Search


	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		Could doctors do a better job by asking patients different questions?
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:02
	Publish Date:		2017-02-28 18:00:00
	Description:		When you fill out forms at the doctor’s office, you often have to check off boxes to identify as Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian or African–American. Noah Zaitlen of the University of California, San Francisco, says that’s because people of different ethnic backgrounds respond differently to medication and treatments. Still, Zailten says this method is far from perfect; in fact, he found adding social and environmental factors may be just as important. "What would happen in a hospital system if instead of saying you can be Latino, let people tell me more about what community they identify with. Could we do a better job of practicing medicine if we sort of broaden these categories or maybe used some genetics to help enrich the community identification?” So Zaitlin suggests doctors collect more information about exposure to pollutants or stress. ”And if we collected extra information, how much of the difference between drug response, diagnostic ranges, disease prevalence does that explain? And how much would that help us in the clinic?"
	Total Play:		0