Man-Made Medicine and Women's Health: The Biopolitics of Sex/Gender and Race/Ethnicity

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Krieger ◽  
Elizabeth Fee
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
White Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Statistics ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Class Differences ◽  
Biological Variables ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
19Th And 20Th Century

National vital statistics in the United States present data in terms of race, sex, and age, treated as biological variables. Some races are clearly of more interest than others: data are usually available for whites and blacks, and increasingly for Hispanics, but seldom for Native Americans or Asians and Pacific Islanders. These data indicate that white men and women generally have the best health and that men and women, within each racial/ethnic group, have different patterns of disease. Obviously, the health status of men and women differs for conditions related to reproduction, but it differs for many nonreproductive conditions as well. In national health data, patterns of disease by race and sex are emphasized while social class differences are ignored. This article discusses how race and sex became such all-important, self-evident categories in 19th and 20th century biomedical thought and practice. It examines the consequences of these categories for knowledge about health and for the provision of health care. It then presents alternative approaches to understanding the relationship between race/ethnicity, gender, and health, with reference to the neglected category of social class.

scholarly journals Self-Rated Health Trajectories among Married Americans: Do Disparities Persist over 20 Years?

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terceira A. Berdahl ◽  
Julia McQuillan
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
White Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Married Individuals ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Nationally Representative

The purpose of this study is to understand self-rated health (SRH) trajectories by social location (race/ethnicity by gender by social class) among married individuals in the United States. We estimate multilevel models of SRH using six observations from 1980 to 2000 from a nationally representative panel of married individuals initially aged 25–55 (Marital Instability Over the Life Course Study). Results indicate that gender, race/ethnicity, and social class are associated with initial SRH disparities. Women are less healthy than men; people of color are less healthy than whites; lower educated individuals are less healthy than higher educated individuals. Women’s health declined slower than men’s but did not differ by race/ethnicity or education. Results from complex intersectional models show that white men with any college had the highest initial SRH. Only women with any college had significantly slower declines in SRH compared to white men with any college. For married individuals of all ages, most initial SRH disparities persist over twenty years. Intersecting statuses show that education provides uneven health benefits across racial/ethnic and gender subgroups.

Clyde Warrior, 1939–1968

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany Hale
Keyword(s):  
Native Americans ◽  
Older Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
Poor People's Campaign ◽  
Organizational Leader ◽  
Martin Luther King ◽  
Older Men And Women

To identify Clyde Warrior as an intellectual subverts prevailing notions of intellectualism. We often think of intellectuals as older men and women whose major contributions are revealed late in life, once the passions of youth have been tempered by experience. Warrior was not this. People frequently imagine intellectuals as existing in isolation, insulated from the demands of regular folk. Warrior was not this either. He was a Ponca, born on the reservation and raised with the influence of his grandparents and community. He was also a renowned singer and powwow fancy dancer, as well as a college student, an organizational leader, a husband, and father of two daughters. Warrior’s political consciousness grew out of the deep connections he maintained to his rural Ponca roots, but he took care to educate himself about the problems affecting Native Americans across the United States as well as colonized peoples globally. As an Oklahoman, he was attuned to race relations in the South and empathized with the struggles of Africans and African Americans. His approach to indigenous political struggles was shaped and informed, for example, by his early and active participation with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign.

Rising incidence of oral tongue cancer among white men and women in the United States, 1973–2012

Oral Oncology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 146-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Tota ◽  
William F. Anderson ◽  
Charles Coffey ◽  
Joseph Califano ◽  
Wendy Cozen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tongue Cancer ◽  
White Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
Oral Tongue ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Oral Tongue Cancer ◽  
Rising Incidence

Abstract 15: Trends in Atrial Fibrillation-related Cardiovascular Mortality Rates in The United States: 1999-2017

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 141 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshihiro Tanaka ◽  
Nilay Shah ◽  
Rod Passman ◽  
Philip Greenland ◽  
Sadiya Khan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Atrial Fibrillation ◽  
Black Men ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
White Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Black And White

