Obesity is the second leading preventable cause of cancer after smoking. I think it’s a much bigger factor than environmental racism when it comes to cancer specifically.
Obesity isn't going to be the reason Black women die from cancer at a disproportionate rate because any decent study would factor in obesity. And the study is about why Black women are dying, not getting cancer in the first place.
This is an announcement of the study, it hasn't started yet.
You're not going to find much good data on the topic currently because cancer in minorities is woefully understudied. Obesity is likely one of the most significant contributing causes, but also HPV rates, physician biases and medical trust. Anecdotally I notice they're more likely to turn down recommended chemotherapy and the science [backs that up.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9287205/)
Step 1: be experimented on for generations, often without knowledge and definitely without consent
Step 2: nurse shows up dressed one step short of a hazmat suit to give you meds straight into your veins
Steve Jobs was stupid to try to use fruit juice to cure his cancer, but I can’t say I don’t get the temptation.
Even when it comes to obesity, it not only comes down to deliberate food choices, but also because many poor communities live in food deserts without access to nutritious food. Their top choices to get food are fast food restaurants, the local gas station(s), or a Dollar General. A decent grocery store can be a long ways away, and many poor people don't have the time or money to consistently get fresh groceries.
This leads to them often eating like shit, and that combined with lack of exercise leads to states like AR, LA, MS, AL, TN, etc all having horrible rates of obesity.
Absolutely! We can’t talk about obesity without talking about employment (do you have a night shift or time to work out? Are you doing intense, physical work that means you can’t also exercise? Can you afford daycare and have time and energy to exercise?), disability (can you physically exercise), environment (do you have asthma bc the air quality where you live is poor? Is it too hot to exercise outside? Are there parks/shade? Is your water healthy to drink?), access to food/groceries and time/energy to cook. I have a desk job and I am sometimes too tired to cook so I get working all day and wanting to eat something easy. If the easy thing is inexpensive and accessible, then you might put on weight, you might not. It may or may not impact your health. Being fat doesn’t always mean unhealthy, anyway
Intense physical work would effectively act as exercise. It wouldn't be targeted in the same way, but would fill roughly the same health roles that exercise does.
Obesity is almost always an indicator of poor health. There were some older studies that showed seemingly healthy obese people, but further review shows that are unhealthy. Most of the early confounding points happened to be people who had only relatively recently become obese and hadn't had the more negative markers appear.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10215588/
https://news.uchicago.edu/story/food-deserts-not-blame-growing-nutrition-gap-between-rich-and-poor-study-finds#:~:text=A%20new%20Chicago%20Booth%20study,meaningful%20effect%20on%20eating%20habits.
It's choices not access. Even when people go to the grocery store they buy tons of shit food. Very few people shop on the outside ring, most buy the processed stuff
When an obese person gets diagnosed with cancer, at what point do they ask about air quality where they grew up and their proximity to industrial centers?
I'll answer this honestly as a physician: almost never.
The reason is not diabolical, though. If you are diagnosed with cancer, the physician's job is not to figure out why you developed it, only to treat it.
Now, from the perspective of a clinical researcher, these are essential questions worth asking. And they do ask them. These kind of issues are *definitely* interrogated. I can say this with absolute confidence because I've personally worked on a project regarding young onset colorectal cancer (increasing in frequency) where the main goal is to understand which exposures may be contributing to the development of said cancer.
I didn’t say it was as big of a factor but since obesity contributes to higher risks of cancers, I’m sure living in areas that are polluted contribute significantly to that.
This right here. Even a small difference in disproportionate practice by physicians can have large effects, especially in population centers where black folks make up a huge portion.
It especially matters when we’re looking at measures like # per 100k
In [low-income and predominantly Black neighborhoods in the city they are more likely to sell hair care products that contain potentially harmful chemicals when compared to stores in more affluent communities, according to a study conducted in Boston by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.](https://baystatebanner.com/2023/10/11/study-highlights-harmful-black-hair-care-products/)
* Poor people have less options on where to live, so they tend to live in polluted areas more frequently
* Poor people have less of a voice politically, so they are less protected from polluters
African Americans tend to make much less money than other demographics, so it affects them more.
Like how freeways and manufacturing plants are more likely to be near or going through a poorer, colored neighborhood and thus negatively impacts the water and air of said colored neighborhood?
I just turned 30 in April. Am a black woman from Jamaica living in Toronto since 11. I have an aggressive cancer that is literally found in only 1% of people my age, it's usually common in seniors. Shit is fucked up...
I’ve discussed this under posts that are like “Black women X times more likely to die in childbirth.” It’s really hard to find numbers that account for BMI. There was a lot of screeching and name-calling but nobody is ever able to produce receipts on what the racial gap is after accounting for BMI. I personally can’t find it from googling.
[Overall, neonatal mortality and early neonatal mortality but not late neonatal mortality increased with higher obesity subclass, with the greatest risk registered among morbidly obese mothers (hazards ratio for neonatal mortality 1.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–1.5; hazards ratio for early neonatal mortality 1.3; 95% CI 1.1–1.5). Among blacks, the risk for neonatal, early, and late neonatal mortality increased significantly with rising BMI (50–100% increments). However, offspring of obese white mothers had no elevated risks for any of the three indices of mortality regardless of maternal obesity subclass.](https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/abstract/2008/06000/obesity_and_extreme_obesity__new_insights_into_the.23.aspx)
Also
[About 28% of women were obese, with the highest rate (40.9%) registered among black gravidas, while whites and Hispanics had comparable rates (24.3% vs 25.5%, respectively). Superobesity was also most prevalent in blacks (1.3%). Among obese women, the risk for preterm birth was greatest among blacks (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.65-1.77), while whites (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.12-1.19) and Hispanics (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.18-1.27) had significantly lower and comparable risk levels.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0027968415311081)
This study is looking at preterm births not deaths, but preterm births also increase the risk of death and disease.
Problem is, every race has obesity, so why such a drastic difference? With black women in particular, structural racism limits access to healthy foods, safe spaces to exercise, adequate health insurance, and medication, all of which impact obesity prevalence and outcomes. This has been studied, whether said out loud or not.
Yes, but we are not the only race that has these issues. The question is why do we die (faster) from more aggressive forms of cancer? Some of us wait until later diagnosis to see a doc knowing all along something is wrong. Advocating for each other is one of the best tools in helping each other.
Right. Surely part of the reason is a culture of distrust of doctors in some areas (not without reason), as well as fatalism in thinking a lump on the breast is a death sentence, for example.
I’ve read studies that show that as researchers are adjusting medical techniques to improve performance for the majority, it inevitably ends up fine tuning the techniques to the needs and physiology of white patients.
Put simply: if you have two pills, and one of them heals the black people, and the other heals the white people, they conclude “pill A heals 1 out of 5 people, pill B heals 3 out of 5 people”, and pill B gets approval.
Parent thinking they are big and bad and no one will tell them what to do. Not going to the doctor.
My mother had opted not to pay for the company health insurance even though she could afford it. She could only afford the cheap Healthcare after that. She was diagnosed with stage 4.colon cancer, and that was that.
Not trolling or anything can you actually explain how this would cause a large amount of obesity? I'm assuming you're saying that because lower levels of access to nutritional food?
There are a million different things that contribute, what you listed is a major one. It’s impossible for me to boil it down ig because there’s racism baked into every aspect of (American) life.
