February
is Black History Month. I thought it
would be appropriate to address some of the issues regarding African Americans who have epilepsy. The data I’m
presenting here unfortunately is from the 2010 census, which is the most
current I could find. I think this
reflects the lack of resources going to help this population. About 375,000 African Americans in the United
States have epilepsy and are being treated for it. Over 20,000 new cases are
diagnosed each year.
African
Americans are:
·
More
likely to be diagnosed in an emergency room
·
More
likely to develop epilepsy over their lifetime
More likely to experience status
epilepticus, a prolonged seizure lasting 10 minutes or more
·
More
likely to suffer from SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy)
·
More
likely to have their seizures under control as compared to Caucasians
Some
famous African Americans with epilepsy are actor Danny Glover, singer Prince, former
football player Jason Snelling (of the Atlanta Falcons), and rap musician Lil
Wayne. Some of them have spoken out
about epilepsy, but we still have a way to go in educating the community and dispelling myths and the
fear around epilepsy.
Resources
Why are African Americans more likely to go into status epilepticus, and more likely to have their seizures under control as compared to Caucasians?
ReplyDeleteThis is a great question! And as for the first part, it has to do with economics and (not) getting access to care. African Americans are less likely to receive antiepileptic drugs or other treatments. They are also less likely to be compliant (taking their meds as prescribed).
ReplyDeleteAlso, they are more likely to see generalists--neurologist instead of epileptologists, or even a general internist who has no knowledge of epilepsy.
According to one study, there were four key factors leading to the lack of access to healthcare for African Americans:
--limited financial resources
--lack of knowledge about epilepsy
--poor communication between patients and doctors
--lack of a support system
This is a link where you can read the full report.
http://www.seizure-journal.com/article/S1059-1311(14)00003-X/fulltext
As for the second part of your question, it is still a mystery.