"When many cures are offered for a disease, it means the disease is not curable" -Anton Chekhov
''Once you tell people there's a cure for something, the more likely they are to pressure doctors to prescribe it.'' -Robert Ehrlich, drug advertising executive.
"Opinions are like sphincters, everyone has one." - Chris Rangel
Race and Medicine: The blog Envisioning 2.0 is running a series of conversations on race based medicine. How big a factor is race in health? I tend to agree with his current interviewee, that disparities in health are probably more economic/culturally based than genetic. But our genes do play at least a small part in how our bodies respond to diseases and to their treatment. posted by Sydney on
2/16/2006 08:16:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Race is different from genes. Race is not a scientific concept: there are no genes defining who is black, white or hispanic. Therefore, race-based medicine is not defendable.
One day, we will have genetics markers of risk for a variety of diseases. In the meantime, treat your patient one at a time.
Another blow to race-based medicine. A recent review of prostate cancer outcome shows that poverty is more important than race:
"CONCLUSION: Racial disparity in survival among men with local or regional prostate carcinoma was largely explained by socioeconomic status and other factors."
Of course, in the US blacks and white have different average incomes. This is called a confounding factor, the reason why association does not imply causation.
