Discuss the associations between illnesses (such as cancer and CHD) and racial and ethnic background

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Essay should include:

Research indicates that individuals may inherit a predisposition towards developing cancer. One of these predispositions may be racial and/or ethnic background. For example, African Americans are more likely than European Americans to contract most forms of cancer. Once they contract cancer, African Americas are more likely to die from it. However, there are sociocultural factors at work here. The results for African Americans are associated with lower economic status and relative lack of access to health care. Thus, it is not solely racial background that predisposes one to cancer. Other research points to cultural differences in health. Those from Thailand and the Philippines are less likely to die from cancer. This is due to a lower intake of fat in their daily diet. Japanese Americans, who have comparable fat intake levels to European Americans, have similar rates of death from cancer. Generally, people in France, Spain, and Portugal have lower rates of CHD, as they have lower fat intake in their daily diets, while those in Britain, Ireland, and Finland suffer higher rates of CHD as they eat relatively few fruits and vegetables and higher fat diets.