Free lunch seminar on African-Americans' cardiovascular risks

A free seminar on African-Americans’ cardiovascular risks will be from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5, in the Baptist Heart Center auditorium. The seminar includes a healthy lunch.

Reservations are required: (270) 575-2895.

Speakers will be neurologist Jacqueline Carter, M.D., and cardiologist Patrick Withrow, M.D., vice president/chief medical officer at Western Baptist.  They will discuss heart attack and stroke risk factors, prevention tips, symptoms and treatments.

African-American adults are less likely to be diagnosed with heart disease, but they are more likely to die from it, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health.

High blood pressure is a leading risk factor. More than 40 percent of African-Americans have high blood pressure, but they are 10 percent less likely than Caucasians to have it under control.

In addition, higher rates of obesity and diabetes in African-Americans result in high blood pressure and heart disease. African-Americans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes as Caucasians, and about four out of five African-American women are overweight or obese.