African Americans

• In the US, 38% of African-American adults are hypertensive, compared to 29% of European Americans.
• African Americans have a higher incidence of hypertension, sickle cell anemia, and diabetes than the majority population.
• The combined overweight and obesity rates for African Americans are higher than for European Americans; 65% of African-American men and 56.5% of African-American women are overweight or obese, compared to 61% of European-American men and 49.2% of European-American women.
• Sickle cell anemia can occur in this population. In the US, 0.3% of African Americans are homozygotes and 8–13% are heterozygotes.
• The cardiovascular disease (CVD) death rate for African-American men and women far exceeds the rate for the majority population and for other ethnic groups.
• The prevalence of diabetes among African Americans is substantially higher than among the majority population, and the incidence of complications, including lower-limb amputations and end-stage renal disease is double.
• African-American women are far more likely than women of the general population to be infected with HIV, and about 64% of all women with new HIV infections in a given year are African Americans.
• Ten percent of African-American males suffer from a mild form of Glucose-6-phosphate dehydroginase (G-6PD) deficiency.
• For men and women combined, African Americans have a cancer death rate about 35% higher than that for the majority population.
• Lactose intolerance is common among African Americans.
• Certain diseases, including prostate and breast cancer, may progress more rapidly in African Americans than in the general population.

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