Last year, I read an article online about this a study, Voices for Black Women as part of the American Cancer Society. It’s the first of it’s kind to research Black Women and cancer. It was not one that required me to take any pills or change my diet. The only thing that is mandatory is to complete occasional surveys over the course of about 30 years. The questions asked are pretty much about lifestyle and present health. The purpose is to observe any factors that could be contributing to the susceptibility of various cancer diagnoses.
As the new year came in, they sent me a card as a thank you, but in it they said only 2,800 Black women signed up. It could be that many people have not heard about this, or many are not interested but I was shocked to hear that a small number of people have signed up. Now the ages they are looking for are those between 25 and 55, but I know there are so many more women who fit in this age range. My hope is that more women will sign up and this is my purpose for speaking about it today. As annoying as it can be to fill out surveys this one is for greater good.
In the U.S., the history of Black people and research is not great. In the 1800’s, there was research done by Dr. James Marion Sims who is coined the “father of modern gynecology.” He conducted procedures on enslaved Black women with no anesthesia and no moral ethics. One of his studies was pioneering the procedure to repair vesicovaginal fistula. This is a tear between the bladder and uterus often seen after childbirth. Also, during this century there was Dr. Ephraim McDowell. He helped develop the surgical treatment for ovarian cancer by testing on enslaved women without anesthesia. In both cases, they carried the theory that Black women felt no pain. This stigma still lives on today by some health professionals. So, to have this study that only requires surveys is a great way to help get more information.
I would like to see answers as to why so many cancers affect Black women with and without a family history. I would like to see why the age of onsets is suddenly decreasing for some cancers such as colon and breast. Hopefully this can reduce the numbers of those diagnosed or those who die from these cancers. I hope that by next year’s Women’s History Month, there will be more Black women who sign up to join. For more information visit here.