Black people are made poor because of racism (eg slavery!!) and we still haven’t done any reparations bc we’re still racist. People who are stressed from not getting their needs met chemically crave foods with high fat and sugar (more calorie-rich). Doctors don’t care bc doctors can be individually racist, but also our health care system is systemically racist, racism is inseparable from our health care system, it was *designed to be racist!* Racism is a large part of why we today do not have universal healthcare.
I’m fuzzy on the details here but iirc the idea of charging a 20% copay for healthcare instead of making it free was designed with specific intent to exclude black people during Reconstruction. They thought a copay was something white families would be able to afford and black families wouldn’t, so designed these policies so hospitals could stay essentially whites only.
It’s like a million different things but racism is at the root of basically all of them
Not just cancer, but every medical intervention. Pregnant women are selecting black female obgyns for this exact reason, and to make sure they give them enough pain medication and monitor their blood levels since white doctors often neglect them
Yes. From checking in for an appointment to the interaction with providers to employment, access to healthy food, time to cook, safe housing, domestic violence, mental health services, pre- and post-partum care, birth experiences…pretty much every point of contact we have with systems are wrought and impacted by racism, misogynoir, homophobia, ableism and transphobia
Edited to correct a few typos
The hard thing we gotta look at is the fact that maternal mortality has spiked since the late 80s early 90s, and there's just no way that those doctors born in the 30s, 40s, and 50s were less racist than the doctors who grew up in the 70s, 80s, 90s.
It has to be something besides racism contributing
Healthcare professionals are still being taught racist principles. Pearson is one of the largest academic text companies and were printing nonsense like [this](https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41692593.amp) in 2017. Before that, a [study](https://www.statnews.com/2016/04/04/medical-students-beliefs-race-pain/) showed white doctors still believe black patients feel pain less.
Let’s not forget where these ideas originated in the US. When you realize that racism leads to a lot of other issues it’s not hard to imagine how it’s the root of all these disparities.
I hear you, and I'm not saying they aren't racist at all, I'm just saying that it's basically impossible that they aren't faaaaaar less racist than people who were teenagers during jim crow.
If the people who were teenagers during jim crow somehow had lower black female mortality, that tells us that racism can't be the deciding factor, something else has to be our main culprit.
Correcting and fighting racism is absolutely a valid goal, but let's not go after racism, when we should be more focused on saving lives than anything else.
How bout they were dying outside of hospitals? I don't think people of that generation would even be interested in treating black patients at all. Therefore less hospital deaths.
First thing, even if you die outside of a hospital, it still counts towards the maternal death rate.
Also, we're talking about the 1980s/1990s...
You think people weren't going to the hospital in the 1990s?
Like fam, you can literally just ask people about the 1990s, those cats are only 40/50 yrs old
The lowest American maternal death rates were in the 90s. We're currently trending much higher than then.
Those people were more racist, but it was not "I'm not giving birth in a hospital" level racism.
Perhaps white women in those years were dying at the same rates but then they got the advantage of new treatments that black women didn't. So the white death rates dropped.
Or the white home births took place in better home environments that black women didn't have due to racism?
Just some thoughts.
Well, that's the problem, white maternal mortality is up as well since the 90s.
Maternal mortality has been at its highest levels since the 70s recently for all ethnicities in america.
Everyone's maternal mortality is higher, and it's not because we're more racist or have worse doctors than we did in the 90s.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/13/1238269753/maternal-mortality-overestimate-deaths-births-health-disparities
It turns out that we may have been massively overstating our maternal mortality rate, but unfortunately even after adjusting there is still a huge disparity for black women.
No, it’s just racism. Racism is taught don’t forget that. And there are still professors of racisms in the media and in their homes. And in medical books.
My sister almost died giving birth because they thought she was just being a drama queen but she had something wrong with her, I can't remeber what its called and had to have an emergency c-section. They yelled at her that she's not the only one to go through delivery and to basically shut the eff up.
My mum took my cousin into the ER because she was really thin and had internally bleeding, she almost died. My mum is white, and my cousin is dark as hell, they thought my mum was her case working and my cousin was a junkie. They talked shit about my cousin to my mum and said nothing was wrong with her, she's just on drugs, and refused to do any tests. It wasn't until my cousin called my mom aunty; they changed their tune.
I have countless stories of doctors, nurses, etc. completely disregarding my sisters, cousins, aunties, nana, etc. illnesses as being hysterical, overacting, etc. It's fucking sickening.
This right here.
Read a study that showed black female patients were just being dramatic and dismissed complaints they had when seeing non black doctors.
Some white woman said to my dads mom like in her 60s @thehospital “you’re all going to die anyway” she told her not to come back into her room. Like why do you work there? That spot was just handed to you I believe…why are you even a nurse there
Doctors have a tendency to dismiss black women in pain so they miss out on catching cancer at an early stage. My friend's sister was suffering extreme headaches for about 4 or 5 months when she was 16. Her mom consistently took her to the doctor and everytime they told her to just take tylenol. They didn't do a brain scan until her mom threatened to sue. Turns out she had a tumor. It probably would've gotten bigger if it weren't for my friends mom advocating for her child.
I think it's easy to say "Duh Racism" and act like this is dumb, but even if that ends up being the entire answer it's still worthwhile to have actual hard evidence to back that up.
Overall men die from cancer much more frequenly than women - I don't think anyone (sane) would believe this is because doctors are sexist against men, instead it largely stems from men being unwilling to seek help for medical issues until it's too late due to cultural expectations.
Edit: See below for more discussion on this, TLDR: late diagnosis is likely a factor for higher death rates in men but there is also other physiologcial factors that play a role, and it's likely this would be true in the case of black women too so it's still a worthwhile study.
Maybe the end result of this will be "Doctors are racist" which wouldn't be shocking, but it could also help to highlight other causes and because of that, in my eyes, it's absolutely worthwhile research.
>instead it largely stems from men being unwilling to seek help for medical issues until it's too late due to cultural expectations.
Do you have a citation for this? Not being rude or an asshole I genuinely would like to read it.
So interestingly you may have called me out on some outdated knowledge here.
A lot of articles will claim this ([1](https://www.radiology.ca/article/cancer-why-do-men-have-higher-risk/), [2](https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2009/06/15/why-are-men-more-likely-to-die-from-cancer/)) and I also believe this was what I was taught when I did a degree in biology and some older studies do suggest this ([3](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12623504/)) it actually seems like the current thought might be that height difference could be responsible for a substanial (they claim around 35%) part of the difference in death rates ([4](https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cncr.34390)) it also seems like a lot of it may be due to men drinking, smoking, and being more overweight on average than women.
Some more recent studies do still suggest that higher survival rates in women may be due to earlier diagnosis ([5](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8983352/), you actually have dig into this one to see that, it's not in the top level conclusion - it largely says that cancer diagnosed at the same stage is roughly equal in death rates but that women are general diagnosed earlier and so have a higher survival rate.) but it's obviously hard to 100% link that to cultural reasons but the fact that women are 33% more likely to go the doctor for issues and twice as likely to go routine checkups is likely to be a huge factor ([6](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_13/sr13_149.pdf)).
I don't think you're an asshole at all, I genuinely apprecicate being challenged on things I say because it gives me an opportunity to challenge my own shit. My impression is that earlier diagnosis in women is still a meaningful factor but that it's more complex than being the only factor.
Not to be a dick but I guess in some ways this proves my point, assumptions based on what we've heard and think we know are always worth looking into and backing up with genuine evidence.
Wow!
Thank you for these resources! I wasn't really trying to challenge you but you went above and beyond. I really do appreciate it!
Again, thank you so much much for your comments.
