Originally published June 12 2005
Black men in Massachusetts suffer higher cancer death rates than white men
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A cancer report by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) recently found that black men in the state suffer much higher cancer mortality rates than white men. Black men with cancer suffered 345.3 deaths per 100,000 residents compared to the 259.8 deaths per 100,000 among white men with cancer. Experts at Harvard believe the discrepancy is because of unfair and inadequate cancer treatment for blacks. What they still don't recognize, at the same time, is that dark skin pigmentation blocks the absorption of ultraviolet radiation from natural sunlight. As a result, black men suffer from chronic vitamin D deficiency that's easily preventable with common sense exposure to sunlight.
The discrepancy in death rates occurred even though blacks and whites suffer from cancer at similar rates, according to the Department of Public Health's annual cancer report.
People who study disparities in health care said blacks often receive unequal treatment from medical professionals, even when insurance and financial status and severity of disease are similar.
"With all things being equal blacks are more likely to get less treatment," said Dr. Linda Clayton, a cancer specialist who teaches a course on racial and ethnic disparities in health care at Harvard University with her husband, Dr. W. Michael Byrd.
Clayton attributes unequal treatment to a "subconscious bias" in the medical care system.
The DPH study, based on data from 1998 to 2002, also found that Asians and Hispanics in Massachusetts are much less likely to die from cancer than either whites or blacks.
On the whole, state residents are slightly more likely to get cancer than people in other states, but mortality rates in Massachusetts are similar to national averages, state officials said.
The mortality rate among blacks for all types of cancer was 254.8 per 100,000, compared to 207 deaths per 100,000 for whites.
Susan Gershman, director of the DPH's Cancer Registry, said Asian and Hispanic populations are younger and therefore less susceptible to cancer.
"Cancer is a disease of later age," she said.
Asians also tend to smoke less, she said.
For black men, there were 345.3 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared with 259.8 deaths per 100,000 for white males.
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