Unraveling the Genetic Tapestry: Ethics, Advocacy, and Innovation in Healthcare

When trauma nurse practitioner Tamika Jones shares her profound experiences from two decades in healthcare, it's an invitation to unravel the tapestry of genetics with personal zeal. Teaming up with Tamika, we journey through the intricate realm of genetic information, tackling the necessity of its ethical application and the vigilant prevention of its potential abuse. Her voice is one of inspiration, as she divulges her recovery story and her zealous advocacy for those in underserved communities, shedding light on the nuances of delivering culturally sensitive care amidst the high-stakes trauma bay.

Grasping the threads of genetics empowers us to weave a narrative that bolsters patient advocacy and informed decision-making. The narrative recalls the poignant tale of Henrietta Lacks, propelling us into a discussion on the sanctity of consent and the foundational ethics healthcare providers must uphold. As we dissect the far-reaching implications of genetic knowledge on society, from legal conundrums to the safeguarding of personal data, we arm you, our listeners, with actionable strategies to protect yourselves from the misuse of your most intrinsic blueprint.

The conversation doesn't end at the ethical crossroads of genetics. We advocate an ethos of curiosity and proactive health management, examining how innovative treatments like IV hydration therapy can uplift our well-being. Tamika illuminates the potential of these therapies filled with vitamins and antioxidants to fortify the immune system and enrich the lives of those grappling with chronic ailments. We wrap up our dialogue with the collective ambition of continuing this vital conversation, inviting you to join us in future sessions where your queries take center stage, further solidifying our commitment to demystifying the complex yet fascinating world of genetics.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

P23 Knowledge, access, power. P23, wellness and Understanding at your fingertips P23. And that's no cap.

Speaker 2: 0:22

Welcome back to Demystifying DNA, your guide to the captivating world of genetics where we unravel complex scientific concepts for your understanding and engagement. I'm your host, Dr Tiffany Montgomery, CEO Scientist, Epidemiologist and your friend, Joined by my insightful guest today, Tamika Jones. Tamika is a trauma nurse practitioner in Kennesaw, Georgia, with over 20 years of health care experience. Tamika is a proud mom, nurse and member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated. She is co-founder and co-owner of Mind, Body and Soul IV Hydration and Spa, located in Marietta, Georgia. They can be found on Instagram at MindBody, underscore soulatl. You can call them at 770-308-5011 or book your appointment online and find out more at MindBodySoulAtlcom. Welcome, Tamika, Thank you. Thank you for having me. We're excited to have you today. Tamika is such a passionate caretaker and powerhouse in the field of medicine that I could not go without inviting her to this episode. You're welcome.

Speaker 2: 1:57

In today's episode, genetics and appropriate use, misuse and abuse we embark on an enlightening exploration of how our understanding and application of genetics can have a profound effect on society. Our mission is to demystify, uncode and understand genetics as if it was our own business, making it accessible and relatable to everyone, Whether you're a science enthusiast or simply just a curious person like me. We want you to know about the responsible use of genetic information. As we delve into the ethics and implications of genetic knowledge, we aim to shed light on the appropriate use, potential misuse and prevention of genetic abuse. Let's embark on this journey together, decoding the complex world of genetics for a better informed future. So, Tamika, we talked about you being a nurse, practitioner and in healthcare for over 20 years. Yes, Tell me what inspired you to become a nurse practitioner.

Speaker 3: 3:11

So at the age of 17, I was ejected from a car, had to learn how to walk again, but the nurses were amazing. So that prompted me wanted to be a nurse and as I grew in my nursing career I desired an autonomy to affect change on a higher scale. So I decided to go back to school and become a nurse practitioner so that I can have that autonomy to develop treatment plans and actually advocate for people like us in my field.

Speaker 2: 3:46

So when you talk about being an advocate and helping to advocate for people, especially the people who are, like us, underserved, not always given the same level of service as our counterparts in society, tell me a little bit more about how you advocate or what's important when you are advocating. What is advocating?

Speaker 3: 4:07

So advocating is understanding different nuances that might belong just to the African American or Hispanic communities. We tend to be very stoic, and so we might have high blood pressure. But the blood pressure might not just be because we're hypertensive. It might be because we're in pain or that we're stressed out about a situation, and so being able to see through those barriers and speak, be a voice for people of color, is pretty amazing. An example would be someone comes into the trauma bay and they're in pain, but they're quiet, so they don't want to say anything, and people assume that because they're quiet, they must not be in pain, but their blood pressure is 190 systolic. In those moments you have to ask the questions and find out and then mediate, so things like that.