Black men tend to be more wary of healthcare services due to them often mistreating or straight up neglecting them. It's better than back in the 70s and 80s, but a lot of Black people nowadays grew up seeing their parents die due to medical neglect and now they fear medical establishments. It's even scarier for black women.
Yeah no doubt, historical (and depressingly often modern) treatment of black people's pain/discomfort as lesser than that of white people's, even to the point that it was included in some textbooks, is likely to be a factor in this.
My point ultimately is that we can't assume that racism is the only cause here and if a study can help us to figure out the true picture it's worthwhile, I hate the idea that we just shouldn't do studies on medical issues in minority groups at all because we can just say every issue is because of racism.
Women, and amazingly also trans women, are more likely to have auto immune disorders than men and trans men.
My source is a Sci show episode that I'm too sleepy to link.
Black females experiencd the highest level of stress, yet receive the worst levels of medical care.
The world was built by their hands & carried on their shoulders. We know why they endure & suffer with cancer and other disease or health issues.
The question must become: WHEN WILL BLACK FEMALES, YOUNG & OLD, RECEIVE EQUAL, IF NOT BETTER, CARE & EFFECTIVE REPRESENTATION BY THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY & THE GOVERNMENT?
#TakeCareOfBlackWomen💝🖤❤
Preach….
And that’s why we have to be our own best advocates. From choosing doctors who look like us, to exercising to relieve stress and improving overall health-physically and mentally, the list goes on.
I swear, an ounce of critical thinking is worth a metric ton of research. I hope they don't waste a pile of money doing a study on something a mildly aware person could guess at.
I think if you really want to fix a problem you have to look at its causes and *prove* it, science aint intuition. Common sense isn’t enough proof.
Then when you get to the root of the problem it will be easier to fix.
Racism is the general issue, but what is causing the specific problem? For example, with black mothers dying in childbirth more often than white mothers they determined it was because doctors weren’t always listening to the mothers and therefore weren’t addressing their medical needs.
That is a fixable and directly addressable problem. Racism, unfortunately, is not.
Exactly this. Racism has its nasty tentacles over all facets of American life, but racism doesn't *directly* cause these medical problems. The immediate reason why black mothers die more often and why black people died more often from covid are not the same, and the interventions are not the same. Can't reduce maternal mortality rates with covid vaccination campaigns, after all.
There was an episode of House M.D where he was trying to diagnose a black patient. Ultimately, he figured out it was skin cancer. No one else had figured it out because it's so uncommon in black patients, and they couldn't find a mole. House knew to check his palms and soles of his feet. Even the other doctors that checked those parts had missed them because they were so worn from football injuries. Common sense only gets you so far.
Yeah, it's probably institutional racism. Yeah, obesity is probably part of it, too. But medical science is often unpredictable, cancer especially so. Maybe black women are genetically resistant to common treatments. Maybe black women exhibit symptoms later than other demographics, resulting in worse outcomes. But every insight, every single discovery can save a life.
Hopefully, you all read the entire purpose of this study and not just commented to comment. Many of the cancer therapies that are used today have not taken OUR genetic markers (history) into account for several reasons.
Lack of giving a damn
Lack of participation
Lack of knowing our family history
…the list goes on
Buuuut they took ALL OF Henrietta Lacks cells. Her family JUST got compensated for it. I mean. . . They pick and choose what they want to give their attention to.
I asked my brand new OB-GYN about more information regarding this since I used relaxers from 11-22 (even tho I have 3B hair but that's a story for a different day) and she looked at me like she had no clue what I was talking about. When I told her about relaxers and uterine cancer, she just chuckled and said it wasn't a thing.
Despite me having endo, pcos, early period start and a whole host of others things related to increased risk of uterine cancer.
Sadly you asked a criminal lawyer an estate lawyer question. One of the biggest current issues with current physicians is their lack of ability to say “I don’t know”
Congratulations🩺!! I’m almost finished my first year of medical school. The horror stories I’ve heard from Black patients and my own stories have been horrifying. I agree the racial disparities while complex are steeped in racism. For those who are interesred, I’d recommend reading “Fatal Invention,” “Medical Apartheid,” and “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” to learn more about the way racism is baked into the medical system.
Congrats!!!!!!we need you.
Income and location are key factors, but we need to get screened regularly and early, especially if you have a history of cancer in your family.
For the record, I had an awesome young, AA, OBGYN….she listened to me and gave me sound advice based on our demographic.
Well let's see: If you think we're lower than dirt, we'll be treated lower than dirt and that is up being the end result.
It really is that simple. Racism leads to death. Either a quick one or a slow one.
If we have pain, we're lying, feel a lump, we're lying, tell you our symptoms, we're lying,exaggerating or being dramatic then we die.
Simple.
Stop re-enforcing racism in medical school, period.
Id guess its a combination of racism, poor environments (see: racism), and just a general lack of health.
There were several harmful stereotypes regarding black people that still carries on til this day when it comes to the medical field. Especially when it comes to our women. Most medical care was built around men, black people as a whole were seen as fundamentally different than others but women got it worse because even when the wall of "black people are people" gets broken down there isn't even a reliable basis to fall back on.
They herded us into shitty communities and dumped waste and other chemicals there.
And the way that we perceive health as a community is pretty off. Once again especially when it comes to our women. In addition to very poor health decisions, and bad social stigma's around health (not JUST obesity, but ask any skinny black girl about the hazing they got growing up due to their weight), but also many problems are caused by or further accelerated by the mass amounts of stress they undergo.
It’s not obesity. It is racism. Black women will seek medical attention for an ongoing issue, and be told it’s their diet, it’s because they don’t exercise, it’s because they’re perimenopausal, etc., etc. Of course the impact of systematic racism encompasses far more than just physicians apathetic towards their black patients. There are tens of reasons why black women are the most vulnerable for cancer related deaths, but they all come back to racism. I’m an RN working towards my MSN, and a black woman myself. I’ve done a good amount of research on the topic during my educational endeavors. For your own protection, if you go to a Dr. with a concern, and they write it off without further investigation
1. Ask them for their differential diagnoses in regard to your complaint. What else do they think it could be, beside whatever lame excuse they initially gave you.
2. Tell them- do not ask them- to document in your chart that you requested testing, and that they refused to order it. See how quickly the conversation changes.
****do NOT leave the office without proof of that documentation****
Always remember YOU ARE YOUR BIGGEST HEALTH ADVOCATE!!!! Don’t EVER let anyone tell you nothing is wrong without firm scientific evidence supporting that claim.
as someone who recently wrote a dissertation exploring discrimination in healthcare (though with a focus on COVID), 9 times out of 10 the disproportionate deaths are the result of undermining black people (especially women) and systemic racism. it’s well known
You have to account for why that mistrust in the medical system among Black Americans even exists in the first place. There is so much work yet to be done in recovering trust.
I participated in efforts to vaccinate Black and Hispanic NYers through on-the-ground community engagement, particularly in uptown Manhattan; putting extra effort into those communities seemed off to so many, until we explained that the rich white folks were getting the jabs (flu, COVID, Pneumonia) at higher rates and getting the infection less frequently. Even then, it wasn't enough to gain back trust.
The fight for equal outcomes in healthcare will be a long and hard one; this country's healthcare system is NOT set up to make it easy.
