Droppin' Science / Stereohyped

Droppin' Science

In Encouraging "A Diet Rich In Fish," Doctors Don't Mean You Should Increase Your Fried Whiting Intake.

Because a there is a dearth of minority volunteers for drug trials for pharmaceutical companies, the research done on new medicine is not accurate. People of different races and ethnicities sometimes respond differently to certain drugs, but there's no way of knowing exactly how without conducting studies. So do your community a public service and volunteer for a drug trial. Yeah, I know that's not actually going to happen.

I don't think there's a specific drug out there that can solve this — the solution is something called prenatal care — but blacks in our country have the highest (by far) infant mortality rate.

And it's not just the infants. Doesn't it seem like blacks just have the highest mortality rate, period? Although one recent report says that the U.S. hasn't made significant strides in combating HIV/AIDS among blacks, the stats have gotten marginally better — enough to shrink the life expectancy gap between blacks and whites. Notice I said shrink, not close. There's still that pesky heart disease issue that has us dying years before our white counterparts.

And if heart disease is a main concern of yours (and knowing what we do now, why wouldn't it be) recent studies show that diets rich in fish, seafood and grains will prevent heart disease better than nuts and olive oil.

May 6, 2007 · posted by Lauren Williams, Stereohyped · Link · 2 Responses

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Tagged: Diet, Droppin' Science, Health, Heart Disease, HIV, Medicine, Nutrition, Studies & Surveys

Comments (2)

No. 1 · lele19106

If someone would like to volunteer for a study, I would encourage them seek those sponsored by one of the NIH institutes.

I work in the pharmaceutical industry and I wouldn’t recommend minorities to enter clinical trials for a number of reasons. Although there is a push for individualized medicine this isn’t the same as the race based treatment regiments that are being encouraged by the industry. First, race is a social construction. Second, even if you believe that “races” exist, it doesn’t take into the different heritages that exist in a population like African Americans. Finally, the differences observed are probably due to environmental differences such as diet, lack of exercise, and access to healthcare.

I mean, do you really thing that the pharmaceutical industry has something in mind other than dollars and cents? We develop treatments to make money. If you can figure out how profits will be increased then you’ll figure why race-specific studies are being encouraged.

Posted: May 6, 2007 at 5:05 pm

No. 2 · ronnie

Thanks, lele19106, that's nice for you to remind us that Big Pharmaceuticals are thinking less of cure and more of capital.

General health, prenatal, and diet education is absolutely a must for the black community. Genes and environment play a huge part in black mortality rates. I believe it stems from blacks being transplanted to foreign lands against their will, but that's just me, maybe?

Posted: May 8, 2007 at 12:52 pm

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