Speaker 2: 5:09

So one of the things that I took away from what you said which you really said a lot right, so I appreciate that. But one of the key points that I heard you talk about is understanding, and I think that it's important as we talk about what does it mean to demystify genetics? You cannot explain something or articulate it if you don't understand it. So one of the things we have to work on to push is the understanding, so that you know how to speak up for yourself, how to communicate what you need or a loved one, and create more patient advocates, just through understanding, not being afraid to say I feel pain.

Speaker 2: 5:57

You have to be informed enough about your body to know my normal blood pressure is not 190 over 110. Help me right. Or, unfortunately, if it is. You have to be informed enough to say to my primary cure doctor I think I need to have blood pressure medicine because every day I take my blood pressure it's in the 190s. So how we do that is by having conversations like this and we work on making these things more accessible. I think when you understand, it changes your access level, just because you have an understanding of what you need.

Speaker 3: 6:35

Right and to further explain how I advocate right. There's difficult conversations that need to be had between providers so that they can also have an understanding, but that's a whole other side of things Whole another side.

Speaker 2: 6:52

So there are multiple conversations that are going to go into creating that understanding. But, like you said, it's a dialogue. It's constant right, correct? So what are some of the ethical considerations that you have seen in your career surrounding the responsible use of genetic?

Speaker 3: 7:10

information. I think that the most profound that we can talk about would be Henrietta Lacks and the use of her cells to create. Henrietta Lacks and the use of her cells to create all types of vaccines and cures for different diseases without her knowledge. How do we protect ourselves from situations like that? You go into the hospital and you expect people to be responsible with your blood tissue samples or what have you, and then you end up in such a controversial situation. First of all, you said understanding, right. So if we don't understand what is going on around us, procedures that are being done to us, we have to not be afraid to open our mouth and ask the question what are you doing and why are we doing this?

Speaker 2: 8:02

So we talked about Henrietta Lacks and I wanna go into more detail about Henrietta Lacks because everybody may not know. Sometimes things happen and we think about all of the good that they provide. But I wanna dig into that a little bit more and what I would like to just say is that from the use of the cells belonging to Henrietta Lacks, we developed something or created something that was cloned and mass produced in the laboratory site called HeLa cells is the short name for them and with the HeLa cells we have been able to unpack and understand so much about the human body, how it will respond. It's created the whole field of in vitro diagnostics. I would like to make sure that our listeners understand.

Speaker 2: 9:04

Henrietta Lacks was really an important person in science. She lived in the 1950s and doctors took some of her cells when she was sick with cancer. It was a type of cervical cancer. These cells were special because they kept growing and dividing outside of her body, unlike most cells. When you take out most cells they will die. So we as scientists call them HeLa cells and they're named after Henrietta Lax. These HeLa cells have helped to develop many experiments and learn about a wide number of diseases, not just cancers and how to treat them. They have been used to develop vaccines, study cancer and do all sorts of medical research.

Speaker 2: 9:53

The problem is, henrietta Lax did not know her cells were taken and her family didn't know for many years. But today we remember her and honor her for her important contribution that was made to science. Absolutely, while she has changed science in ways that we could never truly say thank you enough for, it's still important that we know what is going on with our body. You may have a cell that could change science, but it's up to you to give consent for somebody to study that, to clone that, to mass produce that. When it happens without your consent, that's misuse and abuse, correct. What are some of the potential implications that you can think of that affect genetic knowledge on society today?

Speaker 3: 10:48

Aside from science being changed right, there's also ways to gather people's DNA, to use it in a legal sense in investigations and things like that Also it's ethical.

Speaker 2: 11:05

It's not really. When we get into the ethics, there are not really laws governing ethics. It's up to us to be responsible, compassionate, empathetic, level-headed human beings. To say this may be a violation. Let me ask. Let me not overstep my boundary.

Speaker 3: 11:24

That is based on someone's own morals and values. If you think about the spectrum, all of us carry ourselves differently. How is this person thinking? Gathering my cells, my tissue, my blood? What have you?

Speaker 2: 11:43

We see it all the time, especially when you're working in your hospital capacity, you're drawing the bloods, you're taking these tissue samples. How do we, as healthcare consumers, prevent genetic abuse and misuse when we're in situations that we can't control, like at a hospital or going to the doctor or you're giving that lab sample? How do we not, as providers I'm not talking about as providers what information could we give to our consumers?

Speaker 3: 12:22

I would have to say ask questions, ask all the questions. If there's anything that you are unsure of, ask the questions, speak up for yourself. As providers, we are required to inform the consumer In order to get the information. You would have to ask the question Whoever is gathering your tissue, blood samples or what have you? Ask them what they're doing with it? If you have not signed a consent for treatment, then you need to ask them. Hey, do you have consent for this?