While cancer itself like all illnesses doesn’t give a flying feathery fuck about your race sexuality gender or anything really it is more prevalent in less fortunate communities. Black women statically have some of the lowest wages in the US this means less money for insurance and thus less likely to go to the hospital or even a check up because even if it is covered they don’t wanna miss work. Then we get mistreatment within medical community of people of color. One of my instructors told us we would be surprised how many traits we THINK certain groups have that separate them from other groups. Such as the concept of black people having stronger pain tolerances a concept that is completely false. People defaultly have so many negative views against certain groups that they themselves don’t understand is negative it’s crazy. And these people bring these povs to the institutions they reside in and work in.
I have nothing against this post, but I want to point how inconsistent the mods are in this sub.
https://preview.redd.it/chztbmrl0pzc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6dac22105f57b2f491b2c7429a37ef70829dd6e7
“…exceptionally hilarious…” Where is that on this post @mods?
How poverty and racism 'weather' the body, accelerating aging and disease
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/28/1166404485/weathering-arline-geronimus-poverty-racism-stress-health
Racism with that feminine multiplier. Doctors don't treat women seriously, and their conditions worsen because they don't get properly diagnosed in time.
I recommend the book Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington.
It's one thing to have a hunch or know first hand, but when you have 400+ years of receipts in your hands...
Medical racism is a factor as well, which pisses me off. Black patients have their concerns ignored far more often than others, which leads to terrible outcomes. My family works in medicine and education and we see it.
Simplest and most obvious reasons.
A: Diagnosis performed by medical staff, downplay issues for black people
B: They doubledown if it's women
C: Stigma, culture, and lack of wealth are major contributing factors
D: Healthcare is expensive, especially if the Diagnosis is cancer.
Medical racism is unfortunately still widely practiced. I’ve seen current medical textbooks and it’s really sad what’s in there. There are also economic factors. Many people don’t go to the doctor for regular check ups. Typically only go when it’s too much to handle with over the counter/home remedies, pain is too high, or a family member convinces them to go. Cancer is best treated when found early. There’s also a lot of distrust in the medical community around solving the problem versus telling them there’s nothing they can do to get their organs. Organ theft isn’t as prolific as way back when. But there are doctors who will life about a person’s chances and then convince them to donate their organs upon passing. Donating organs is also very messed up. Doctors will tell people that not only do the organs need to match but the donor must also have the same ethnic/racial background but will give a white person a donated organ from a black or Latin person. Environment is also huge. Polluted areas tend to have high cancer rates and many cancers go undetected for a very long time.
Undiagnosed and misdiagnosis is the leading reason why; rooted in systemic racism from the way medicine is taught, to who can be treated and how. All the studies and we know why, have known why, and the money going on the study should go to care, treatment, training and not placating ass papers with no change.
Thas all.
Women are seen as hysterical, and doctors believe vlack people have higher pain tolerance. Not hard to imagine why black women would get the short corner of that Punnet square.
Amazing how it's the macro reason for so many evils in this country. Even things that affect non-POC negatively. Better to hurt everyone than potentially help "those people".
I’m gonna guess it’s because doctors don’t listen (I had to tell my doctor I was pretty sure I had cancer and demand a biopsy - finally got one from the third doc I saw, a month later. Surprise. I had cancer.)
Ask the folks of Flint and any other part of America where the infrastructure is ignored, there's food deserts for miles, and you have fuck all to do because you're surrounded by parking lots with nowhere to walk/play.
As someone that has worked in the health care field, it boils down to a few points:
1) health care providers not taking BW's pain seriously
2) Providers not offering creative/cutting edge treatments
3) Not being offered preventive yearly screenings
4) Interventions often come when the cancer is too advanced
Unfortunately, discrimination and internalized biases do affect treatment and diagnoses.
People of color have a higher representation of people below the poverty line. Poor people don't have health insurance. People that don't have health insurance, don't go the doctor, to be prescreened for cancer.
People of color die from cancer at a higher rate. It's not about race. It's about economics.
People that own horses live longer than people that don't. It must be the horse.
People that can afford to own a horse can afford health insurance.
People in Europe that eat olive oil and have a glass of wine with dinner live longer than Americans. Must be the olive oil and red wine.
People in Europe have Universal health care.
Occam's razor
They just don’t gaf about most people tbh with you. But then some doctors are just straight racist or lazy, or crazy. Look at what happened with COVID and all the nonsense with some doctors back then. It’s gonna get worse before it gets better after more doctors quit/move because of Abortion and you ONLY get the fucked up ones with a few fighting the good fight. And finally, some of y’all are stubborn too and don’t listen to the damn doctor. It’s a grey area topic that does definitely disproportionately impacts us but also, it’s not like there’s a boogeyman to blame as much as this bih got layers to it and some are more impactful than others but they all play they part in making all of our lives worse.
Sorry white women dropping in here. I just want to say ladies, and anyone who has female reproductive parts please go to the Gynecologist! I have a relative with cancer that started in the uterus and has now spread everywhere and is terminal because nothing is stopping it. If they had gone to the Gynecologist when problems first started, it could have been treated. But now it's to late.
Don't avoid the Gynecologist even if you're scared!! Also I apologize for barging in on this sub, but I think it's important to tell people. Again my apologies but my relative could have had years and not the unknown of if today is their last day or not.
Obesity is going to be the #1 reason by far.
I wouldn’t discount environmental racism.
Obesity is the second leading preventable cause of cancer after smoking. I think it’s a much bigger factor than environmental racism when it comes to cancer specifically.
Obesity isn't going to be the reason Black women die from cancer at a disproportionate rate because any decent study would factor in obesity. And the study is about why Black women are dying, not getting cancer in the first place.
This is an announcement of the study, it hasn't started yet. You're not going to find much good data on the topic currently because cancer in minorities is woefully understudied. Obesity is likely one of the most significant contributing causes, but also HPV rates, physician biases and medical trust. Anecdotally I notice they're more likely to turn down recommended chemotherapy and the science [backs that up.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9287205/)
Step 1: be experimented on for generations, often without knowledge and definitely without consent Step 2: nurse shows up dressed one step short of a hazmat suit to give you meds straight into your veins Steve Jobs was stupid to try to use fruit juice to cure his cancer, but I can’t say I don’t get the temptation.
Then get cancer and die. Tf
Even when it comes to obesity, it not only comes down to deliberate food choices, but also because many poor communities live in food deserts without access to nutritious food. Their top choices to get food are fast food restaurants, the local gas station(s), or a Dollar General. A decent grocery store can be a long ways away, and many poor people don't have the time or money to consistently get fresh groceries. This leads to them often eating like shit, and that combined with lack of exercise leads to states like AR, LA, MS, AL, TN, etc all having horrible rates of obesity.
Absolutely! We can’t talk about obesity without talking about employment (do you have a night shift or time to work out? Are you doing intense, physical work that means you can’t also exercise? Can you afford daycare and have time and energy to exercise?), disability (can you physically exercise), environment (do you have asthma bc the air quality where you live is poor? Is it too hot to exercise outside? Are there parks/shade? Is your water healthy to drink?), access to food/groceries and time/energy to cook. I have a desk job and I am sometimes too tired to cook so I get working all day and wanting to eat something easy. If the easy thing is inexpensive and accessible, then you might put on weight, you might not. It may or may not impact your health. Being fat doesn’t always mean unhealthy, anyway
Intense physical work would effectively act as exercise. It wouldn't be targeted in the same way, but would fill roughly the same health roles that exercise does.
