Most people know it is Black History Month and there is certainly a great deal to celebrate. Black people have made significant advances socioeconomically as well as politically -- especially in the last few years. However, in the field of health, there's not a lot to celebrate.
If you're black, you're going to die sooner than your white counterparts and you're going to suffer from more serious diseases. For example, cancer deaths may be decreasing in the United States as a whole but black people still bear the burden of cancer deaths. The American Cancer Society's latest data show that cancer deaths among black men are 32 percent higher than white men; black women's rate of death from cancer is 16 percent higher than white women. Worse, when black people are diagnosed with cancer, it's often at a later stage when there are fewer treatment options and the ones that we have are less effective.
If you have arthritis and you're black, guess what? You're probably not getting the best care. In recently released data, researchers found that black men were less likely to be treated with the drugs that are recommended as effective therapy. As a result, they are getting substandard care and needlessly suffering.
In the classic case of "glass is half full", look at how stroke is handled. Black people have a higher risk of having a stroke, but if they do, they more likely survive than whites do. Is this a good thing? I'm not sure. This may actually be despite what medicine does, because black people actually receive clot-busting drugs (the standard treatment) less often than whites. And the focus needs to be shifted to preventing this debilitating disease.
Nowhere is the disparity greater than in the area of HIV. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first report of HIV. Within those 30 years, we have made tremendous advances in helping to reduce the incidence of HIV, as well as changing it from a death sentence to a disease you can live with. Unless of course, you're Black. Black people comprise 13 percent of the population yet they account for over half of all HIV diagnoses. The rate for HIV diagnoses for black men is eight times that of white men, and the rate for black women.
Why do we have these tremendous disparities? There are multiple reasons. These include less access to health care, lower quality hospitals and medical personnel in areas where black people live, bias in the health care system, as well as some distrust of the medical community. Many older black people still remember Tuskegee where government doctors intentionally infected black men with syphilis and did not treat them to see how the disease progressed. If you grew up during that time, I'm not surprised you don't have a good view of the medical community.
So how do we work to eliminate the differences? Certainly, I think it is important to encourage more minorities to enter the health professions, especially medicine. We don't always do a good job of being culturally sensitive. And I'm not suggesting you need to be treated by a doctor of the same race as you, but for some people it can make a difference and increase your comfort level. I also think it is important that we don't always feel it needs to be the doctor's office where we deliver information on prevention.
A study released by the University of Michigan earlier this month found that a majority of black men avoid physician visits because they find the interaction stressful. The survey participants remarked that physicians typically did not give useful information on how to make lifestyle changes. So let's consider other options. For examples, churches and even barbershops have been areas in the black community where effective health messages have been delivered, especially as it relates to areas like prostate cancer screening.
So let's indeed celebrate Black History month. But let's also be aware of the need for progress in the health of black Americans so in future years, we can celebrate not only socioeconomic and political advances, but also health advances.
Health Care in the Black Community: Empowerment, Knowledge, Skills ...
Mental Health in the Black Community : NPR
I am lucky to have good health care, but my job as a healthy young adult is to get my body to optimal health and keep it that way. Unfortunately, culturally, black americans don't have the healthiest diets generally speaking. A lot goes into what's available/convenient, but there has to be a change at the family/community level to see real change. As is anything in any community for any problem.
For now, I can only take care of me and hope others are inspired my the changes I've made. If they're not, at least I'm healthy!
Life.
These may be extreme cases and few and far between, but I DO NOT WANT the government deciding the best course of health for myself or anyone in my family.
I find noncompliance to be the biggest problem with patients- many will not take their medications or restrict their diets or even check their blood sugar. A lot of them are very passive aggressive in that they want the doctor to do everything for them, and that they should have no responsibility at all
.
Case in point- I had one fellow bring in his wife for terrible sores on her feet from her poorly controlled diabetes. I showed him how to do proper wound care , check her glucose levels and put her on antibiotics and told them to see her doctor next week. A month later, they show back up in the ER and her feet were much worse. It was obvious he had done none of what we asked him to do and his response was " Well, ya'll need to do it because I'm not touching her feet- they're nasty ! Someone needs to do something about them !".
Personal responsibility.
Might want to improve your bedside manner. Different races, cultures react differently.
