Blacks lag behind for lung transplants

Researchers at Columbia University released a new study indicating that  African Americans with fatal lung diseases do not have equal  opportunities for lung transplants.
The numbers of African-Americans  on waiting lists for new organs are about half of what they should be  based on the prevalence of certain lung diseases.
After getting on a  waiting list, 61 percent of blacks with chronic bronchitis or emphysema  received transplants compared with 68 percent of whites. The researchers  also discovered that once placed on the waiting list, blacks were less  likely to receive a transplant compared to whites. Blacks were also more  likely to die or otherwise be removed from the lists before undergoing  the surgeries.
Of the 2,000 adults nationwide who get on waiting  lists for lung transplants each year, about 150 are black.
Differing  access to health care, insurance coverage and other risk factors such as  diabetes and high blood pressure are some of the reasons blacks dont  get on the transplant list as often as whites.
The national study,  which was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical  Care Medicine in January, pointed out that populations from low-income  families have been successful recipients of transplants.
Transplant  doctors also say that the makeup of the waiting list reflects whether  primary care doctors and lung specialists know about transplant options  and refer their patients early enough.
African Americans suffer  disproportionately from some serious diseases that affect the lungs,  including sarcoidosis, which causes inflammation.  Other chronic lung  diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and emphysema, are more common in the  white population.
Dr. Stuart Sweet, lung transplant director at St.  Louis Childrens Hospital, observed that economic status remains an  issue in transplantation. Pre- and post-transplant care requires a large  financial and time commitment for the patients and their families.   There are multiple appointments and tests, and lifestyle changes as  well.
If you come from a poor socioeconomic status, it makes it  more challenging for the family to do all the things that are required,  Sweet said. African-Americans have access issues to medical care, and  thats reflected in outcomes for transplantation.