14 DAY TRIAL // Even if until recently I thought that the only difference between white and black, African-American people relates to the different melanin pigment in their skin which makes some individuals' epidermis darker than others, I guess I was wrong. More and more scientific studies conducted recently strive to show that there are big differences between fairer and darker individuals, making the former healthier than the latter. Why is this? Because reports show that African- American people are more likely to suffer from prostate cancer, black women are at higher risk to experience miscarriage etc.
A scientific research lasting from the end of July shows that, contrary to the common belief that only fair skinned people can be affected by skin cancer, dark skinned people are not at all free of the same type of cancer. Moreover, it was proved that even if black people get skin cancer rather seldom, they are more likely to die or develop complications from it than their fairer counterparts.
Scholars from the Cincinnati University warn that the fact that black people cannot develop skin cancer has driven many specialists to wrongfully diagnose them. Due to the same misconception, black people do not usually use sunscreens when taking sunbaths as they think they are immune to UV radiation.
"There's a perception that people with darker skin don't have to worry about skin cancer, but that's not true. Minorities do get skin cancer, and because of this false perception most cases aren't diagnosed until they are more advanced and difficult to treat. Unfortunately, that translates into higher mortality rates," lead researcher Dr Hugh Gloster stated.
The melanin is the skin pigment and is responsible for the color of our epidermis. When taking sunbaths, the melanin in our inner skin layer gives the tan of the skin - because the melanin changes its color. Therefore, people that have a darker skin have more melanin.
It is true that the extra-melanin offers them higher protection from UV radiation, but this does not mean that they are totally free of risk. Even darker skinned men can get skin cancer, because UVA rays are highly harmful and can penetrate to the deepest layers of the epidermis.
The melanin consists in the melanocyte cells. The melanocyte cells are responsible for the melanoma that causes cancer in people that take frequent and prolonged sunbaths. The cancerous mutations within the skin come from the uncontrollably growing number of melanocyte.
"Melanomas in people of color almost always arise on the sole of the foot. Other unusual areas would be under the nails and on the palms. And also in the mouth," Dr. Gluster informs. "We need to maintain a high index of suspicion for skin cancer in skin of color. That is why black people should "seek regular full skin exams and also examine themselves, paying particular attention to those areas that we commonly don't consider skin cancers would occur, such as palms, soles, fingers, toes, under the nails and mucosal surfaces like in the mouth and genitalia."
In a research completed this week, scientists at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston investigated the statistics which showed that black men are 50% more likely to develop prostate cancer than their white counterparts. Also, black men get to suffer from this particular type of cancer earlier in life and die more often from it. This led scientists to investigate the reasons which influence prostate cancer to be more frequent and also more aggressive in African-American men.
Consequently, analyzing the DNA, scientists at Dana Farber Cancer Institute found that dark - skinned men present a flawed segment in their DNA which relates to a group of genes arrayed along chromosome 8. The specific region of the chromosome 8 considered to be the problem which makes black people more likely to develop prostate cancer is the region called 8q24.
"It appears that we found a genetic risk that predisposes to prostate cancer in the general population, but particularly in African-American men. This is the first time that a genetic risk factor for prostate cancer has been found and confirmed in the general population," lead researcher of the study Dr. Matthew Freedman stated.
Another study also finalized this week shows how and why African American women are more likely to experience problems when carrying a baby and when delivering it to the world. Scientists at the Virginia Commonwealth University found that black women present a variation of the SERPINH1 gene which makes them more likely to miscarriage or give birth to premature babies.
"We were interested in finding genetic contributors to preterm birth in African-Americans, because they have a substantially higher risk of delivering a preterm baby than non-black individuals. There are genetic factors that might predispose the 'bag of waters' to break early and result in a preterm birth," said lead researcher Dr. Jerome F. Strauss III, dean of Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Medicine.
The variation of the gene is called the minor "T" allele polymorphism. This variation was found to be typical for African women. It causes levels of a certain protein in the body which stabilizes collagen to decrease. Collagen strengthens the membrane that contains the fluids which surround the fetus.
An investigation of eleven previous studies on white and black people suffering from diabetes showed that dark skinned fellows are more likely to develop diabetes because they have poorer control of blood sugar than their fairer skinned counterparts. The research was conducted by a team of medical experts from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and published in the yesterday Diabetes Care journal.
Julienne Kirk, PharmD and lead author of the study states that this discovery may account for higher rates of diabetes and mortality from the particular disease among black people: "This lower level of control may partly explain why blacks have disproportionately higher rates of death and complications from diabetes," she noted in the report.
Most of the information in the 11 studies analyzed by the team and conducted between 1993 and 2005 pointed out the fact that white people present lower levels of A1C than their darker skinned counterparts. A1C, also known as hemoglobin A1C, designates a component of the red blood cells which transports oxygen to the body's cells and carries at the same time sugar through the bloodstream. The higher the reduction in one's A1C hemoglobin levels, the lower his chances of becoming a diabetes patient and also of having diabetes complications.
The research showed that black people presented an average of 0.65% more A1C in their red blood cells than white people. Taking into account the fact that 1% less A1C accounts for a 21% lower risk of diabetes, black people were found to have a 15% higher risk of developing diabetes throughout their lives than whites.
However, the team pointed out the fact that the A1C levels are only one of the many reasons which cause African- American population to have poorer control of their blood sugar: "Although A1C control among blacks likely contributes to their elevated risk of complications, it accounts for only a portion. We need to understand more fully why this disparity exists and to eliminate factors that may be changeable, such as improving access to care."
After consulting these several studies which show that there are biological, anatomical and genetic differences between whites and blacks, should we think that races are really different or not? Or are we all equal? Or are we simply socially equal and anatomically different?
