Question

Watch the video.

Health inequity: America’s chronic condition? | Esteban López |

Answers to the questions below.

1. Where does the U.S. rank in life expectancy? Infant mortality? Health care spending?
2. Dr. Lopez mentions several specific factors that contribute to health inequities. Name at least 4 of these.
3. African American women have a 3-4 times higher likelihood of a negative birth outcome (premature infant, low weight infant, all cause infant mortality). According to Dr. Esteban, why is this not genetic?
4. What is cortisol and how does it contribute to the negative birth outcomes for African American women?
5. Biofeedback techniques can be used to reduce the cortisol effect. Describe at least 2 of these techniques mentioned by Dr. Lopez.

Answer 1

• US rank in life expectancy: 42^nd
• US rank in infant mortality: 26^th
• US rank in health care spending: 1^st and 1 percent of its total GDP
• Factors that contribute to health inequalities:

1. Lack of doctors and hospitals in low income and minority communities
2. Increased weight times
3. Lack of affordable housing that increase the likelihood of infectious diseases.
4. Policies like the need of voters ID card and mandatory minimum sentences for healthcare.

• The African American women have 3-4 times higher likelihood of a negative birth outcome and this is not genetic in nature. This is a result of major health inequality in the United States. The African born women that have not lived their lives in US have equal birth outcomes to the white women but on the same hand the African American women have greater negative birth outcomes and infant mortality rates.
• Cortisol is a hormone that is released as a fight and flight response. It increased the blood sugar, blood pressure and blood sugar to keep the heart active in dangerous situation. Cortisol lead to lower birth weight which can lead to premature birth and it can lead to the cortisol-effect in African American women. The cortisol-effect is a cause of negative birth outcomes in the African American women as a cause of racial biases. The African American women have higher level of cortisol than the normal population which increase their vulnerability to negative birth rate.
• Techniques that can reduce cortisol effect involve:

1. Creating social networks can help a person deal with the social stress and it can help them improve their health outcomes.
2. Developing opportunities to get treatment and services to the patients by developing communities such as the Atlanta regional community health initiative.