Racial Bias in Medicine: Early Puberty in Black Girls and Overlooked Diagnoses
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- I came across a video on TikTok by @nursebblay about how she took her 7-year-old daughter to the pediatrician because she was showing early signs of puberty. The doctor mentioned that had the patient been White, she would have recommended additional testing. But stated that because she was Black, and Black & Latina girls go into puberty early, that nothing needed to be done.
In 1997, the Pediatric Endocrine Society first recommended new race-based criteria for defining precocious puberty based research papers that showed earlier onset of puberty in Black girls. It said that breast development should only be considered precocious in Black girls younger than 6 years but White girls younger than 7. The guidelines weren’t formally accepted, yet race has become widely accepted as a factor in puberty timing of girls.
It wasn’t until after this Mom demanded for additional labs, that her daughter’s results eventually came back abnormal and a further work-up was started.
I hope this story highlights how race-based assumptions in healthcare can lead to overlooked diagnoses. When we use race as a proxy for other factors, we overlook problems that could be occurring. Let’s continue challenging racial biases in medicine for better care for all. #joelbervell #racialbiasinmedicine #medicalmythbuster
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Thank you, Joel. I recognize that it must be difficult to make this kind of content. I support your bravery and conviction, and I hope you will continue posting despite the pushback you undoubtedly receive. Truth can be ugly, but it must be faced.
Wow, but you will be told that you’re imagining these these things
ALWAYS ! And YOU ARE OVERREACTING AND OVER ANALYZING THINGS 😒😒😒
I'm glad that the mother pushed for further testing. Another example of what I believe is race based medicine deals with fibroids. I've heard that black women are more likely to have fibroids, but when I ask why that is, I can't seems to get a solid answer. Is it genetic, environmental, or does it have something to diet? I read a study that showed that hair relaxers can increase the risk of fibroids and the Big C. Many black women begin getting relaxers as children. Could that be a link? It seems to just be accepted without question.
Yup! I would say relaxers and diet play a big role in developing fibroids.
This kind of work n vids are very necessary to expose bias in what we call knowledge.
Drs. Osinubi, Lewis-de Los Angeles, Poiteviren, and Topor explore this topic in their paper for Pediatrics “Are Black Girls Exhibitng Puberty Earlier? Examining Implications of Race-Based Guidelines.”
Full citation here: Osinubi AA, Lewis-de Los Angeles CP, Poitevien P, Topor LS. Are Black Girls Exhibiting Puberty Earlier? Examining Implications of Race-Based Guidelines. Pediatrics. 2022 Aug 1;150(2):e2021055595. doi: 10.1542/peds.2021-055595. PMID: 35909158
You are a Godsend. Thank you for caring and acting!
I'm of the opinion that any child hitting visible puberty before age 9 should be having the hormone bloodwork and maybe an mri or ultrasound done to rule out regular precocious puberty vs something serious, and I'm old enough to remember when hitting puberty before 12 was still considered precocious. (I was precocious myself, and I wish that my mother and I had known the right terminology at the time to advocate for those tests for me - maybe they would've been able to uncover whatever weirdness is happening with my reproductive organs at an early enough age to curb or circumvent them.)
I wouldn't call it lazy. I'd call it intentional.
We gotta stop thinking that it's just happenstance that these doctors with their years of medicine and for modern medicine industry currently to still only be this incompetent. It's intentional negligence.
FACTS!!
I'm not sure if this is race bias in med but when I was 12 (in the 90s) my mom took me to my pediatrician because I wasn't feeling right. She asked me in front of my mom if I was sexually active! I think the issue I went in for had no relation to sexually activity and I thought it weird she asked me that. I was bewildered and embarrassed and answered with an emphatic no because I wasn't and that was soooooo far from my mind at the age of 12 years old. She asked my mom if she mind leaving to continue asking me if I was sexually active as if I was lying. I felt so embarrassed because I did not want my mom to think of me that way.. it was so horrible. I stopped liking her from that point on because I felt attacked. Reason I said it may not be because she was a black female doctor. Oh yes, I'm black 🤗.
