at St. Joseph's Women's Hospital. "Many don't have access to care, they fear going to a physician. There are so many obstacles they face."

Although a higher percentage of white women are diagnosed with breast cancer, black women have a higher death rate, Baker says. Black women also tend to be diagnosed later than white women.

"That's partially because of how late we wait to seek out treatment and some early detection methods," Baker says. "Lack of information and knowledge, lack of access, transportation issues, there's a multitude of issues that contribute to late diagnosis."

Baker also will shed light on a form of breast cancer unique to black women called "triple negative." The cancer is a triple threat because it strikes early, it's resistant to standard drug treatments and it's more likely to kill.

Our Hair is Killing Us

We are letting our hair kill us:

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – About a third of black women cite complications of hair care as the reason they do not exercise or exercise less than they would like, according to Amy J. McMichael, M.D., the lead investigator of a study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

McMichael, associate professor of dermatology, specializes in hair and scalp diseases, ethnic and pigmented skin diseases, and general dermatology and skin care. “I see a lot of African American women in our clinic and had noticed how many of them are overweight. This puts these women at risk for hypertension, diabetes and other serious problems.”

In fact studies show that 77 percent of black women are overweight or obese, McMichael said. “I thought it would be interesting to look at what role their hair plays in their amount of exercise. Many African American women with coarser hair use either heat straighteners or chemical products to straighten their hair. Depending on how coarse or fragile their hair is, they can’t just wash their hair after exercise without having to go through the whole process again, and that can take hours. Over-washing fragile hair can make it break off easily.” Keep Reading