Date: 4/16/24
Name of podcast: Dr. Patient
Episode title and number: 15 Race and Healthcare: One Man's Story

Episode summary: Last week we heard from Linda Villarosa on the impact slavery still has on our modern healthcare system and how it leads to racial health disparities in the US. Today we’ll hear from Michael Tyler, children’s author, about his specific experience with race impacting his care.

Guest(s): Michael Tyler, children's author: www.michaeltylerwrites.com

Key Terms:
[00:36] – link to something about how all old studies were on white men
[07:02] PSA – prostate specific antigen, a blood-based screening tool for prostate cancer
[08:30] BPH – Benign Prostate Hypertrophy, a condition where the prostate enlarges and causes urinary symptoms. Annoying, but generally not dangerous
[08:38] Biomarkers - https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/biomarkers-for-better-prostate-cancer-screening#:~:text=Biomarkers%20are%20%22chemicals%22%20that%20can,and%20potentially%20catch%20it%20early
[10:35] “Broke the seal” and Prostatectomy – a tumor has “broken the seal” of the prostate when it grows outside of the actual prostate wall. A prostatectomy is the partial or complete removal of the prostate
[19:35] “Prostate cancer gene” – some cases of prostate cancer are caused by genetics. There are some genes that can be inherited (sort of like the BRCA breast cancer genes for women. Men with variants in these genes have a high risk of developing prostate cancer and, in some cases, other cancers during their lifetimes

References:
2014 Study about the difference in location of prostate biopsies depending on race: “Pathological examination of Radical Prostatectomy Specimens in Men with Very Low Risk Disease at Biopsy Reveals Distinct Zonal Distribution of Cancer in Black American Men”: https://www.auajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1016/j.juro.2013.06.021