A documentary series that has been airing on KET on consecutive Thursdays since March 27, presents some startling evidence that our socio-economic status as well as racial inequities can cause problems with our health. Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? investigates findings that belie conventional understanding of what causes us to be healthy or chronically ill.
The four-part series, which ends on April 17, reveals that social conditions — the world in which we are born, live and work — play a bigger role than bad habits, health care or genes in our overall health.
The hour-long opening segment was set in Louisville and questioned why some of us get sicker more often and die sooner, and whether the amount of money we have has anything to do with our health or lack thereof. The documentary suggests that health and longevity are inter-related to socio-economic status and that minorities, people of color, have a double whammy because our health and well-being are tied to economic and social justice.
Wow.
The second episode, and ensuing ones, feature two segments each. On April 3, the documentary focused on infant mortality rates among African Americans, and how despite educational achievement, black women still experienced more pre-mature births or low birth-weight babies than white women who didn’t finish high school. Researchers are looking for causes connected to racism as a long-term risk factor.
Also, the second episode explored why recent Mexican immigrants are healthier than the average American even though they are very much poorer. The longer they’re here, however, the worse their health becomes even if their economic status improves. No one knows why. It is called the “Hispanic Paradox.”
Thursday, April 10, the segments are called “Bad Sugar” and “Place Matters.”
In “Bad Sugar,” filmmakers travel to the O’odham Indian Reservation in Arizona, where folks there have the highest rates of Type 2 diabetes in the world. Again the documentary looks at chronic disease as the body’s response to generations of oppression and historical trauma. The condition is called ‘futurelessness’ or what most of us would call hopelessness.
In “Place Matters,” filmmakers interview Southeast Asian immigrants and Hispanics who have moved into former black neighborhoods and now they are getting sick, too. Are our neighborhood environments harming us?
Then on April 17, the final episodes, “Not Just a Paycheck” and “Collateral Damage” will air.
When residents of western Michigan lose their jobs because a refrigerator factory shuts down, their incidents of depression, domestic violence,heart disease and diabetes rise.
And diabetes, cardiovascular and kidney diseases increase in the Pacific Islands when there is uneven development there. Changes in the Marshall Islands and in Springdale, Ark., because of military occupation are examined.
The documentary airs at 10 p.m. each Thursday. If you missed the first two or any part, a DVD is available, but only to high schools, historically black colleges and universities, and some community and charitable organizations for $79.95. For government agencies, corporations and other colleges and universities, the cost is $295. It doesn’t seem to be available to individuals. Go to www.newsreel.org for more information.
Maybe churches can buy a copy and show it to their congregations. This is something we all need to know more about.
For more information about the series itself, go to www.unnaturalcauses.org.
April is National Minority Health Month. It seems some researchers are trying to do make us more aware of the disparity in this nation’s health issues. The least we can do is watch the documentary and change what we can.
I am a native Kentuckian, and I have worked at the Lexington Herald-Leader for nearly a quarter of a century. I've been a columnist for almost 20 of those years, dispensing my opinions about anything and everything. Born in Owensboro, Ky., I'm old enough to have lived through racial segregation, the Civil Rights Movement, protests against the Vietnam War, and the break-up of the Beatles. That means I am "old school," and my thoughts emanate from that perspective.