Speaker 2: 13:00

Another thing that I would say that I've seen on the lab side of it is you perform the consent. I've had clients, customers, ask what happens to this sample after you finish the test. Legally, we're only allowed to test for exactly what you give us consent for. Meaning if you send your sample to the lab to be tested for HPV and I'm looking for human papillomavirus I have no right to look for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea or anything else without your express written consent. We've come up with some HIPAA laws and some patient protection laws to try to stop that kind of thing. But if you can't get an answer, don't send the test. And another thing that I've seen in many, many years of working in the lab people will put notes and it will say destroy my sample after use. I didn't know that was a thing. That is a thing. I've seen it. I encourage people to write it. It doesn't matter what they have written on there. You write it, you initial it and you date it, test it for exactly this and destroy my sample Correct A lot of times in the lab will save them for a period of time, as it's required by the federal government, or for retesting purposes.

Speaker 2: 14:27

Let's say the first one didn't work. So you may run the risk of, if your first test not work, you may have to give another sample, but for a lot of people, in many situations, it's more peace of mind. For me, you'd come back to me and recollect a new sample. Then for you to save that sample and use it again for the test that I ordered, or any other research test that you want to do, is not okay. So you protect yourself by being informed, reading the fine print and, after you read it, put your own instructions on there as to what you want to happen. What I would like to know is how do we, aside from having conversations like what we're having now, how do we empower individuals to make sure they have the knowledge to understand the complexity of genetics? What are some things that you would recommend as a nurse, practitioner and advocate for your patients? What could you?

Speaker 3: 15:21

recommend I would have to say that's difficult other than asking questions. I mean, that's the biggest thing is ask the question and when you get an answer, ask it again, check that answer. Well, what is it? What is it called the five yeses or what have you? Five questions? When you ask multiple questions and you reform them, oftentimes you can get more information out of that person. So you might say, hey, what are you gonna do with my sample? Oh, you know, these tests are ordered, okay, so what are you gonna do after you run the tests? And then after that, you know, and who else is looking at my sample, have you?

Speaker 2: 16:04

noticed in your profession and I don't talk about you in general, but maybe when you look at interactions, do people in the medical field or in the hospital industry kind of get frustrated when people ask questions? Absolutely.

Speaker 3: 16:19

Because we're on a timeframe, right, we have 15 patients and we gotta do all these 15 things, and so I don't have time to sit here and listen to you, but it's your time to advocate for and so asking the questions, even if they do get frustrated, you know, get the answers that you need.

Speaker 2: 16:37

So if someone gets frustrated with me, would that change the quality of care that I might receive it?

Speaker 3: 16:42

could, but you also have the option of asking for another provider or another healthcare or caretaker. You don't have to deal with that. You are entitled to information.

Speaker 2: 16:55

So I agree with you 100%. I also advocate for knowing things before you get in that situation, because what I found is when things are intense and you're in the heat of the moment of I just found out, oh my God, I have cancer. Or I just found out, oh my God, I have HIV. It is so important to understand these things before you get to that oh my God moment. So never stop asking questions. Correct.

Speaker 2: 17:25

We want to promote. You know things have become in this day and age. When you hear about curious or curiosity, you immediately think about sexuality. It has so much more of a meaning than that and it is okay to be curious, it is okay to ask questions, because curiosity is that light that keeps you burning, it keeps you going right. So I like promoting curiosity, understanding and engagement. I would like us to get to the point, even on this platform, where people are able to call in and ask their questions and have that open dialogue. I spend a lot of time going back through the comments and trying to answer the questions, but when you think about a podcast like ours that's aired on so many platforms, it can be extremely challenging, of course. So, as we encourage these questions and we encourage these dialogues. We advocate for ourselves. We understand our rights. I want to make sure that that platform is there for people to have their questions answered.

Speaker 2: 18:37

While I'm not a medical doctor, I am a scientist and I do have a wealth of information and questions that you can ask your doctors, your providers and really take charge of your health. We believe in being proactive and we believe in prevention and with that it is a perfect alignment with self care and taking care of your own temple. You have the ability to me to really be a self care guru and you can tell people all about it. You're in a very unique position, but I wanted you to tell us a little bit about self care, how you define it and then how mind, body and soul. Iv hydration, as by, is a part of that self care journey.