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in adults and the prevalence is increasing due to the aging of the population and the growing burden of vascular risk factors. Although deaths due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) death have dramatically decreased in recent years, trends in AF-related CVD death has not been previously investigated. Purpose: We sought to quantify trends in AF-related CVD death rates in the United States. Methods: AF-related CVD death was ascertained using the CDC WONDER online database. AF-related CVD deaths were identified by listing CVD (I00-I78) as underlying cause of death and AF (I48) as contributing cause of death among persons aged 35 to 84 years. We calculated age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) per 100,000 population, and examined trends over time estimating average annual percent change (AAPC) using Joinpoint Regression Program (National Cancer Institute). Subgroup analyses were performed to compare AAMRs by sex-race (black and white men and women) and across two age groups (younger: 35-64 years, older 65-84 years). Results: A total of 522,104 AF-related CVD deaths were identified between 1999 and 2017. AAMR increased from 16.0 to 22.2 per 100,000 from 1999 to 2017 with an acceleration following an inflection point in 2009. AAPC before 2009 was significantly lower than that after 2009 [0.4% (95% CI, 0.0 - 0.7) vs 3.5% (95% CI, 3.1 - 3.9), p < 0.001). The increase of AAMR was observed across black and white men and women overall and in both age groups (FIGURE), with a more pronounced increase in black men and white men. Black men had the highest AAMR among the younger decedents, whereas white men had the highest AAMR among the older decedents. Conclusion: This study revealed that death rate for AF-related CVD has increased over the last two decades and that there are greater black-white disparities in younger decedents (<65 years). Targeting equitable risk factor reduction that predisposes to AF and CVD mortality is needed to reduce observed health inequities.

Psychological distress and work and home roles: a focus on socio-economic differences in distress

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 725-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. MATTHEWS ◽  
C. POWER ◽  
S. STANSFELD
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Social Gradient ◽  
Psychological Status ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Class Differences ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
Work Factors ◽  
The Impact

Background. Home and work factors have been linked to psychological status, but less is known about their contribution to social inequalities in psychological status. We examine whether social inequalities in psychological distress can be explained by work–home factors and whether the impact of these potential explanatory factors is similar for men and women.Methods. Data are from the 1958 British birth cohort study. We sought to explain social class differences in psychological distress at age 33. Explanatory factors were classified as work–home roles: i.e. employment, marital status, domestic responsibility, children and elderly care; and work–home characteristics: i.e. job-strain, insecurity, unsocial working hours, youngest child's age, number of children and level of involvement in childcare.Results. A social gradient in psychological distress was found: odds ratios for classes IV and V v. I and II were 2·65 (men) and 3·02 (women). Work factors had consistently stronger associations with psychological distress and with social class among men than women. Work factors had a greater impact on class differences in psychological distress in men. Associations for home roles and characteristics were less consistent and their combined effect on class differences in distress was negligible for both sexes.Conclusion. Explanations for the social gradient differ for men and women. Work may be more important for men than women, but the impact of home factors was not strong during the early adulthood of this cohort.

Social Class: The Missing Link in U.S. Health Data

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Krieger ◽  
Elizabeth Fee
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Statistics ◽  
Health Data ◽  
Inequalities In Health ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Gathering Data ◽  
Reporting Data ◽  
The U.S

National vital statistics in the United States are unique among those of advanced capitalist countries in reporting data only by race, sex, and age—not by class and income. This article reviews the limited U.S. data resources that may be used to document social class inequalities in health. Summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of the British approach to gathering data on social class and health, the authors discuss possible approaches to collecting data that could be feasible in the U.S. context. They argue that educational level is an insufficient marker for socioeconomic position and contend that appropriate measures must take into account not only individual but also household and neighborhood markers of social class. These additional types of social class data are especially important for accurately describing and understanding social class inequalities in health among women and across diverse racial/ethnic groups.

Initial Screening Transferrin Saturation Values, Serum Ferritin Concentrations, and HFE Genotypes in Native Americans and Whites in the Hemochromatosis and Iron Overload Screening (HEIRS) Study.

Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 3712-3712
Author(s):  
James C. Barton ◽  
Ronald T. Acton ◽  
Laura Lovato ◽  
Mark R. Speechley ◽  
Christine E. McLaren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Iron Overload ◽  
Allele Frequency ◽  
White Women ◽  
Transferrin Saturation ◽  
White Men ◽  
Initial Screening ◽  
Native American Women ◽  
Men And Women

