Are African Americans really at higher risk of colon cancer?

This question is a bit tricky to answer. The news reports say yes, African Americans are more likely to get colon cancer and to die from colon cancer than their white peers. However, we need to look more closely at the details before coming to a certain finding.

Studies that look at African Americans and whites who have equal access to health care do not have a higher rate of colon cancer. In fact, if both groups have equal health insurance, equal medical care access and treatment, then their detection, treatment and recovery rates are similar.

However, if you look at the differences in access to health care and treatments, that’s when things change. It’s a known fact that people without health insurance or who are underinsured have a lower rate of disease prevention screening. They also have a lower rate of seeing a doctor when they experience signs or symptoms of an illness. Therefore, when they finally do see a doctor, their disease is usually farther along and more difficult to treat.

Statistics from the US government show that African Americans often fall into the uninsured group. Almost 20% of African Americans who are under 65 years old don’t have any health insurance.

Is there a genetic component? It’s definitely a possibility because of the type of cancer many African Americans are diagnosed with. Right-sided polyps and cancer is more common among African Americans than in whites.

More studies are being done and more efforts are being made to encourage lower income and uninsured people to be screened for colon cancer. It’s so much less expensive and life changing to have colon cancer detected early, when it has an over 90% cure rate.

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Tags: cancer blog, colon cancer, african americans colon cancer