Race Based Medicine

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Andrea Deyrup is a pathologist and medical educator who focuses on so-called race-based medicine. She says that in many cases where race and disease are tied together, there's no real reason for it. Take the example of keyloids: These are irregular kinds of scars that are often claimed to be more common in people with darker skin. But when Andrea tried to track down the origin of that number, she found it was from a pretty unreliable source.

When COVID-19 hit it didn't kill indiscriminately. In the US, being Black, Hispanic, or Native American meant you had a much greater risk of death than if you were white. And these disparities are mirrored across the world.

In this episode we explore the complex tale behind this disparity. Throughout history, racism and biases have been embedded within medical technology, along the clinicians who use it. Cultural concepts of race have been falsely conflated with biology. The way medicine is taught, has reinforced flawed stereotypes. Disease itself, has been racialised. All of this adds up to barriers to care and worse health outcomes for many people, just because of the colour of their skin.

Science and scientists have played an influential part in embedding such racism into medicine But by challenging received wisdom science too has the power to right wrongs, and work towards solutions.

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