Abstract There are few reports of transferrin saturation (TfSat) and serum ferritin (SF) phenotypes and HFE C282Y and H63D genotypes in native Americans. We compared initial screening data of 645 native American and 43,453 white HEIRS Study participants who reported a single race/ethnicity and who did not report a previous diagnosis of hemochromatosis or iron overload. Each underwent TfSat and SF measurements without regard to fasting, and HFE C282Y and H63D genotyping. Elevated measurements were defined as: TfSat &gt;50% (men), &gt;45% (women); and SF &gt;300 ng/mL (men), &gt;200 ng/mL (women). Mean TfSat was lower in native American men than in white men (31% vs. 32%, respectively; p = 0.0337), and lower in native American women than in white women (25% vs. 27%, respectively; p &lt;0.0001). Mean SF was similar in native American and white men (153 μg/L vs. 151 μg/L; p = 0.8256); mean SF was lower in native American women than in white women (55 μg/L vs. 63 μg/L, respectively; p = 0.0015). The respective percentages of native American men and women with elevated TfSat or elevated SF were similar to those of white men and women. The respective mean TfSat and SF values of native American and white participants with genotype HFE wt/wt were similar. The C282Y allele frequency was 0.0340 in native Americans and 0.0683 in whites (p &lt;0.0001). The H63D allele frequency was 0.1150 in native Americans and 0.1532 in whites (p = 0.0001). We conclude that the screening TfSat and SF phenotypes of native Americans do not differ greatly from those of whites. The respective allele frequencies of HFE C282Y and H63D are significantly lower in native Americans than in whites.

Aging, Vulnerability and Managing Type 2 Diabetes During a Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 106-111
Author(s):  
Jasmin Tahmaseb McConatha
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Immigrant Woman ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Class Differences

Older men and women have been found to be more vulnerable to negative outcomes should they contract Covid19, particularly if they also have comorbid conditions such as type 2 diabetes. Cultural, racial, ethnic, and social class differences exist in vulnerability to Covid19 and in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. In the United States, for example, diabetes rates for minority and immigrant populations are higher than for non-Hispanic whites. During the a social health crisis, it is helpful to explore the ways that illness management and associated vulnerability influences the ways that minority elders attempt to maintain and promote their well-being. This paper presents a case study example of an older immigrant woman, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and her struggle to manage her illness during a pandemic. The risk of developing diabetes in the United States is 3 to 1 and risks increase with age (American Diabetes Association, 2020).  Almost 50 % of black women as well as Hispanic men and women will develop diabetes in their lifetime (CDC, 2019). Disparities such as these have their origin in intersecting risk factors such as health care and lifestyle factors such as tress, poverty, weight, diet, and exercise patterns. Being a member of an ethnic minority and being overweight are the two significant factors associated with the onset of type 2 diabetes. During the coronavirus epidemic, these same factors also increase the risk for infection and for greater complications, even death as a result of infection (Society for Women’s Health Research, 2020). This essay illustrates the increased vulnerability and challenges including loneliness facing older women with type 2 diabetes during pandemic isolation.    

Incidence of testicular cancer in the United States from 1992 to 2009.

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 339-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manas Nigam ◽  
Brisa Aschebrook-Kilfoy ◽  
Sergey Shikanov ◽  
Scott E. Eggener
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Testicular Cancer ◽  
White Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
The Us ◽  
Hispanic Men ◽  
Tumor Characteristic ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Hispanic White

339 Background: The incidence of testicular cancer (TC) increased in the US through 2003. However, little is known about these trends after 2003. We sought to determine trends in TC incidence based on race, ethnicity and tumor characteristics. Methods: TC incidence and tumor characteristic data from 1992-2009 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-13 (SEER) registry. Trends were determined using JoinPoint. Results: TC incidence in the US increased from 1992 (5.7/100,000) to 2009 (6.8/100,000) with annual percentage change (APC) of 1.1% (p < 0.001). TC rates were highest in non-Hispanic white men (1992: 7.5/100,000; 2009: 8.6/1000) followed by Hispanic men (1992: 4.0/100,000; 2009: 6.3/100,000) and lowest among non-Hispanic black men (1992: 0.7/100,000; 2009: 1.7/100,000). Significantly increasing incidence rates were observed in non-Hispanic white men (1.2%, p < 0.001) but most prominently among Hispanics, especially from 2002-2009 (5.6%, p < 0.01). A significant increase was observed for localized TC (1.21%, p < 0.001) and metastatic TC (1.43%, p < 0.01). Increased incidence occurred in localized tumors for non-Hispanic white men (1.56%, p <0.001), while Hispanic men experienced an increase in localized (2.6%, p < 0.001), regionalized (16.5% from 2002-09, p < 0.01), and distant (2.6%, p < 0.01) disease. Conclusions: Through 2009, testicular cancer incidence continues to increase in the United States, most notably among Hispanic men. [Table: see text]

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