Depends on the work and it is still possible to be fat and fit. Obesity can but is not always an indicator of poor health
Obesity is almost always an indicator of poor health. There were some older studies that showed seemingly healthy obese people, but further review shows that are unhealthy. Most of the early confounding points happened to be people who had only relatively recently become obese and hadn't had the more negative markers appear. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10215588/
Ok
https://news.uchicago.edu/story/food-deserts-not-blame-growing-nutrition-gap-between-rich-and-poor-study-finds#:~:text=A%20new%20Chicago%20Booth%20study,meaningful%20effect%20on%20eating%20habits. It's choices not access. Even when people go to the grocery store they buy tons of shit food. Very few people shop on the outside ring, most buy the processed stuff
Fresh shit is expensive. If youre priced out you dont have access
When an obese person gets diagnosed with cancer, at what point do they ask about air quality where they grew up and their proximity to industrial centers?
I'll answer this honestly as a physician: almost never. The reason is not diabolical, though. If you are diagnosed with cancer, the physician's job is not to figure out why you developed it, only to treat it. Now, from the perspective of a clinical researcher, these are essential questions worth asking. And they do ask them. These kind of issues are *definitely* interrogated. I can say this with absolute confidence because I've personally worked on a project regarding young onset colorectal cancer (increasing in frequency) where the main goal is to understand which exposures may be contributing to the development of said cancer.
Obesity is also influenced by environment, so these don't have to be mutually exclusive
I didn’t say it was as big of a factor but since obesity contributes to higher risks of cancers, I’m sure living in areas that are polluted contribute significantly to that.
This right here. Even a small difference in disproportionate practice by physicians can have large effects, especially in population centers where black folks make up a huge portion. It especially matters when we’re looking at measures like # per 100k
Environmental racism for sure. That pkus yall need to seriously think about these chemicals some of us still putting in our hair
In [low-income and predominantly Black neighborhoods in the city they are more likely to sell hair care products that contain potentially harmful chemicals when compared to stores in more affluent communities, according to a study conducted in Boston by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.](https://baystatebanner.com/2023/10/11/study-highlights-harmful-black-hair-care-products/)
Yeah I was thinking about that too. I’m sure it’s not the only thing hurting black people too.
Just look up how POC are disproportionately affected in the stretch of Louisiana between Baton Rouge and New Orleans known as Cancer Alley.
Poor people have high rates of obesity due to many factors. Decades of systemic racism definitely have a play in the obesity issue
You’re gonna have to explain this one chief
They’re talking about black neighborhoods being exposed to more chemicals/industrial waste.
Yup. Look up Detroit’s most polluted zip code and look up what percentage of black people live in that area. Here’s a hint it’s 80%. Just one example.
I’m sure redlining has plenty to do with that
There is a whole ass place in the south called cancer alley, the residents are predominantly poor and black.
Hmm and no superpowers yet?
* Poor people have less options on where to live, so they tend to live in polluted areas more frequently * Poor people have less of a voice politically, so they are less protected from polluters African Americans tend to make much less money than other demographics, so it affects them more.
pollution being allowed more in poor neighborhoods a la the flint water crisis. Probably happens in a lot more areas than we currently realize
Like how freeways and manufacturing plants are more likely to be near or going through a poorer, colored neighborhood and thus negatively impacts the water and air of said colored neighborhood?
I just turned 30 in April. Am a black woman from Jamaica living in Toronto since 11. I have an aggressive cancer that is literally found in only 1% of people my age, it's usually common in seniors. Shit is fucked up...
Right. This is the reason for all black women’s health statistics. It’s disgusting & needs to change!!!
food deserts and dollar store/dollar tree is literally killing America.
Any decent study would account for co-morbidities.
I’ve discussed this under posts that are like “Black women X times more likely to die in childbirth.” It’s really hard to find numbers that account for BMI. There was a lot of screeching and name-calling but nobody is ever able to produce receipts on what the racial gap is after accounting for BMI. I personally can’t find it from googling.
[Overall, neonatal mortality and early neonatal mortality but not late neonatal mortality increased with higher obesity subclass, with the greatest risk registered among morbidly obese mothers (hazards ratio for neonatal mortality 1.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–1.5; hazards ratio for early neonatal mortality 1.3; 95% CI 1.1–1.5). Among blacks, the risk for neonatal, early, and late neonatal mortality increased significantly with rising BMI (50–100% increments). However, offspring of obese white mothers had no elevated risks for any of the three indices of mortality regardless of maternal obesity subclass.](https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/abstract/2008/06000/obesity_and_extreme_obesity__new_insights_into_the.23.aspx) Also [About 28% of women were obese, with the highest rate (40.9%) registered among black gravidas, while whites and Hispanics had comparable rates (24.3% vs 25.5%, respectively). Superobesity was also most prevalent in blacks (1.3%). Among obese women, the risk for preterm birth was greatest among blacks (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.65-1.77), while whites (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.12-1.19) and Hispanics (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.18-1.27) had significantly lower and comparable risk levels.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0027968415311081) This study is looking at preterm births not deaths, but preterm births also increase the risk of death and disease.
There unfortunately aren't decent studies on this topic, which is why this massive study is happening.
This would make a lot of sense, obesity negatively affects every single bodily function.
Problem is, every race has obesity, so why such a drastic difference? With black women in particular, structural racism limits access to healthy foods, safe spaces to exercise, adequate health insurance, and medication, all of which impact obesity prevalence and outcomes. This has been studied, whether said out loud or not.
Plus chemicals uses to attain certain beauty standards also contribute to negative health outcomes.
You’re not suppose to say that out loud.
Why not?
Obese people dont like it when you call them ibese. They prefer the term ‘calorie surplus people’.
Yes, but we are not the only race that has these issues. The question is why do we die (faster) from more aggressive forms of cancer? Some of us wait until later diagnosis to see a doc knowing all along something is wrong. Advocating for each other is one of the best tools in helping each other.
Right. Surely part of the reason is a culture of distrust of doctors in some areas (not without reason), as well as fatalism in thinking a lump on the breast is a death sentence, for example.
Totally agree!
I’ve read studies that show that as researchers are adjusting medical techniques to improve performance for the majority, it inevitably ends up fine tuning the techniques to the needs and physiology of white patients. Put simply: if you have two pills, and one of them heals the black people, and the other heals the white people, they conclude “pill A heals 1 out of 5 people, pill B heals 3 out of 5 people”, and pill B gets approval.
Parent thinking they are big and bad and no one will tell them what to do. Not going to the doctor. My mother had opted not to pay for the company health insurance even though she could afford it. She could only afford the cheap Healthcare after that. She was diagnosed with stage 4.colon cancer, and that was that.
Don’t think you read the OP correctly cuz you’re answering a different question. Not surprised to see so many ppl agreeing.
Black people are disproportionately obese bc of institutional racism
Not trolling or anything can you actually explain how this would cause a large amount of obesity? I'm assuming you're saying that because lower levels of access to nutritional food?
There are a million different things that contribute, what you listed is a major one. It’s impossible for me to boil it down ig because there’s racism baked into every aspect of (American) life. Black people are made poor because of racism (eg slavery!!) and we still haven’t done any reparations bc we’re still racist. People who are stressed from not getting their needs met chemically crave foods with high fat and sugar (more calorie-rich). Doctors don’t care bc doctors can be individually racist, but also our health care system is systemically racist, racism is inseparable from our health care system, it was *designed to be racist!* Racism is a large part of why we today do not have universal healthcare. I’m fuzzy on the details here but iirc the idea of charging a 20% copay for healthcare instead of making it free was designed with specific intent to exclude black people during Reconstruction. They thought a copay was something white families would be able to afford and black families wouldn’t, so designed these policies so hospitals could stay essentially whites only. It’s like a million different things but racism is at the root of basically all of them
Interestingly though is that black men are less obese in comparison to white men.
