Psychologist Gayle Porter, left, and Dr. Marilyn Gaston say black women need to focus on the mind, body and spirit. Porter and Gaston, a physician and former assistant surgeon general of the United States, will be in Detroit on Friday to help spread a message that they say is critical to the future of African-American women. The fact of the matter is that we as black women are dying at a greater rate than any other group of women in the nation. African-American women and men are 30 percent more likely to die from cancer than any other racial or ethnic group.
Cancer is the top cause of death for African-American women in their middle years.
Approximately 50 percent of all African-American women report symptoms of depression during their lifetimes, a rate 50 percent higher than that of white women. That's the bad news. The good news is that women can change those statistics by focusing on taking care of themselves first. Gaston likened the prescription to the order given on airplanes for adults to put the oxygen masks on themselves first before putting the masks on their children. Too often, we are last on our list of priorities.