African American Health

Minority Health - The Meaning of Risk Factors

We can't control some risk factors such as our age, gender (male or female), the genes we inherited from our parents, or our race or ethnic background. Age, for example, is a risk factor for heart disease, breast cancer, osteoporosis and many other things, but consider the alternative!

This makes our behavior regarding risk factors we CAN control even more important.

A risk factor doesn't mean you will get a certain disease, but it should tell you to pay closer attention to this aspect of your health. For example, if you have a lot of risk factors for breast cancer (family history of breast cancer, smoker, never had children or had them late in life, etc.) you will want to talk to your doctor about it. You should also do a monthly breast self-exam, have a mammogram when your doctor suggests it, and if possible cut back on, or quit, smoking. Learn some ways to maintain and improve your health in the "General Tips for Health Living" section.

Remember life is not "risk free." We need to consider personally, and as a society, the costs and benefits to us of one course of action over another. For example, do we take a drug off the market that benefits hundreds of thousands of people because it has the potential to cause a few to suffer irreversible liver damage or birth defects?
Some of us might choose to take an experimental drug that offers hope for an incurable disease even though there is a possibility it won't work or will cause bad side effects like a low platelet count, making our hair fall out, or causing constant diarrhea, etc. You may avoid flying because of a fear the plane will crash, although statistically the risk of dying in a plane crash is much smaller than the risk of driving your car every day.
Others may choose not to have their children immunized against certain childhood because of possible side effects, even though there is a higher chance their children will be killed in a car crash. How do you weigh the risks? Where do you draw the line?

What are the relative risks of your health behaviors? Talk to your family and health care provider if you need help putting things into perspective.

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Last Reviewed: Aug 21, 2009

Kenneth Davis, Jr., MD, FACS
Professor of Surgery and Clinical Anesthesia
Vice Chairman Dept of Surgery
Department of Surgery
College of Medicine
University of Cincinnati