RELATED MEDICAL ISSUES RIGHT NOW! #8: Racial Disparities in Alzheimer’s and Breast Cancer Treatments

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

From the first moment I discovered my dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it seemed like I was alone in this ugly place. Even ones who had loved ones suffering in this way; even though people TALKED about the disease, it felt for me like they did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…

The immediate crises that were Breast Cancer and Alzheimer’s have passed. There are, however ancillary issues like testing and treatments that may not be directly related to BC or A but intersect with them. Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: Racial Disparities in Alzheimer’s and Breast Cancer Treatments (See also: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2022/01/related-medical-issues-right-now-4.html)

There are countless resources, news reports, and investigative pieces that clearly and concisely delineate the problem – if you are any race but white and have anything but comprehensive health insurance, your treatment for a breast cancer diagnosis or one of Alzheimer’s Disease will be far, far, far away LESS effective and virtually unaffordable.

I placed sources sources below, all of them CURRENT (2022). So, let’s just not argue. The facts speak for themselves. If you disagree, don’t bother trying to justify or argue, just leave peaceably. If you leave a stupid comment, I won’t bother reading it, delete it, and you won’t bug me AT ALL.

I have nothing to say to fools.

So, what’s being done to address this monstrous inequity?

Some things ARE being done!

Breast Cancer: “Sisters Network Inc. is committed to increasing local and national attention to the devastating impact that breast cancer has in the African American community.” They host events, an important one? STOP THE SILENCE Walk, https://www.stopthesilencewalk.org/. Held annually in Houston, Texas; this event is a major fund raiser for Sisters Network Inc. As well, “In 1999, Sisters’ broke new ground by hosting the nation’s first national Breast Cancer Conference to specifically address the impact of breast cancer among African American women. Now in its 12th year, the conference, which attracts more than 600 participants, including nationally recognized medical experts, has been held in metropolitan cities such as Houston, Atlanta, Detroit, Richmond Virginia and Chicago.” They also have a specific outreach program: “Sisters’ national branding campaign, "STOP THE SILENCE®," speaks directly to the nations, African American communities, long-standing history of not discussing cancer and other life-threatening health concerns.”

Evidence shows that the precipitous drop of breast cancer screenings hit ALL women, but was especially devastating among lower socioeconomic groups: “The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted…cancer screening…in the United States and Europe have shown that cancer screening dropped dramatically during the pandemic…a modeling study estimated that delayed and missed screenings would likely increase breast cancer deaths…by 7.9% to 9.6%...This adverse impact…may differ among sociodemographic groups, given the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on underserved racial and ethnic groups and other vulnerable population groups.”

Alzheimer detection and treatment among lower socioeconomic groups was low to begin with, “Alzheimer’s…the most frequent cause of dementia, is a progressive degenerative brain disorder affecting approximately 5.5 million people in the US, 24 million people worldwide…The average post-diagnosis AD survival rate is typically 5 to 8 years. However, this tends to vary among patients due to other factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and additional health complications…”

The study concludes, “…socio-economic disparities exist worldwide between countries, influencing the validity of results in cross-cultural research. These disparities are reflected in the variability of educational levels and the quality of education. A universal socio-economic and educational assessment approach would improve reliability in comparing AD risk and progression in diverse groups, between and within countries.” A UNIVERSAL APPROACH??? How would that even be possible? It boggles the mind – and most of all, who would possibly pay for it? Insurance companies? Most likely not because there would be no profit in it – though that might NOT be true…

Lastly, the study below also points out that there are multiple issues even defining who and what they are looking for. How can you equitably screen a white, wealthy, Harvard graduate and a black, poor Haitian for Alzheimer’s symptoms – separated by 2400 kilometers? It boggles my mind to even consider DEVELOPING a tool, let alone using it…

There is so much here, I may write a science fiction story about it. It seems like that might be the only place this could be solved.

Resources:
https://www.sistersnetworkinc.org/index.html, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780067, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13311-022-01193-z
Image: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zsbWK9QgLFjUJwawbWaYnW-970-80.jpg.webp