Introduction:
The Cyclic Factors Affecting African Americans with Type 2 Diabetes in Impoverished Communities are considered to strike the target population in a disproportional way. It is estimated that nineteen percent (19%) of the total population of the African Americans at the age of twenty or older are affected by diabetes. Another research conducted by medical experts show that the African Americans are two times more likely to suffer conditions of diabetes relative to the number of white in the United States. The African Americans are at risk complications that are life-threatening. Even though proper management of diabetes can help reduce the risk factors that come with the condition, most of the African Americans are not always aware of that they have the disease until the development of one of its complications features. There are special conditions associated with the African Americans suffering type two diabetes. One is that they usually develop complications of blindness (American Diabetes Association, 2014). Compared to the non-Hispanic whites, the African Americans are fifty percent (50%) more likely to develop conditions of diabetic retinopathy. Another condition associated with this group is that they develop kidney disease. They are estimated to suffer kidney complications five times more compared to other groups of the population and race. Another deadly characteristic of this target group is that they are likely to suffer amputation issue. This is estimated at three times more suffering from amputations of the lower limbs of their body parts compared to other groups of the population.
The type two diabetes is the most suffered form of diabetes among the African American communities. This condition results from failure of the body to produce insulin in the required amounts, or the body cells ignore the insulin produced by them to the body. In order for the body to be able to make use of glucose in the system to produce energy for body movement and other processes, insulin must be produced in the correct amounts, failure of which the diabetic condition is realized. After the process of ingestion of food into the body system, all the starches and sugar components are broken down into carbohydrate component glucose. Glucose is a crucial component in the body system because it acts as the fuel for the body cells. Insulin plays an important role of transporting sugar components from the blood in veins into the body cells. There are two major problems that result from accumulation of glucose into the blood stream instead of the body cells (American Diabetes Association, 2014). One is that the body cells may be deprived from energy due to lack of glucose which is broken down to produce energy responsible for various processes conducted by the cells. High levels of glucose into the blood are harmful because they may cause damage to organs like the kidneys, eyes, heart, or the entire nervous system of the body.
The epidemic of diabetes 2 conditions prevails so much in the African American community among the population of the United States. This incidence is quite risky among this population because a bigger percentage of this population lacks the knowledge of their condition. After a while, they are likely to discover that they suffer from the type two diabetes after they begin suffering the symptoms of the disease (Carter, 2013). This is a tricky factor for the population when it comes to managing the disease because at the point most of them begin suffering the effects; it is always a non reversible kind of situation due to the damages that are already made to the body system at this point. The disease has a negative significance to the African American population. A bigger portion of this population is made up of people who are in a position to manage the condition well due to the high financial costs that come along with the nursing activities. This, therefore, results to a significant number of deaths recorded among the African American community.
The factors that contribute to diabetes type two disorders among the black community can be divided into the behavioral factors and the psychological factors. Most behavioral factors that lead to this condition include improper dieting and physical exercise programs. Groups of patients from the African American community are at high risk of getting diabetes type two because they avoid taking care of the types of food they feed on and their weight loss as well. Behavioral factors of individuals who take foods that have higher cholesterol content in them eventually developed obesity issues. Research indicates that conditions of abdominal obesity among the African American communities are very high and at most times lead to health conditions of coronary heart disease, stroke, dyslipidaemia, and hypertension. The best recommendation to this group of people who induce diabetic conditions by their behavior is to change their lifestyle, by exercising a lot of physical exercise and eating healthy foods (Carter, 2013).
Studies from the World Health Organization have indicated that general emotional stress and depression might contribute to diabetic type two conditions. This may include other factors such as anxiety, anger, hostility, and sleeping problems. This conditions are known to have a general effect on the chemical reactions that take place in the body, and in some situations, especially for women, psychological situations may alter the normal distribution of insulin across the blood and the body cells. This, therefore, may result to accumulation of insulin into the blood stream leading to type two diabetic conditions (Lucan, 2012).
There are cultural aspects of the African American community that contribute to diabetes. The community is associated with a higher number of smoking cases where individuals end up suffering diabetes conditions. According to research, statistics show that sixty percent of African American women and fifty percent of the men do not take time to practice physical exercise. This is a culture rooted in them, and the assumption of avoiding physical exercise in turn explains the huge number of diabetic situations among the community.
In this community, there are socio economic factors that greatly contribute to complications of diabetes. These socio economic struggles hit the community in such a way that they are not able to afford the kind of nursing and medical care involved with the complications. Many of these people end up giving half way solutions to their health conditions due to lack of funding that can make the medical care program consistent and accurate. Lack of ability to stick to a proper diet also affects the African American communities, where their struggle to make ends meet makes them consumes what is at their display without thinking of the value content in it. Regular intake of disease promoting diets may be at a higher course in the region of low income in urban areas among the African American communities (Lucan, 2012). Socioeconomic challenges may limit the level to access of proper education and good occupation to cater for medical care programs of their own life. It may also limit their concentration on physical exercise which is important in cubing the conditions of diabetes type two.
Looking at the bigger picture of public health policy, there is the need for policy makers in health institutions to come up with programs that address the challenges of low income communities of the African Americans. This may include involving the government to improve healthy food availability in both stable and low income urban regions. Complete decentralization of health facilities among all the regions to make them accessible to everyone in order to limit the number of cases of diabetes type two among the African American communities. The public health administration needs to come up with policies and legislations that supports and promotes the minority communities in terms of diabetic care (Lucan, 2012). This may be achieved through developing health insurance programs that can cover a wide range of health care systems involved with citizens, and price them at affordable packages basing on the minimum wage of the minority community.
The African American community suffers a lot of diabetic conditions because of ignorance, socioeconomic situations and genetic related factors. Coming up with programs that can constantly educate them on the need for proper diet and routine physical exercise and help cub the situation by almost half. The responsible government should, therefore, take necessary steps involved to save the dying community of the African Americans from diabetes type 2 complications.
References
American Diabetes Association (2014), Type 2; Retreived from http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/type-2 / Carter, B. M., Barba, B., & Kautz, D. D. (2013). Culturally Tailored Education ForAfrican Americans With Type 2 Diabetes. MEDSURG Nursing, 22(2), 105-123.Jessica M. Robbins, PhD, Viola Vaccarino, MD, PhD, Heping Zhang, PhD, andStanislav V. Kasl, PhD (2001); Socioeconomic Status and Type 2 Diabetes in African American and Non-Hispanic White Women and Men: Evidence From the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination SurveyRetrieved from http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.91.1.76 Lucan, S. C., Barg, F. K., & Long, J. A. (2010). Promoters and Barriers to Fruit,Vegetable, and Fast-Food Consumption Among Urban, Low-Income African Americans--A Qualitative Approach. American Journal Of Public Health, 100(4), 631-635.Vinicor, F, (1998) The Public Health Burden of Diabetes and the Reality of Limits. Retreived from http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/21/Supplement_3/C15.full.pdf
American Diabetes Association (1952). Diabetes. New York: American Diabetes Association.
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