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.

For a few months now, we had BBC, CNN and almost every channel harping on and on about the effects of swine flu, the deaths caused by the disease and even preventive measures that you can use yourself to prevent the spread of the disease. But the news about disease and its potential spread is not good. This fall, the WHO predicts a potential explosion of the disease worldwide due to the cooler weather that is prevalent during the time. Unless scientists come up with a vaccine in the next few months we are going to have a tough time dealing with the effects of the disease.

A vaccine is imminent?

The need of the moment is to find an influenza vaccine that can treat the current form of the flu virus. Global vaccine experts are working full time to find something that can work against different forms of the virus and seriously limit the side effects of the virus at the same time. The WHO has been pressured into taking an active interest in the working of vaccine manufacturers to produce a viable vaccine. At present, most of the flu viruses are supplied by European manufacturers and they might not be able to keep up with the demand for a newly manufactured vaccine from the US and the rest of the world. Tentative release dates have been established for a swine flu test vaccine at the end of November for the actual release of the virus.

On the negative side: But wary researchers from all over the world have expressed concern about the marketing and supply of the vaccine. Vaccine distribution requires that the ampoule of vaccine medication should be under continuous cold temperatures. Vaccine companies will need to provide cold storage trucks to keep the vaccine viable over the long distances till will have to travel. Apart from the logistical problems, there are serious doubts about the efficacy of the virus and any other potential side effects. The internet has been ringing with whispers about the super fast release of the vaccine without sufficient human testing to meet the demands of the public. There could be potential side effects which might become visible after a few years in children and young adults that can be life threatening. There is no research to prove it as long term studies have yet to be established. But parents are seriously worried about the potential side effects of the disease like thiomerosal that is used as a preservative in the vaccine and the denatured virus itself that forms the basis of the vaccine.

On the plus side: The NIH and the WHO have collaborated to produce the vaccine for human use and the CDC has advocated the use of the vaccine in children from 6 months to about five years of age. Researchers have assured parents that the nasal version of the vaccine that is now in use is completely safe but it still cannot be used in patients with a weak immune system, asthma, diabetes and other chronic conditions.

I would prefer to wait and watch.