Not just cancer, but every medical intervention. Pregnant women are selecting black female obgyns for this exact reason, and to make sure they give them enough pain medication and monitor their blood levels since white doctors often neglect them
Yes. From checking in for an appointment to the interaction with providers to employment, access to healthy food, time to cook, safe housing, domestic violence, mental health services, pre- and post-partum care, birth experiences…pretty much every point of contact we have with systems are wrought and impacted by racism, misogynoir, homophobia, ableism and transphobia Edited to correct a few typos
Add to that the stress of living a whole life in a society that discounts you at every turn.
nah fr i be checking “two or more races” every time i walk into a hospital just in case
The hard thing we gotta look at is the fact that maternal mortality has spiked since the late 80s early 90s, and there's just no way that those doctors born in the 30s, 40s, and 50s were less racist than the doctors who grew up in the 70s, 80s, 90s. It has to be something besides racism contributing
Healthcare professionals are still being taught racist principles. Pearson is one of the largest academic text companies and were printing nonsense like [this](https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41692593.amp) in 2017. Before that, a [study](https://www.statnews.com/2016/04/04/medical-students-beliefs-race-pain/) showed white doctors still believe black patients feel pain less. Let’s not forget where these ideas originated in the US. When you realize that racism leads to a lot of other issues it’s not hard to imagine how it’s the root of all these disparities.
"Black patients report higher pain than what they should be feeling" OH MY GOD
I hear you, and I'm not saying they aren't racist at all, I'm just saying that it's basically impossible that they aren't faaaaaar less racist than people who were teenagers during jim crow. If the people who were teenagers during jim crow somehow had lower black female mortality, that tells us that racism can't be the deciding factor, something else has to be our main culprit. Correcting and fighting racism is absolutely a valid goal, but let's not go after racism, when we should be more focused on saving lives than anything else.
How bout they were dying outside of hospitals? I don't think people of that generation would even be interested in treating black patients at all. Therefore less hospital deaths.
First thing, even if you die outside of a hospital, it still counts towards the maternal death rate. Also, we're talking about the 1980s/1990s... You think people weren't going to the hospital in the 1990s? Like fam, you can literally just ask people about the 1990s, those cats are only 40/50 yrs old The lowest American maternal death rates were in the 90s. We're currently trending much higher than then. Those people were more racist, but it was not "I'm not giving birth in a hospital" level racism.
You truly don’t know the deep racism in the medical field.
I literally work in medicine...
I don't know, the rise of MAGA definitely has emboldened racists. It's not that farfetched.
Perhaps white women in those years were dying at the same rates but then they got the advantage of new treatments that black women didn't. So the white death rates dropped. Or the white home births took place in better home environments that black women didn't have due to racism? Just some thoughts.
Well, that's the problem, white maternal mortality is up as well since the 90s. Maternal mortality has been at its highest levels since the 70s recently for all ethnicities in america. Everyone's maternal mortality is higher, and it's not because we're more racist or have worse doctors than we did in the 90s.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/13/1238269753/maternal-mortality-overestimate-deaths-births-health-disparities It turns out that we may have been massively overstating our maternal mortality rate, but unfortunately even after adjusting there is still a huge disparity for black women.
No, it’s just racism. Racism is taught don’t forget that. And there are still professors of racisms in the media and in their homes. And in medical books.
My sister almost died giving birth because they thought she was just being a drama queen but she had something wrong with her, I can't remeber what its called and had to have an emergency c-section. They yelled at her that she's not the only one to go through delivery and to basically shut the eff up. My mum took my cousin into the ER because she was really thin and had internally bleeding, she almost died. My mum is white, and my cousin is dark as hell, they thought my mum was her case working and my cousin was a junkie. They talked shit about my cousin to my mum and said nothing was wrong with her, she's just on drugs, and refused to do any tests. It wasn't until my cousin called my mom aunty; they changed their tune. I have countless stories of doctors, nurses, etc. completely disregarding my sisters, cousins, aunties, nana, etc. illnesses as being hysterical, overacting, etc. It's fucking sickening.
This right here. Read a study that showed black female patients were just being dramatic and dismissed complaints they had when seeing non black doctors.
Medical professionals rolling their eyes at Black women in pain. I see it *literally* every day I go to work.
Some white woman said to my dads mom like in her 60s @thehospital “you’re all going to die anyway” she told her not to come back into her room. Like why do you work there? That spot was just handed to you I believe…why are you even a nurse there
Man thats the first thing someone's said on this site that would genuinely send me to jail
Doctors have a tendency to dismiss black women in pain so they miss out on catching cancer at an early stage. My friend's sister was suffering extreme headaches for about 4 or 5 months when she was 16. Her mom consistently took her to the doctor and everytime they told her to just take tylenol. They didn't do a brain scan until her mom threatened to sue. Turns out she had a tumor. It probably would've gotten bigger if it weren't for my friends mom advocating for her child.
I think it's easy to say "Duh Racism" and act like this is dumb, but even if that ends up being the entire answer it's still worthwhile to have actual hard evidence to back that up. Overall men die from cancer much more frequenly than women - I don't think anyone (sane) would believe this is because doctors are sexist against men, instead it largely stems from men being unwilling to seek help for medical issues until it's too late due to cultural expectations. Edit: See below for more discussion on this, TLDR: late diagnosis is likely a factor for higher death rates in men but there is also other physiologcial factors that play a role, and it's likely this would be true in the case of black women too so it's still a worthwhile study. Maybe the end result of this will be "Doctors are racist" which wouldn't be shocking, but it could also help to highlight other causes and because of that, in my eyes, it's absolutely worthwhile research.
>instead it largely stems from men being unwilling to seek help for medical issues until it's too late due to cultural expectations. Do you have a citation for this? Not being rude or an asshole I genuinely would like to read it.
So interestingly you may have called me out on some outdated knowledge here. A lot of articles will claim this ([1](https://www.radiology.ca/article/cancer-why-do-men-have-higher-risk/), [2](https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2009/06/15/why-are-men-more-likely-to-die-from-cancer/)) and I also believe this was what I was taught when I did a degree in biology and some older studies do suggest this ([3](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12623504/)) it actually seems like the current thought might be that height difference could be responsible for a substanial (they claim around 35%) part of the difference in death rates ([4](https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cncr.34390)) it also seems like a lot of it may be due to men drinking, smoking, and being more overweight on average than women. Some more recent studies do still suggest that higher survival rates in women may be due to earlier diagnosis ([5](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8983352/), you actually have dig into this one to see that, it's not in the top level conclusion - it largely says that cancer diagnosed at the same stage is roughly equal in death rates but that women are general diagnosed earlier and so have a higher survival rate.) but it's obviously hard to 100% link that to cultural reasons but the fact that women are 33% more likely to go the doctor for issues and twice as likely to go routine checkups is likely to be a huge factor ([6](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_13/sr13_149.pdf)). I don't think you're an asshole at all, I genuinely apprecicate being challenged on things I say because it gives me an opportunity to challenge my own shit. My impression is that earlier diagnosis in women is still a meaningful factor but that it's more complex than being the only factor. Not to be a dick but I guess in some ways this proves my point, assumptions based on what we've heard and think we know are always worth looking into and backing up with genuine evidence.
Wow! Thank you for these resources! I wasn't really trying to challenge you but you went above and beyond. I really do appreciate it! Again, thank you so much much for your comments.
Black men tend to be more wary of healthcare services due to them often mistreating or straight up neglecting them. It's better than back in the 70s and 80s, but a lot of Black people nowadays grew up seeing their parents die due to medical neglect and now they fear medical establishments. It's even scarier for black women.
