Health and Disease

 

For years, people believed that the 20^th century would hold no importance for race and ethnicity in terms of characterization and economic classification. A reason for the inaccuracy of this belief is rooted in the fact that people simply feel connected to their ancestry and family history. Not only does it exist in today’s societal characterization, but it affects the way that different races react to and receive medical treatment.

Medical institutions have always paid close attention to characteristics such as age, gender, size, etc., to calculate treatment response among different people, while neglecting the importance of ethnic background. However, since the creation of the National Institutions of Health Revitalization act in 1993, Race and ethnicity have become heavily considered in doctor diagnosis and classifying people in respect to medical care. As a result, Medical findings support a noticeable connection between race and its role in disease risk, disease development, one’s response to specific treatment, and medical side effects. Being able to understand that race and ethnicity deserves a significant role in medical research also creates possibilities in figuring out global health behaviors and the worldwide variation in access to certain treatments (Race). Physicians are becoming more aware of the importance of race and ethnicity and stressing the importance of diversified procedures. Simply put, they must pay more attention to the patient they are treating!!

Although race is not a biological factor, people that characterize themselves as a given race often share biological attributes that are present due to shared ancestry. An example of this is that Black, African Americans statistically obtain sickle cell disease more than any other race. However, is sickle cell disease a matter of race or is it something that arises from geographic tendencies? Sickle cell disease, which in fact helps to resist malaria, seems most existent in black, African Americans which causes people to believe that it is an issue of race, when really it is an issue of malaria location (Race). 

 

This graph shows the statistics of race/ethnicity in terms of obtaining Alzheimer's disease once reaching 65 years of age. How is it so that for all three age groups, white people have the least chance of getting the disease than African Americans or Hispanics? This also begs the question of whether or not race/ethnicity holds any biological importance.

            Another key issue with health and disease in terms of race and ethnicity is the power of the physician. In a study conducted by the Disparities Solutions Center, a large sample size of physicians were shown a picture of a black male or a white male, both age 50, and both having just suffered from a heart attack. When asked to come up with a proper diagnosis for the man in the picture, results showed unintentional racism among the physicians’ diagnosis. Most physicians were more likely to treat the white patient with a life-saving, clot-removing medicine than the black patient. This unconscious bias shows how African Americans often are subject to unfair and inferior treatment to White patients. Even black physicians were more likely to give the life-saving medicine to the white patients. How crazy is that?!

Another factor to take into consideration when talking about medical care in terms of race and ethnicity is the cost that treatment entails. In the poorer parts of the world it is difficult to obtain proper treatment for certain diseases (Foerstel). For example, treatment for cancer in Africa is not as effective as it is in the United States, because of the lack of affluence and access to medical care. Although we would like to believe that racism does not exist in contemporary society in something as important as disease treatment, it quite possibly is a factor. Because race is not a biological characteristic, it is difficult to prove why some races react differently to treatment (Norris). However, until health care becomes completely personalized, race and ethnicity will continue to affect medical treatment decisions.

 

This diagram represents the heavily HIV+ areas of Africa with the deeper color red and the less HIV+ areas with a lighter shade. The medical funding in Africa is so low that HIV is spreading out of control. Because Africa is a relatively poor region of the world made up of mainly blacks, people may make the mistake of thinking blacks are born being susceptible to HIV, when really it is a matter of regional population (Foerstel).

Work Cited:

Foerstel, K. (2008, September 1). Crisis in Darfur. CQ Global Researcher, 2, 243-270

 Norris, Keith. "On Race and Medicine." The Scientist. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.

"Race in Medical Care: Skin Color Matters with Patient Care." ABC News. ABC News Network, 21 July 2007. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.