Top 5 Diseases That Are Misdiagnosed In African Americans

According to the National Patient Safety Foundation, about 40 percent of all mistakes that doctors make are misdiagnoses.

The top 5 misdiagnosed diseases in African Americans are:

Lupus - Lupus is two to three times more common among African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asians, it is a disparity that remains unexplained. Specifically, lupus is three times more common in black women than in white women.

Sarcoidosis – Doctors have misdiagnosed this disease as asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis and COPD and other diseases because there is not a lot known about it. Most people and doctors too don’t even know what this disease is.

COPD -  COPD which covers chronic bronchitis and emphysema is the fourth highest cause of death in the United States. COPD is often misdiagnosed and under treated as asthma. Studies show that African American adults with COPD, asthma, or coexisting asthma and COPD use fewer medical services and account for lower medical costs than Caucasians because of non-diagnosis.

Hepatitis C – It’s the leading cause of liver transplants and the most common cause of liver-related deaths in this country, but as many as 70 percent of those infected are unaware they carry the virus.

Hypothyroidism – About half of the nearly 27 million people with an underactive thyroid are undiagnosed.