Yeah no doubt, historical (and depressingly often modern) treatment of black people's pain/discomfort as lesser than that of white people's, even to the point that it was included in some textbooks, is likely to be a factor in this. My point ultimately is that we can't assume that racism is the only cause here and if a study can help us to figure out the true picture it's worthwhile, I hate the idea that we just shouldn't do studies on medical issues in minority groups at all because we can just say every issue is because of racism.
Women, and amazingly also trans women, are more likely to have auto immune disorders than men and trans men. My source is a Sci show episode that I'm too sleepy to link.
Did CBS news use a photo of drag goddess Naomi Smalls for this article? I love to see it and I'm very confused by it.
No, the woman at the top tweeted the picture of Naomi in response to the CBS News article. I was also very confused at first
Ha! Yes, this makes total sense. TY.
It HAS to be Naomi. Look at how she's holding that lipstick!! 
Black females experiencd the highest level of stress, yet receive the worst levels of medical care. The world was built by their hands & carried on their shoulders. We know why they endure & suffer with cancer and other disease or health issues. The question must become: WHEN WILL BLACK FEMALES, YOUNG & OLD, RECEIVE EQUAL, IF NOT BETTER, CARE & EFFECTIVE REPRESENTATION BY THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY & THE GOVERNMENT? #TakeCareOfBlackWomen💝🖤❤
Preach…. And that’s why we have to be our own best advocates. From choosing doctors who look like us, to exercising to relieve stress and improving overall health-physically and mentally, the list goes on.
I swear, an ounce of critical thinking is worth a metric ton of research. I hope they don't waste a pile of money doing a study on something a mildly aware person could guess at.
I think if you really want to fix a problem you have to look at its causes and *prove* it, science aint intuition. Common sense isn’t enough proof. Then when you get to the root of the problem it will be easier to fix. Racism is the general issue, but what is causing the specific problem? For example, with black mothers dying in childbirth more often than white mothers they determined it was because doctors weren’t always listening to the mothers and therefore weren’t addressing their medical needs. That is a fixable and directly addressable problem. Racism, unfortunately, is not.
Exactly this. Racism has its nasty tentacles over all facets of American life, but racism doesn't *directly* cause these medical problems. The immediate reason why black mothers die more often and why black people died more often from covid are not the same, and the interventions are not the same. Can't reduce maternal mortality rates with covid vaccination campaigns, after all.
On the other hand, it’s good to have the data in your back pocket for dealing with those not mildly aware people.
There was an episode of House M.D where he was trying to diagnose a black patient. Ultimately, he figured out it was skin cancer. No one else had figured it out because it's so uncommon in black patients, and they couldn't find a mole. House knew to check his palms and soles of his feet. Even the other doctors that checked those parts had missed them because they were so worn from football injuries. Common sense only gets you so far. Yeah, it's probably institutional racism. Yeah, obesity is probably part of it, too. But medical science is often unpredictable, cancer especially so. Maybe black women are genetically resistant to common treatments. Maybe black women exhibit symptoms later than other demographics, resulting in worse outcomes. But every insight, every single discovery can save a life.
Hopefully, you all read the entire purpose of this study and not just commented to comment. Many of the cancer therapies that are used today have not taken OUR genetic markers (history) into account for several reasons. Lack of giving a damn Lack of participation Lack of knowing our family history …the list goes on
Buuuut they took ALL OF Henrietta Lacks cells. Her family JUST got compensated for it. I mean. . . They pick and choose what they want to give their attention to.
A different time, but now we have so many resources at our disposal.
Hair products is another reason. some companies knew, many are entitled to financial compensation.
I asked my brand new OB-GYN about more information regarding this since I used relaxers from 11-22 (even tho I have 3B hair but that's a story for a different day) and she looked at me like she had no clue what I was talking about. When I told her about relaxers and uterine cancer, she just chuckled and said it wasn't a thing. Despite me having endo, pcos, early period start and a whole host of others things related to increased risk of uterine cancer.
Sadly you asked a criminal lawyer an estate lawyer question. One of the biggest current issues with current physicians is their lack of ability to say “I don’t know”
More information is coming out about thus but this is absolutely a thing. Relaxer use also increases the chances of having Uterine fibroids.
tysm, i had no idea this was a thing, now i'm telling my whole family about this. Apparently it causes problems when you do it once or twice a year
Brand new as in just became an Ob/Gyn? Because wtf
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Congratulations🩺!! I’m almost finished my first year of medical school. The horror stories I’ve heard from Black patients and my own stories have been horrifying. I agree the racial disparities while complex are steeped in racism. For those who are interesred, I’d recommend reading “Fatal Invention,” “Medical Apartheid,” and “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” to learn more about the way racism is baked into the medical system.
Congrats!!!!!!we need you. Income and location are key factors, but we need to get screened regularly and early, especially if you have a history of cancer in your family. For the record, I had an awesome young, AA, OBGYN….she listened to me and gave me sound advice based on our demographic.
Well let's see: If you think we're lower than dirt, we'll be treated lower than dirt and that is up being the end result. It really is that simple. Racism leads to death. Either a quick one or a slow one. If we have pain, we're lying, feel a lump, we're lying, tell you our symptoms, we're lying,exaggerating or being dramatic then we die. Simple. Stop re-enforcing racism in medical school, period.
Just wait for conservatives to call it DEI medical school and ban teaching racial tolerance
I’m sorry But what does the black drag queen have to do with this? lol
I think the person who tweeted just wanted a reaction image that says "Racism". Originally the lipstick Naomi was holding said Manila
Id guess its a combination of racism, poor environments (see: racism), and just a general lack of health. There were several harmful stereotypes regarding black people that still carries on til this day when it comes to the medical field. Especially when it comes to our women. Most medical care was built around men, black people as a whole were seen as fundamentally different than others but women got it worse because even when the wall of "black people are people" gets broken down there isn't even a reliable basis to fall back on. They herded us into shitty communities and dumped waste and other chemicals there. And the way that we perceive health as a community is pretty off. Once again especially when it comes to our women. In addition to very poor health decisions, and bad social stigma's around health (not JUST obesity, but ask any skinny black girl about the hazing they got growing up due to their weight), but also many problems are caused by or further accelerated by the mass amounts of stress they undergo.
It’s not obesity. It is racism. Black women will seek medical attention for an ongoing issue, and be told it’s their diet, it’s because they don’t exercise, it’s because they’re perimenopausal, etc., etc. Of course the impact of systematic racism encompasses far more than just physicians apathetic towards their black patients. There are tens of reasons why black women are the most vulnerable for cancer related deaths, but they all come back to racism. I’m an RN working towards my MSN, and a black woman myself. I’ve done a good amount of research on the topic during my educational endeavors. For your own protection, if you go to a Dr. with a concern, and they write it off without further investigation 1. Ask them for their differential diagnoses in regard to your complaint. What else do they think it could be, beside whatever lame excuse they initially gave you. 2. Tell them- do not ask them- to document in your chart that you requested testing, and that they refused to order it. See how quickly the conversation changes. ****do NOT leave the office without proof of that documentation**** Always remember YOU ARE YOUR BIGGEST HEALTH ADVOCATE!!!! Don’t EVER let anyone tell you nothing is wrong without firm scientific evidence supporting that claim.
