Chronic Liver Disease and African Americans

Among African Americans, chronic liver disease is a leading cause of death. While the cause is not always known, some cases can be initiated by conditions such as chronic alcoholism, obesity, and exposure to Hepatitis B and C viruses.

In 2005, chronic liver disease was the seventh leading cause of death for non-Hispanic Black males, 45-54 years old. ¹
African American men are 80% more likely to have chronic liver disease than non-Hispanic White men.
African American women are 1.4 times more likely to die from chronic liver disease than non-Hispanic White women.

At a glance – Cancer Rates for African Americans (2001-2005):

**Cancer Incidence Rates per 100,000 – Men**
Cancer	All Men	African American Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	African American/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	549.3	651.5	568.3	1.1
Liver & IBD*	9.9	13.2	7.3	1.8

**Cancer Incidence Rates per 100,000 – Women**
Cancer	All Women	African American Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	African American/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	411.0	398.9	439.7	0.9
Liver & IBD*	3.5	4.0	2.6	1.5

*IBD = Intrahepatic Bile Duct

Source: : NCI 2008. Seer Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2005. Tables I-24, I-25, and XIV-10
http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2005

At a glance – Diagnosed:

**Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who have been told by a doctor that they have chronic liver disease, 2006**
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
1.1	1.4	0.8

Source: CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 8.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf

At a glance – Death Rate:

**Cancer Death Rates per 100,000 – Men (2001-2005)**
Cancer	African American Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	African American/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Liver & IBD*	10.3	6.3	1.6

**Cancer Death Rates per 100,000 – Women (2001-2005)**
Cancer	African American Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	African American/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Liver & IBD*	3.9	2.7	1.4

*IBD = Intrahepatic Bile Duct

Source: NCI 2008. Seer Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2005. Tables XIV-10
http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2005

**Age-Adjusted Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis Death Rates per 100,000 (2005)**
African American	Non-Hispanic White	African American/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
7.7	8.7	0.9

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 29
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf

¹CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [accessed 07/25/2008]. http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/

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Content Last Modified: 7/30/2008 7:34:00 AM