Daily HealthBeat Tip - April 09, 2007

Life in black and white

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Black Americans don’t live as long as white Americans. But statistics show the gap is getting smaller. Sam Harper of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec ran the numbers, in a study supported by the National Institutes of Health. It was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study says the life expectancy gap shrank by about two years in men and about one year in women.

Harper’s assessment:

"Reductions in deaths from homicide, HIV and unintentional injuries were a major reason why we saw these declines in both men and women. Also among women, reductions in heart disease made a strong contribution." (10 seconds)

Harper says that, in addition to reducing factors like homicide rates and HIV, people can take better care of their heart health by, for instance, healthier diets.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: April, 18 2007