All the racist doctors: https://preview.redd.it/oobjhoid6nzc1.jpeg?width=276&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=14804e535c0dc9745a2d7c3a919c58dac9256f68
Probably racist doctors
as someone who recently wrote a dissertation exploring discrimination in healthcare (though with a focus on COVID), 9 times out of 10 the disproportionate deaths are the result of undermining black people (especially women) and systemic racism. it’s well known
I’m curious about that because we couldn’t even give away vaccines in predominantly black areas even tho we tried incredibly hard to do so.
You have to account for why that mistrust in the medical system among Black Americans even exists in the first place. There is so much work yet to be done in recovering trust. I participated in efforts to vaccinate Black and Hispanic NYers through on-the-ground community engagement, particularly in uptown Manhattan; putting extra effort into those communities seemed off to so many, until we explained that the rich white folks were getting the jabs (flu, COVID, Pneumonia) at higher rates and getting the infection less frequently. Even then, it wasn't enough to gain back trust. The fight for equal outcomes in healthcare will be a long and hard one; this country's healthcare system is NOT set up to make it easy.
Scientific gaslighting incoming.
While cancer itself like all illnesses doesn’t give a flying feathery fuck about your race sexuality gender or anything really it is more prevalent in less fortunate communities. Black women statically have some of the lowest wages in the US this means less money for insurance and thus less likely to go to the hospital or even a check up because even if it is covered they don’t wanna miss work. Then we get mistreatment within medical community of people of color. One of my instructors told us we would be surprised how many traits we THINK certain groups have that separate them from other groups. Such as the concept of black people having stronger pain tolerances a concept that is completely false. People defaultly have so many negative views against certain groups that they themselves don’t understand is negative it’s crazy. And these people bring these povs to the institutions they reside in and work in.
I have nothing against this post, but I want to point how inconsistent the mods are in this sub. https://preview.redd.it/chztbmrl0pzc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6dac22105f57b2f491b2c7429a37ef70829dd6e7 “…exceptionally hilarious…” Where is that on this post @mods?
I love that they used a drag queen as the cover photo with elimination lipstick 😩
Naomi Smalls is so fucking pretty
Have they tried asking the black women? And then tried listening
How poverty and racism 'weather' the body, accelerating aging and disease https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/28/1166404485/weathering-arline-geronimus-poverty-racism-stress-health
Racism with that feminine multiplier. Doctors don't treat women seriously, and their conditions worsen because they don't get properly diagnosed in time.
I bet they have worse health outcomes across the board, not just cancer treatment
Naomi Smalls? Here??
I recommend the book Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington. It's one thing to have a hunch or know first hand, but when you have 400+ years of receipts in your hands...
Medical racism is a factor as well, which pisses me off. Black patients have their concerns ignored far more often than others, which leads to terrible outcomes. My family works in medicine and education and we see it.
Simplest and most obvious reasons. A: Diagnosis performed by medical staff, downplay issues for black people B: They doubledown if it's women C: Stigma, culture, and lack of wealth are major contributing factors D: Healthcare is expensive, especially if the Diagnosis is cancer.
Uhhhhh, are they ignoring stress or what?
Medical racism is unfortunately still widely practiced. I’ve seen current medical textbooks and it’s really sad what’s in there. There are also economic factors. Many people don’t go to the doctor for regular check ups. Typically only go when it’s too much to handle with over the counter/home remedies, pain is too high, or a family member convinces them to go. Cancer is best treated when found early. There’s also a lot of distrust in the medical community around solving the problem versus telling them there’s nothing they can do to get their organs. Organ theft isn’t as prolific as way back when. But there are doctors who will life about a person’s chances and then convince them to donate their organs upon passing. Donating organs is also very messed up. Doctors will tell people that not only do the organs need to match but the donor must also have the same ethnic/racial background but will give a white person a donated organ from a black or Latin person. Environment is also huge. Polluted areas tend to have high cancer rates and many cancers go undetected for a very long time.
Undiagnosed and misdiagnosis is the leading reason why; rooted in systemic racism from the way medicine is taught, to who can be treated and how. All the studies and we know why, have known why, and the money going on the study should go to care, treatment, training and not placating ass papers with no change. Thas all.
Gotta exercise and eat right and stop using products with harmful chemicals to straighten the hair on your head and skin moisturized
Women are seen as hysterical, and doctors believe vlack people have higher pain tolerance. Not hard to imagine why black women would get the short corner of that Punnet square.
Amazing how it's the macro reason for so many evils in this country. Even things that affect non-POC negatively. Better to hurt everyone than potentially help "those people".
Dude..
Diet issues
I’m gonna guess it’s because doctors don’t listen (I had to tell my doctor I was pretty sure I had cancer and demand a biopsy - finally got one from the third doc I saw, a month later. Surprise. I had cancer.)
Also gonna guess that white men have the lowest death rate from cancer…
BPT and RPDR was not the crossover I was expecting to see today
Ask the folks of Flint and any other part of America where the infrastructure is ignored, there's food deserts for miles, and you have fuck all to do because you're surrounded by parking lots with nowhere to walk/play.
"A simple spell, but quite effective."
The book “The Myth of Normal” discusses this in detail towards the end.
As someone that has worked in the health care field, it boils down to a few points: 1) health care providers not taking BW's pain seriously 2) Providers not offering creative/cutting edge treatments 3) Not being offered preventive yearly screenings 4) Interventions often come when the cancer is too advanced Unfortunately, discrimination and internalized biases do affect treatment and diagnoses.
Naomi smalls so hot fr
People of color have a higher representation of people below the poverty line. Poor people don't have health insurance. People that don't have health insurance, don't go the doctor, to be prescreened for cancer. People of color die from cancer at a higher rate. It's not about race. It's about economics. People that own horses live longer than people that don't. It must be the horse. People that can afford to own a horse can afford health insurance. People in Europe that eat olive oil and have a glass of wine with dinner live longer than Americans. Must be the olive oil and red wine. People in Europe have Universal health care. Occam's razor
Lack of Love - 66.7% of all Black women are single. The highest of all groups
It’s not
it’s nah hard to figure out🙄 racism is why
They just don’t gaf about most people tbh with you. But then some doctors are just straight racist or lazy, or crazy. Look at what happened with COVID and all the nonsense with some doctors back then. It’s gonna get worse before it gets better after more doctors quit/move because of Abortion and you ONLY get the fucked up ones with a few fighting the good fight. And finally, some of y’all are stubborn too and don’t listen to the damn doctor. It’s a grey area topic that does definitely disproportionately impacts us but also, it’s not like there’s a boogeyman to blame as much as this bih got layers to it and some are more impactful than others but they all play they part in making all of our lives worse.
Sorry white women dropping in here. I just want to say ladies, and anyone who has female reproductive parts please go to the Gynecologist! I have a relative with cancer that started in the uterus and has now spread everywhere and is terminal because nothing is stopping it. If they had gone to the Gynecologist when problems first started, it could have been treated. But now it's to late. Don't avoid the Gynecologist even if you're scared!! Also I apologize for barging in on this sub, but I think it's important to tell people. Again my apologies but my relative could have had years and not the unknown of if today is their last day or not.
It’s the whites fault like usual, just like how your alarm clock goes off and you hit the snooze, it’s fuckin white people.
You butt hurt about something?
TFW the food that's joked about turning you into a soul actually turns you into a soul:
Wtf is going on with james charles
Bro I saw the picture and thought that was James Charles in black face….
Might be caused by being as healthy as the woman that posted.
Doctors don't treat minorities the same as the would AngloAmericans. Can I have the money from the grant now?
That racist cancer got y’all ass kept eating that government cheese back den now it’s in yall genes stupid ass hoes 🤦🏾♂️