I do realize you did not state the race or color of the "fellow" but I am concluding from the context and the topic being AA's not receiving the care that white folk receive in health care, he was AA.
A doctor gives you medical advice…
You don't follow it…
YOU accept the consequences!
If a doctor is mean to me, I might be upset or angry but I will still follow what he says. And her "sisters" need to help her, its the mans wife for crying out loud. Man up and help your WIFE! That crosses all racial barriers!
The second instance happened when I lived in Canada, leaving work with blurred vision and hyperventilating again. This time I when to my GP's office and unfortunately my regular doctor was not there. The doctor I saw was uninterested in what was going on and implied that I just wanted time off from work.
What was discovered a few months later I was suffering from untreated sleep apnea. I had a history of hypertension which neither doctor attempted to address during either visit.
The best treatment I had was when I lived in Bermuda and my GP was a white South African - his prompt intervention helped me prepared for what turned out to be my most serious health challenge when I lived in the Cayman Islands.
Doctors need to listen to their patients and understand that they know their bodies better than anyone else.
There are still doctors and healthcare professionals that still don't care when it comes to the health of African-Americans. They either want a boat load of money UP FRONT something that most don't have or they act like you don't have the right to see the doctor. The latter comes from some of the office workers. They act like they're judge and jury over you and the doctor doesn't even know the office politics that are going on.
In 2008, I was diagnosed with a chronic gallbladder that needed to come out on February 5. It was 20 days later and two trips to the ER before the surgery was done because the surgeon had to go on vacation...yeah...vacation.
To this day, I still have some nausea on a regular basis. I feel the that the main reason was not per se race, but money. I didn't and still don't have health insurance.
And those clinics that are setup for the poor, just do simple care, at least here they do. They may send you for tests, but that is another bill. And some won't send you when they find out you're broke. So there you have it.
It is a sad commentary when race and economics trump one's health in the richest country in the world.
This is not true at all.
I think it's careless to make such an absolute statement. There are black people who live to be over 100, and may have outlived some of their white counterparts.
Disease and illness do not seek people out by race. Economics is a huge factor and contrary to popular belief, black and poor are not synonymous.
And just because you are economically 'disadvantaged' doesn't not mean you have to succumb to bad health.
I think that the diet of poor Americans, regardless of race, is poor and that is reflected in their food choices. It is expensive to purchase organic foods, and the uneducated are unaware of the benefits of a healthy diet, exercise and preventative care. As with most of the conditions that ail us as a society, it all starts with education.
But Big points missed here.
1) The future of fields of medical treatment, diagnosis and pharmaceuticals are becoming more and more based on the genetic code. "Personalized Medicine." But the fact is that clinical trials to Develop these miracles tend to be comprised of White Males.
Therefore, these new Medical Miracles could well be contraindicated for all women and racial and ethnic minorities. And by 2020, MOST OF AMERICA will be racial and ethnic minorities.
Companies that develop new technology merely follow the profits. It will take Government Intervention to ensure that the "baseline" of these new miracles can Actually serve the American population. We are wasting big money and lots of lives if we don't get this right.
2) Although mentioned, it was not made Clear that people in clusters of a preponderance of different genetic backgrounds Respond to treatment and Present disease in very different manners to various treatments and diagnoses.
Therefore, given that we Know this -- the efforts made by the medical community to "treat all their patients the same" is actually Malpractice! Health care professionals need to learn and APPLY this knowledge of differences.
Yes, the variables and permutations are immense, but computerized electronic records and other data programs can assist professionals to ACTUALLY provide the Appropriate care to Each patient.
As you can guess, I could go on - but will stop here for now.... LOL!
I would laugh but it's too scarey !
You could Not be more wrong....
Try reading & keeping up on things Beyond what is Required for Board....
On another issue: Many physician groups are urging Republicans in Congress to stop dragging their feet on health care legislation and its funding: https://www.acponline.org/advocacy/events/state_of_healthcare/doherty11.htm
Most of us trained at one time in a government run hospital and have seen what government run healthcare is really like and how bad it is ( think VA hospitals, where even congressmen are not safe).
The vast majority of doctors are Republicans- we worked too hard to get where we are to be liberals.