TAMPA, Fla — According to the CDC, someone in the U.S. has a stroke every 40 seconds.
But according to new data from a Boston University study, it appears that racism is increasing the risk of stroke for Black women.
That report was done in connection to the university's Black Women's Health Study. It followed more than 48,000 Black women between 1997 and 2019.
The study found that those who said they experienced racism "in situations involving employment, housing, and the police" had a 38 percent higher risk of stroke than those who didn't report the same experiences.
It's a sobering statistic that doesn't come as a shock to Bayfront Health St.Petersburg Neurointerventional Radiologist Dr. Lowell Dawson.
"We have a historical problem in the united states with racism," he said. "Your cardiovascular system is aging at a faster rate due to the inflammation and stress. Because this is a chronic problem."
And it is data that mental health educator Natasha Pierre said points to the need for a bigger, uncomfortable, and ongoing conversation about race.
"This is a not a siloed, solo mission. In order for us to eradicate racism, in order for us to 'move the needle' as is often shared we need all hands-on deck," she said.
And she leaves Black women with this advice:
"Do you need to be connected to a support group? Do you need to be in community with other black women in workspaces, in churches, in wherever you need where you can share your experiences and share your best practices on how you can engage in self-care," she said. "So, you can go back to work, you can go back to your community, and you can contribute without living under the gray cloud of what America hasn't fixed yet."
When it comes to advice, Dr. Lowell Dawson said he's encouraging patients to focus on managing the stroke risk factors that they can control.
"Our diet. Getting in there and managing that blood pressure. And as well as if you do have diabetes it has to be controlled," he said.
And he added that knowing the signs of a stroke, also known as "FAST" can change outcomes for everyone:
- Facial drooping;
- Arm weakness or numbness;
- Speech slurring; and
- Time
"Life after stroke is dependent upon how quickly the stroke is recognized and treated. Which then that will produce a subsequent favorable outcome," he said.
sheehy_2023_oi_231248_1698936187.02795 by ABC Action News on Scribd
