🧬Epigenetics & Health Equity: Part Three/4 - Legacy of Eugenics 🧬
- Vital Gnosis Team
- Sep 13, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 13, 2024
III
The Lingering Legacy of Eugenics
Healthcare Disparities & Latent Eugenics
Marginalized communities continue to face unequal access to quality healthcare, perpetuating the legacy of eugenics. 💔Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to be uninsured or underinsured, face language barriers in healthcare settings, and receive lower quality care than their white counterparts. Disparity contributes to higher rates of chronic diseases, infant mortality, and premature death among marginalized communities.
Reproductive Technologies
Advances in genetic screening raise ethical concerns about selective breeding and discrimination. ⚠️
While potentially valuable, advances in genetic screening and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) raise ethical concerns regarding selective breeding and discrimination based on genetic traits. Access to these technologies is often influenced by socioeconomic factors, further exacerbating health inequities.
Genetic Reductionism
Overemphasizing genetic predisposition ignores the vital role of the environment and personal agency. 🗣️
The overemphasis on genetic predisposition in healthcare and society can lead to discrimination, stigma, and a sense of fatalism regarding health outcomes. This logic ignores the complex interplay between genes and the environment, perpetuating that individuals solely define others by their genetic makeup.
Dismantling the Legacy: A Call to Action
⚠️ Dismantling latent eugenics requires a multi-pronged approach:
Promoting Health Equity
Advocating for policies that address the social determinants of health and ensure equal access to quality healthcare, education, and resources for all. This promotion includes investing in community-based health initiatives, addressing systemic biases in healthcare systems, and promoting policies that support healthy environments and reduce exposure to environmental toxins.
Ethical Genetic Practices
Ensuring the use of genetic information in healthcare and society is guided by ethical principles prioritizing patient autonomy, informed consent, and non-discrimination. This practice includes culturally sensitive and unbiased genetic counseling and regulations preventing discriminatory use of genetic information.
Challenging Genetic Determinism
Promoting a nuanced understanding of gene-environment interactions and the role of epigenetics in shaping health outcomes. This challenge involves educating the public about the dynamic nature of gene expression and the potential for positive change through lifestyle modifications and holistic health practices.
Quick Recap:
Promote Health Equity: ✊ Advocate for policies ensuring equal healthcare, education, and resources for all.
Ethical Genetic Practices: Ensure genetic information prioritizes patient autonomy and non-discrimination. ✔️
Challenge Genetic Determinism: 🗣️ Educate the public about the dynamic nature of gene expression and the power of lifestyle choices, providing a nuanced understanding of gene-environment interactions.
Dismantling the Legacy: A Call to Action
We've explored the harmful legacy of eugenics and its continued impact on healthcare disparities. We've seen how genetic reductionism and misusing genetic technologies perpetuate inequities. But the story doesn't end there.
The next chapter in our journey towards health equity focuses on the empowering potential of epigenetics and holistic health. We'll explore how our choices and experiences can shape our gene expression, offering a path toward a more equitable and empowered future.
Join us in closing for Part Four, considering the transformative power of epigenetics and holistic health to empower your life navigation.
Thank you for reading!
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The information in this blog post is for educational purposes only, not medical advice regarding your specific health questions or concerns.
References
Bailey, Z. D., Krieger, N., Agénor, M., Graves, J., Linos, N., & Bassett, M. T. (2017). Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: Evidence and interventions. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1453-1463.
Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: It's time to consider the causes of the causes. Public Health Reports, 129(Suppl 2), 19-31.
Feinberg, A. P. (2007). Phenotypic plasticity and the epigenetics of human disease. Nature, 447(7143), 433-440.
Heard, E., & Martienssen, R. A. (2014). Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance: Myths and mechanisms. Cell, 157(1), 95-109.
Kuzawa, C. W., & Sweet, E. (2009). Epigenetics and the embodiment of race: Developmental origins of US racial disparities in cardiovascular health. American Journal of Human Biology, 21(1), 2-15.
Landecker, H., & Panofsky, A. (2013). From social structure to gene regulation, and back: A critical introduction to environmental epigenetics for sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 39, 333-357.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Communities in action: Pathways to health equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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