The Path to Better Black Health: Precision Medicine
As a Black physician, I have spent my career trying to improve the health of our community. My mother died at 52, my brother at 48, so I know what it’s like to have loved ones die prematurely. Our entire community faces these same premature death challenges. That’s why my family and I wrote Better Black Health: A Comprehensive Guide in the Age of Precision Medicine as a part of the solution.
Education is the Solution. Doing Your Own Research
We don’t cover EVERYTHING, but we do address all of the major health and wellness topics a Black family could face. Getting research and advice tailored to our unique needs can be difficult. Tailored advice is more precise. Precision medicine is a personalized care approach that considers genetics, environment, and lifestyle.
No one has addressed African American health this way before, and no one is more qualified or has spent more time.
I also wrote“ Precision Medicine for African Americans,” a text used to educate medical students, hospital residents, interns, and practicing doctors, which broadly covers the best medical care for Black patients.
In case you didn’t already know, THERE ARE DIFFERENCES,
- MEDICATION DIFFERENCES (best BP and heart failure meds)
- SIDE EFFECT DIFFERENCES (metformin and statins)
- SURGICAL COMPLICATION DIFFERENCES (more blood clots)
- CANCER RISK AND SCREENING DIFFERENCES (colon and prostate cancer)
- INFECTION DIFFERENCES (more STDs and pneumonias)
- NUTRITIONAL NEED DIFFERENCES (more vitamin D deficiency)
- TRUST AND PERSPECTIVE DIFFERENCES
and until now, these differences have been largely ignored.
But these differences can be addressed, and a different, more informed approach could change the course of your and your family’s life.
The book has hundreds of pages of useful information, and only for our community. People have said “race-based medicine” is wrong. But that’s because they were using our differences to give us uniquely worse care.
- Less pain treatment
- No treatment when a treatment exists
- Fewer referrals for more advanced care
- Less cancer screening
- Fewer explanations
That kind of “race-based” care is wrong. But using a precision medicine approach that considers our genetics, environment, and lifestyle is clearly the path to better health.
Better Black Health: A Comprehensive Guide in the Age of Precision Medicine is available at bookstores everywhere.
