Tiger Woods is Asian
I was reading a study on the efficacy of a therapy to treat Hepatitis C, but my mind kept drifting to Tiger Woods.
I was thinking about Woods, not because he is the current topic of every trash news source, but because he is an example of why race-based medicine does not work.
Race-Based Medicine The study I was reading concluded that this particular Hepatitis C therapy was not as effective in African-Americans.
This is not the first time I read a study such as this.
But after reading each one, I have had the same question.
How do these researchers or physicians know that their study participants are African-American? The answer is obvious.
They don't know.
Physicians and researchers racially stratify their participants similar to the way society does.
Socially, a person is considered Black as long as they have one drop of Black blood.
Whether they are 90% Black or 10% Black, they are still considered Black.
Societal definitions of race are of little concern to me as a physician.
That is until these societal definitions affect medical decisions.
Multi-Racial Tiger Woods is multi-racial and considers himself "Cablinasian".
He is 25% Chinese, 25% Thai, 25% African-American, 12.
5% Native American, and 12.
5% Dutch.
Despite his Cablinasian status, society considers Woods to be African-American.
There is nothing wrong with that.
The problem ensues when physicians make the same mistake as society.
Most physicians would look at Woods and assume he was African-American, but based off of his heritage he is not.
If I was forced to pigeonhole him, I would classify him as Asian because he is 50% Asian and at most 25% African.
President Obama is also multi-racial but he considers himself African-American.
He is 50% African and 50% European.
Obama is as White as he is Black, but society considers him to be African-American.
The average physician would probably do the same.
Both men are multi-racial and both men are considered African-American.
However, we have no idea what they are physiologically.
Most African-Americans are multi-racial to varying degrees and lumping them in to a category by looking at them is ridiculous.
Until we have an objective race test, race should not be used as a basis for therapy.
Personalized Medicine Personalized genomic-based medicine is the future and I look forward to it revolutionizing health care.
However, race-based medicine is not personalized medicine, it is trash medicine.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but physiology is not.
I was thinking about Woods, not because he is the current topic of every trash news source, but because he is an example of why race-based medicine does not work.
Race-Based Medicine The study I was reading concluded that this particular Hepatitis C therapy was not as effective in African-Americans.
This is not the first time I read a study such as this.
But after reading each one, I have had the same question.
How do these researchers or physicians know that their study participants are African-American? The answer is obvious.
They don't know.
Physicians and researchers racially stratify their participants similar to the way society does.
Socially, a person is considered Black as long as they have one drop of Black blood.
Whether they are 90% Black or 10% Black, they are still considered Black.
Societal definitions of race are of little concern to me as a physician.
That is until these societal definitions affect medical decisions.
Multi-Racial Tiger Woods is multi-racial and considers himself "Cablinasian".
He is 25% Chinese, 25% Thai, 25% African-American, 12.
5% Native American, and 12.
5% Dutch.
Despite his Cablinasian status, society considers Woods to be African-American.
There is nothing wrong with that.
The problem ensues when physicians make the same mistake as society.
Most physicians would look at Woods and assume he was African-American, but based off of his heritage he is not.
If I was forced to pigeonhole him, I would classify him as Asian because he is 50% Asian and at most 25% African.
President Obama is also multi-racial but he considers himself African-American.
He is 50% African and 50% European.
Obama is as White as he is Black, but society considers him to be African-American.
The average physician would probably do the same.
Both men are multi-racial and both men are considered African-American.
However, we have no idea what they are physiologically.
Most African-Americans are multi-racial to varying degrees and lumping them in to a category by looking at them is ridiculous.
Until we have an objective race test, race should not be used as a basis for therapy.
Personalized Medicine Personalized genomic-based medicine is the future and I look forward to it revolutionizing health care.
However, race-based medicine is not personalized medicine, it is trash medicine.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but physiology is not.
