Asthma is a long-term lung condition that can affect people of all ages, sexes, races, and ethnic backgrounds. However, for numerous reasons — including certain socioeconomic factors — the risks of both hospitalization and death from asthma are higher in African American people.
This article will look at the reasons behind this increased risk of asthma in African American people. It will also include some general information about the causes, treatments, and prevention methods associated with this chronic respiratory condition. As of 2018, non-Hispanic African American people in the United States have roughly a 40% higher risk of developing asthma than non-Hispanic white people in the U.S.
Furthermore, when the researchers published these data, 10.6% of non-Hispanic Black people in the U.S. had asthma, while only 7.6% of non-Hispanic white people in the U.S. had this condition. Compared with white people with asthma, African American people with asthma are five times more likely to visit the emergency room for symptoms. The severity of asthma also tends to be worse in African American people. For instance, Black individuals are almost three times more likely to die from an asthma episode than white people. Researchers continue to study why African American people are at increased risk of dying from asthma than white people.
One area of study is the type of airway inflammation that might occur more often in African American people, leading to severe and harder-to-treat asthma. Another area that warrants attention is inequities in healthcare. Although research into the differences in the rates of asthma among African American people and other racial groups continues, experts have identified certain factors.
One 2017 study involved 1,018 participants with asthma who self-identified as African American or white. The researchers collected sputum samples from all the participants to identify the presence of eosinophils (white blood cells), which indicate airway inflammation. The results suggested that the African American participants had greater eosinophilic airway inflammation than white participants, even when taking the same dosage of asthma medication. Eosinophilic airway inflammation is one of the primary causes of asthma symptoms. It is what leads to difficulty breathing.