The assumption that all Black and Latino girls are “Fast.”
Doctors, much like the police, have race-based training, unfortunately. So, it doesn't matter what race they actually are.
Thank you for what you are doing. May God bless you Sir.
I experienced this with my daughter. It wasn't until I got a different doctor 3 years later that I was taken seriously and got the tests required to rule out more serious issues for the cause.
Keep up the good work 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
This man!!! You’re going places..Charley!!! We’re proud of You
I started puberty at 13 as did almost every girl I know and Im black.
Well said👏🏼 Doc, you bring knowledge, awareness, understanding etc. Your channel and posts are refreshing, inspiring, wholesome goodness❣️Keep up the excellence 👑God Bless you💫
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I really do pray you and those with you in this cause prevail and change medicine in America. It would save so many lives.
It think it's more than laziness, it's malpractice. I have been working in health care for 22 years and the biggest bias I see from doctors is based on the type of health insurance a patient has. If a patient has PPO, the doctor will actually sit at talk with the patient at length and do a thorough investigation of the symptoms/complaints. If a patient has Medicaid, the doctor will barely spend 10 minutes and never order any additional testing unless it's absolutely necessary. I also notice more gender bias in the treatment plan too. Female patients are sent home with Tylenol for pain, but men will get a narcotic Rx.
Bravo!👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿 I am so grateful for you!
Thank you for your knowledge
Thank you, Joel. You are out here doing great work, beung transparent and creating awareness. The truth shall set us all free. Im glad I saw this just now. Awareness is a key catalyst of change. What are your thoughts on the HPV vaccine? Asked by a black mother of an almost 12 year old girl. Thank you for all you do..
The following happened many years ago, so I don't know if it still happens. I was in my early 20's and undergoing a pelvic exam. Because I had been seeing the gyno since my teens, was still about the same size, and was still a virgin, I asked the doctor to use a small speculum. But I didn't tell the doctor that I was a virgin. He insisted that a large speculum should be used because Black women had larger vaginas.
He said he'd been taught that in med school. It wasn't until I told him that I was still a virgin that he agreed to switch the speculum size. Years later, when I told a friend, she said she'd had the same experience but she didn't know to advocate for herself and the doctor tore her hymen.
@d2d2d3d3
That "doctor" got it wrong about black women having bigger vaginas. There are studies that says that black women's vaginas are smaller than other race of women.
Wow! I had the same experience.
I'm so sorry that you went through this.
I just don't understand how some women are so comfortable with taking their daughters to male doctors to look at their body. I get back then women were not allowed to be doctors but things are different.
That isn't true about Black Women and that dr is a perv.
@@Ubothered I wasn't a child, and my mother didn't take me. I was in my 20's. But I was also on active duty in the military, and as such, did not have a choice in my provider. I don't know the circumstances of my friend's care.
Well said.
FACTS , Dr’s 🚫 being lazy when it come to black and brown
Can you do any videos regarding myths in medicine and mens health?
It could be food, genetics and more factors that imply the precociousness is coming from the environment.
It's hard to feel secure that this information being shared is a true concern in medicine. I hope this is not a tiny ploy to poke at the African American community. I also hope this won't continue to keep us alienated and discriminated against.
You are doing God's work!
Puberty at ten or below is absolutely not normal in any race. I'm in my sixties. When I was young, puberty in grade school was NOT happening except for ONE girl in 6th grade who was white. Man boobs were also not happening at any age. Instead of sound bites in that frantic CZcams style, why not slow down and cite your sources? Medical students and doctors could then use you as a source.
He cited the source above in a comment. I think he's trying to stimulate our interest so we would then take the time to do further research.
Did you watch the video? If you did, then your comment aligns with what Joel is stating.