Speaker 3: 19:26

Okay so self care right Self explanatory is taking care of yourself, but not only as far as your health is concerned, but also your mental health, your body, your spiritual health, making sure that you're in tune with whoever your higher power is or whatever it is that gives you energy, and making sure that you're hydrated. Right so, at mind, body, soul, we do IV hydration. We're mobile and we have an office, so we offer either to our clients and IV hydration is more than just getting a bag of fluids so that I can feel hydrated and not have a dry mouth. You know there's vitamins and supplements that can build up the immune system and build up the body as a whole. There's antioxidants that can also help protect your DNA in certain senses. Right, help with longevity.

Speaker 3: 20:27

We did a podcast on longevity. Absolutely Build up your mitochondrial health, so increase your energy levels. Right so, mind, body, soul would plan to self care, as in getting, you know, at least once a month, iv treatment to build yourself back up with all of the oxidative stress that we face out in the world chemicals, radiation, exhausts from vehicles and things like that. This just kind of helps to reinforce your immune system.

Speaker 2: 21:00

So wait, you're telling me that if I'm at home not feeling well let's say I'm dehydrated, maybe I have a hangover or maybe I have the flu I can call you and you'll come. Absolutely Wow, that is amazing. And are you noticing? People actually feel better when they have these fluids replaced.

Speaker 3: 21:21

Oftentimes they start to feel better as we're giving them fluids. So hydration is big, we're 75% water, right, and so we don't drink enough. But this is the equipment to giving you one to two gallons of water, backing your system, that you would never be able to drink in 30 to 45 minutes. Right. So it's been an interesting endeavor, but I have seen a lot of people's lives change. People who had chronic urinary tract infections because they didn't drink enough water and now they get drips every two weeks and they haven't been back to the hospital for urinary tract infection, didn't have any issues on their lab work, so it really can be a game changer as far as longevity and overall health is concerned.

Speaker 2: 22:06

Last week we talked on our episode about GLP-1s and weight loss and we find people who are some people who are going on those medications are having problems with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. It might be a perfect combination to introduce IV hydration where you are experiencing those symptoms. That will really help get you back on track and alleviate some of that. Another thing I came to mind when you started talking people who have gastric surgeries or gastric issues and their tummies really can't hold that much water, but they need a lot of water and fluids. So it's amazing to have a resource like that that we can contact. We have a membership program at P23 Health and I would love to put a link for you on our website so that our local members have someone that they can call and say hey, I was referred by P23, hook me up right, absolutely, absolutely. So we'll look at that and maybe we can offer people a discount. I won't put you on the spot right now, but we'll offer them a little discount off of their first service and if they use that link to book. So I would love to do that. You all check the website, subscribe to our Mellow List, because once that's live, I'm gonna email you right away in text you and say use your link. So I'm excited.

Speaker 2: 23:27

I really am into self-care, wellness and just making sure that you keep your body hydrated. A lot of people now are trying to lose weight and get those summer bodies ready for the swimsuit. Hydration is such a big key in metabolism, controlling your weight and even activating weight loss. So that's just research, that's not even like a Tameka plug, like that's just facts. So I am excited to have you. Thank you for coming, absolutely Thank you for having me. Is there any last words?

Speaker 3: 24:03

No, I think I'm good. This has been interesting. I hope to come on later. We'll do something else.

Speaker 2: 24:09

I hope to bring you back for questions, because I know my listeners always have questions and they love to engage. Every couple of episodes we try to get together, bring all the guests back and just have questions. So I would love to have you again, if nothing else, for that or for other topics in the future. This has been a blast. We are grateful to have you as we conclude our illuminating exploration of genetics and appropriate use, misuse and abuse. Myself, dr Tiffany Montgomery, that curious lady and nurse, tameka Jones, extend our heartfelt gratitude for joining today's conversation. Throughout this episode, we delved into the ethical considerations surrounding the responsible application of genetic knowledge, highlighting the importance of using genetics for the betterment of society, while safeguarding against misuse and abuse.

Speaker 2: 25:06

At Demystifying DNA, our core mission is to empower individuals with the knowledge and understanding necessary to navigate the complexities of genetics. We hope this episode has sparked your curiosity and enhanced your understanding of the responsible use of genetic information, fostering a more informed and ethical approach to the genetic realm. Stay engaged, keep questioning and continue to join us on Demystifying DNA, where we make the wonders of genetics accessible to all. Together, let's explore the possibilities and implications of our genetic makeup and show in the future, where genetics is used appropriately, responsibly and ethically. Remember, we're here to guide you through the genetic journey, making science easy to comprehend and meaningful. And lastly, don't forget, we're with you every step of the way.

Speaker 1: 26:15

P23,. Knowledge, access, power P23,. Wellness and understanding at your fingertips P23. And that's no cap.