Health Is Not Determined Solely By Genetics

Health care has become a form of governmental oppression. There are little to no funding for preventative care as Shipler points out in his scathing review of the bureaucratic nightmare of merely staying healthy enough to go to school if you are poor (Shipler, 2004). America’s private health insurance industry makes it almost impossible for those of lesser financial means to have access to good health insurance (Shipler, 2004). Our economic state makes it impossibly expensive to eat healthy, let alone to practice healthy lifestyle habits that are not taught regularly. In addition, the health care providers themselves and those individuals with forced health care plans are faced with the enormous expenses of crooked insurance adjustors and giant malpractice insurance regimes (Shipler, 2004).

The epidemiologist Ana Diez-Roux points out that conditions that affluent neighborhoods take for granted that promote better health include clean air, water and living space. When one looks at county maps showing poverty, education, asthma and diabetes rates in Richmond and they are are laid on top of one another, patterns emerge that show that these afflictions are usually due to the poor living on top of or next to a toxic waste dump. An example of this in Unnatural Causes is the Laotian Gardens that is next to a shut down car battery factory and toxic

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

I particularly enjoyed my conversations with Dr. Harris and Dr. Boyd. Not only were they a pleasure to speak with, but the conversations they stimulated prompted me with questions that probed not simply my personal qualities, but my view of social inequities with respect to health care access—a topic of continuing importance not just in American politics, but in American lives.

Socioeconomic conditions of persons and the places where they live and work do strongly influence their health. In the United States, as elsewhere, the risk for mortality, morbidity, unhealthy behaviors, reduced access to health care and poor quality of care increases with decreasing socioeconomic circumstances (CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report, 2011).

In this article G. H. Jones & H. Kantarjian expose the scary truth of health care. They explain that health care is a basic human right for individuals to have, but is not guaranteed in the freedom of the U.S. and is rather a privilege. Freedom is seen as the equal opportunity to have health care. This being said, they discuss the downfall of not having health care, the inequality that has corrupted our nation, and what our money is actually going towards. In the end their goal is to inform us citizens while making us aware of our actual privileges.

My biggest concern regarding the future of medicine lies in the unequal access to quality, affordable healthcare. Having worked at two facilities with largely under and/or uninsured patient populations, I have directly witnessed the consequences suffered by those lacking insurance secondary to high costs. Without adequate coverage, regular appointments are not scheduled, symptoms are not addressed, and previously treatable illnesses transform into illnesses that are much less manageable and potentially even life threatening. Although significant strides have been made via the Affordable Care Act to reduce the outstanding numbers of uninsured Americans, an estimated thirty million still remain subject to out of pocket expenses should they fall

The health care system in America is unlike any other. Many Americans go into debt every day because of medical bills and costs. America is the one of the only countries in the world that has its citizens falling into bankruptcy due to healthcare costs. Not only is the healthcare expensive and doesn’t extend care to everyone, the system treats those of different races differently. Health disparities has been a big issue in America’s history since slavery and continues to resonate here to this day. In the film, John Q, it is evident how income and race affect a young child’s ranking in the medical field. Young Mikey needs a new heart but due to racial health disparity and his father’s insurance plan, the hospital board will not put his name on the donor list. In films such as, Sick Around the World and Sick Around America, the health care system in America is shown to be one of the most expensive but least effective. This healthcare system leaves thousands in debt and without medical care. In the book, An American Heath Dilemma, it states, “wherein nearly 50 percent of the population reported it was having difficulty paying for health care.” (569, Byrd) The book talks about Americans constant struggle of needing health care but not being able to afford it, just like John Archibald in John Q. The American healthcare system needs some major changes and policies for equality before it can be as productive as those in other countries.

This essay will discuss ways in which a person’s socioeconomic class and his/her social situation can have an impact on his/her health, using examples. We believe that there is a direct link between socioeconomic/social class and health (Adler et al. 1994). I will be defining the key terms: socioeconomic and health, social class then proceed to discuss about how poverty, income, employability, environment and housing can impact on a person’s social situation and their health.

