or Pacific Islander populations. Table 14–2B data show that, although Black-White differences in cancer were negligible in 1950, they became more marked over time. That is, the cancer death rate for Whites increased only slightly, while the rate for Blacks increased greatly. Although the changes are less marked, available data for the other racial groups show a similar pattern of more rapid increases in cancer deaths than the White population, with a correspondingly narrower differential in 1995 than in the earliest available data.

Diabetes mellitus describes a group of diseases characterized by high blood-sugar levels resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. In 1996, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, claiming 61,767 lives. Table 14–3A shows that in 1995 Blacks, Native Americans or Alaska Natives, and Hispanics had higher death rates than Whites, and the rate for Asians or Pacific Islanders was slightly lower than that of Whites. Mortality rates for Whites were fairly stable over time, declined in the 1980s, then increased in the 1990s. Rates for the Black population rose between 1950 and 1970, and, after a slight decline in the 1980s, began to rise in the 1990s, going from 17.2 per 100,000 in 1950 to 28.5 per 100,000 in 1995. Rates for Native Americans or Alaska Natives, Asians or Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics also show a pattern of rising rates in recent years. Increases for the Black, Native American or Alaska Native, and Hispanic populations were somewhat higher than