African American individuals are often disproportionately impacted by many diseases and health conditions, and more often than not, not much research is being conducted on the effects of these diseases, especially in these marginalized populations. In the article "Alzheimer disease in African American individuals: increased incidence or not enough data?" Lisa Barnes investigates key differences in AD between African American individuals and Caucasians, and the obstacles hindering growth in this field. Older African American individuals are disproportionately impacted by AD than white individuals, and research in African American patients with AD is lacking and lagging far behind research in white individuals. Lots of research has been done to combat AD, but without research that specifically targets AD in African American individuals, no true progress can be made in combatting this disease in disproportion population. Conducting studies on the specific impact of AD on African American, the risk factors that lead up to it, and the long-term effects and genetic impacts on offspring will be extremely beneficial to advancing progress in treating Alzheimer Disease.
Another disease that disproportionately impacts the African American population is Sickle Cell Anemia. In the article “Experiences of African Americans Living With Sickle Cell Disease” by Karen E. Wickersham, et al. researchers conducted a survey of African Americans with Sickle Cell Anemia to determine their experiences living with SCD as well as their knowledge and perception surrounding it. One of the participants, Martha, describes that “Each one of us may have the same disease, but believe me you, it affects each and every one of us so much different.” This shows the impact that SCD has on the lives of these individuals and that it affects each person differently, so very specific research needs to be done to understand the impact. Participants describe that managing symptoms is near impossible because they do not know what to expect. They explain that those symptoms get worse as they age and that they are not warned, and they don’t know what’s coming next. Finally, and most importantly, they describe their frustrations when seeking medical attention, and specifically the marginalization and stigmatization of the disease, as well as medical professionals often confusing SCD with different diseases. The accumulation of all of these factors leads to the frustrations and unfair treatment, as well as the extremely difficult quality of life in African American individuals who have Sickle Cell Anemia.
Both of these studies highlight a very important, and often overlooked, area of medicine. African American individuals are disproportionately impacted by several diseases, and the extremely limited amount of care and research that goes into studying these diseases just makes life harder for these individuals. A big area of research and focus in the medical field needs to go into understanding these disparities and working to improve them, and until that happens, these populations are going to continue to suffer. Unfortunately, many physicians and researchers overlook these kinds of things and focus on bigger picture issues, and don’t understand that focusing on issues such as these, and combatting smaller issues for these groups, can help to solve the bigger picture problems.
Berken, J. A., Gracco, V. L., & Klein, D. (2017). Early bilingualism, language attainment, and brain development. Neuropsychologia, 98, 220–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.08.031
Wickersham, K. E., Dawson, R. M., Becker, K. P., Everhart, K. C., Miles, H. S., Schultz, B. E., Tucker, C. M., Wright, P. J., & Jenerette, C. M. (2022). Experiences of African Americans Living With Sickle Cell Disease. Journal of Transcultural Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1177/10436596211070600
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