Even Harborview Medical Center, one of the best public hospitals in the nation and a hospital that accepts over $100 million in charity cases annually, shows how the health care system in America is a two-tier system. Patients at Harborview who are in the poor tier do not receive medical care as quickly as those who are in the other tier. Dr. Young discusses a patient named Chep who exemplifies this (Young, 2009, 20). He came into Harborview having pain over his shoulder blades and after having his vitals taken, he was told to take a seat. He waited for three hours as doctors, even medical students who were “generally eager to take on whoever walked in the door,” put him off. Doctors labeled him as a member of the “poor tier” based on his appearance and thought he just wanted free drugs. Had he been in the other tier, he would have received care much quickly. When Dr. Young finally checked him, after passing on him several times herself, she found he had a collapsed lung. Patients in the “poor tier” have as concerning, if not more, issues as patients in the other tier, but do not receive care quickly because of the stereotypization that their issue is not worth the doctor’s time. In addition to not receiving medical care as quickly, patients in the poorer tier at Harborview are more likely to be lectured by their physician that

The conceptualisation of medicine as an institution of societal control was first theorised by Parsons (1951), and from this stemmed the notion of the deviant termed illness in which the “sick role” was a legitimised condition. The societal reaction and perspective was deemed a pillar of the emerging social construction of disease and conception of the formalised medical model of disease. Concerns surrounding medicalisation fundamentally stem from the fusion of social and medical concerns wherein the lines between the two are gradually blurred and the the social consequences of the proliferation of disease diagnosis that results from such ambiguities of the social medical model.

I’m interested in people and what makes us the way we are. Medicine for me is the sole profession that permits the concurrent aiding of people and the pushing of mental limits at the same time. It is the one profession that tests human compassion, endurance, and memory, three essentialities of life. As a student in Dr. Sweets’ “Social determinants of health” class, I’m fascinated by the environmental factors that influence an individual’s health. I’m even more appalled to learn about the health disparities that currently exist in the United States as a result of socioeconomic status. As an immigrant from a developing African country, I was exposed to the effects of poor health care systems from a juvenile age and it never occurred to me that there are populations within developed countries that also suffer from predicaments similar to that of my Nation. As a clinician, I look forward to tackling these issues concerning health disparities affecting underserved populations in the United States as well as other countries with limited

In the opening of Michael Marmot’s book, The Health Gap, the author gives a brief background regarding his exposure to healthcare and the apparent inequities he was immediately able to identify when studying the field of medicine. An example of this was when he witnessed an emotionally broken patient express to her psychiatrist the ongoing depression she was experiencing, in which the medical professional proceeded to give her a the simple recommendation: just change the pills she was consuming. Marmot expresses his disbelieve as to why her case was not approached in a holistic matter, pointing out that he thoughts doctors were suppose to not only put out fires but also prevent them. Marmot also remineces on his time studying epidemiology,

When my medical ethics professor discussed whether or not health care is “special,” my initial reaction was that was a ridiculous question to ask. Of course health care is special, a person’s health is a major factor in determining their ability to function, contribute to society and essentially allowing them to reach their full potential. Upon further thought, I realized if I were to support health care as “special,” my support couldn’t stop there. As I learned more about the impact education, socioeconomic status, discrimination, location and the myriad of other influences have on health outcomes, my interest continued to grow. My research increased my desire to be a physician and not only be able to interact with and help individual patients but also to play a part in the work happening around the world to widen the view of health care and to improve health through creative and novel measures.

Doctors have had a significant influence on society for several years. It is part of every doctor’s role to help the community. Without doctors diseases would be more common and almost impossible to get rid of. A lot more people would die from easily treatable or curable diseases. Doctors save lives. They can prescribe medications that change life for the better while some have to perform risky operations on injured patients. When faced with difficulties, they have to make vital decisions to help patients. Sometimes doctors have to work under extreme pressure. Every day someone has to depend on a doctor to enhance his or her life by curing ailments. Even without a cure, doctors can make ailments bearable. Medical professionalism has been around for thousands of years and is still significant in today’s society. Doctors can also aid patients by helping them learn about diseases. By educating patients on prevention, disease, and treatment, [doctors] empower them to include scientific thought in key decisions that affect their own care (Bokoch 16). Patients can use this information to prevent diseases from returning. Anyone can see that doctors have an important role in the community. A doctor’s main roles in society are to improve the health of the public, control outbreaks of disease, and to lengthen the lives of patients.