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Health Disparities, An Article By Dr. Christian Dimaano

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The lecture, led by Dr. Christian Dimaano, discussed a variety of health disparities and then went into an in depth look at Henrietta Lacks, and the use of her cells in scientific research. He described health disparities as the differences of health problems between races, lifestyles, and mental processes. This was a very interesting topic for me, as a nursing major, I hadn’t really thought about health disparities before, so it was interesting to think about all of the potentially higher health risks that can occur simply because a patients race, or mental state. He also discussed the social determinants of heath and how things like your physical environment, economic stability, social community, and education can all influence your health. Dr. Dimaano also talked about how social determinants of health are health problems that you had no choice in, they are developed by factors such as sex, age, genes, medical care, and individual behaviors such as work and home life. All of these factors play a part in our health, and …show more content…

She had lacked access to healthcare for most of her life because of her race, and so when she was diagnosed with cancer she ended up at Johns Hopkins Hospital, because it was one of the few hospitals on the east coast that allowed the treatment of African Americans. It was on her death bed in John Hopkins, that some cells were taken from her without her permission, which was not ethical. It was those cells that were immortalized in a culture and are now called HeLa cells. HeLa cells, while not ethically sourced have been an amazing cell culture. They have been used to develop the polio vaccine and invitro fertilization, and the cells are still being used for drug development today. The main ethical problems are that the cells were taken without Henrietta’s permission, and that her family never received reimbursement for Henrietta’s contribution to

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The beginning of 1951 is when Henrietta Lacks visited Johns Hopkins, the only hospital in the area that treated black patients because she felt a pain in her womb. She was told she was pregnant. However, after giving birth to her fifth child, Henrietta had a severe hemorrhage. After many tests were run, a hard mass was found on Henrietta’s cervix.

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is at once a biography, a work of science journalism, and a book about the interconnected topics of ethics, justice, and racism. Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman who died from cervical cancer in 1951, was the source of the so-called HeLa cell line, which is “omnipresent” (Skloot, 2010, p. 24) in modern science. The HeLa cell line was derived from Henrietta Lacks’ cancerous tumor, which, against the wishes of Henrietta’s family was taken from her corpse and has been used for prolific and lucrative medical research for over seven decades (Skloot, 2010). Skloot (2010) described The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as “a biography of both the cells and the woman they came from—someone’s daughter, wife, and mother” (pp. 25-26). While the HeLa cells are ubiquitous in research, the woman from whom they came is, at best, a footnote in biological or medical textbooks.

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I first heard about Henrietta Lacks story after noticing and advertisement of Oprah Winfrey directing or possibly playing the role of Ms. Lacks. Reading the caption underneath the picture posted I decided to inquire more about the Henrietta Lacks. Ms. Lacks was an African American woman who found out in 1951 after a biopsy, Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The manifestation of the tumor was unlike anything that had ever been seen by the examining gynecologist Dr. Howard Jones. Henrietta Lacks was treated at the segregated John Hopkins Hospital with radium tube inserted and sewn into her body, a standard treatment at that time sewn in her body.

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Group 2 Hela Essay Henrietta Lacks was a normal, young African American woman who lived a simple life by taking care of her family, including her husband (and also her first cousin) Dale, and their five children. Not long after she delivered her fifth child, Henrietta developed an aggressive cervical cancer caused by the sexually transmitted disease, HPV, which quickly caused her to lose her fight and pass away, yet her death and cancer cells also had a new beginning in the aspect of science: her cells taken from a biopsy continued to divide and became one of the most important cell lines in medical history.

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This nonfiction book The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks was written by Rebecca Skloot. Skloot gives us a glimpse of the life of a young African American woman Henrietta Lacks as she briefly went through the healthcare system with cervical cancer in the 1950s. While Henrietta is the main character of this book, Skloot also highlighted the racial disparities in the healthcare sector and other industries at the time and painting a vivid picture of dying communities and the struggles of the descendants of Henrietta Lacks. Although, a lot of the book is about Henrietta Lacks, it is also about her daughter Deborah learning more about her mother and finding out the truth about her aunt Elsie. Henrietta was a mother of five who sort medical attention

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Henrietta Lacks was a black tobacco farmer from the south who, in 1950, at the age of 30, she was diagnosed with aggressive cervical cancer. Lacks went to John’s Hopkins medical center for treatment for her cancer. In April of 1951, she underwent surgery to remove the larger tumor on her cervix. Henrietta Lacks, died three days following the surgery. Even though Henrietta Lacks died, her cells from the tumor have lived on and have made a major impact on the biomedical community.

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The primary ethical issue is that doctors took Henrietta Lacks’ cells without permission. Doctor Gey forgot the patient and focused his attention on the research.  Doctor Gey’s self- interest and quest for recognition allowed him to cross ethical boundaries.   He took advantage of Henrietta Lacks when she was sick, vulnerable and in need of medical attention therefore, one must question his moral judgment.

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta, an African-American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line. Told through the eyes of her daughter, Deborah Lacks, aided by journalist Rebecca Skloot. Deborah wanted to learn about her mother, and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever. It is a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty and deep friendship between the unlikeliest people. There had been many books published about Henrietta’s cells, but nothing about Henrietta’s personality, experiences, feeling, life style etc.

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Racism in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Imagine your mother, sister, wife, or cousin was diagnosed with cervical cancer and you believed the doctors were doing everything in their power to help her. Only later you discovered her cells were used for research without consent and she was not properly informed of the risks of her treatment due to her race. This story happened and is told by Rebecca Skloot in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot use of narrative and her writing style enhances the understanding of the story. Henrietta Lacks was a young black woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital.

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In the novel The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a black cervical cancer victim is used to make a cell line that will be used in scientific experimentation. Henrietta

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