Glancing slowly at the faintly glowing tablet in his hand, Doctor Yusuf scratched at his beard. A young man had come in complaining of lack of energy and no test had yielded any significant results. Thankfully he had just received a full genetic report on the young man and his family. Generations of his family had been dealing with a similar issue.
”Doctor Yusuf, Jeremy is here to see you.” chimed his secretary to his augmented reality interface.
He had been expecting an appointment with the young man in fifteen minutes. Jeremy must be early.
”Send him in I guess.” replied Yusuf with a sigh.
Something caught his eye on the tablet in front of him. A small line of genetic code seemed terribly out of place. With all of his research he only knew that combination to mean one thing. Yusuf sighed in relief that he had something substantial to share with Jeremy on why his condition persists.
Standing from his desk with tablet in his hand, he wiped down his face in frustration. He never liked giving news like this. Stepping out the door to his office he made his way to the exam room Jeremy had been sent to.
”Jeremy, so glad to see you. How are things?” asked Yusuf as he opened the door and greeted the haggard looking young man.
With a weak sigh, he simply shrugged.
“Eh, same old. Still tired. Still hoping. Anything new?” asked Jeremy.
In his mid twenties he certainly was a sad sight to see. Scrawny and looking terribly malnourished, Jeremy certainly appeared to have some problems.
“Well yes, there is. Unfortunately I’m not sure it’s entirely good news. It’s not necessarily bad news though.”
Doctor Yusuf sat on his chair in front of Jeremy and pat him on the shoulder. Jeremy smiled weakly. Clearing his throat, Yusuf prepared to share his insight with his patient.
“So, I’ve been looking through your genetic report and I may have some idea why you’re so tired all the time. It may be hereditary on your father’s side.”
Pulling up the protein string on his tablet, he put it side to side with his father’s.
“Wha?” blurted out Jeremy. He seemed shocked.
“Your father’s medical records indicate malnutrition and blood pressure problems are a constant for him. Can you think of any life factors that would make it that way for him?”
Jeremy thought for a moment and took a deep sigh. His eyes grew dim in sadness.
“I mean, my family has always been kinda poor. My Dad works sixty hours a week on average pretty much every week just to keep our apartment even. He usually doesn’t eat until he gets home. I’ve known for a while he’s been unhealthy but… Can that really impact my life that much?”
Jeremy’s eyes welled up and his breathing got staggered. Doctor Yusuf didn’t know what to say besides the truth.
“Well, yes. It absolutely can. Stress in life does a lot of crazy things to our bodies and it definitely can be passed down to our kids. Why do you think there’s such a big push for people to be healthy?”
Jeremy’s face hardened with frustration.
“So now I have to live every day of my life tired because my Dad worked himself unhealthy?”
Doctor Yusuf thought for a moment. That statement didn’t feel right.
“Actually… A genetic deficiency like this would take generations to develop to this degree. Was your grandfather living in poverty as well?” asked Doctor Yusuf.
Jeremy thought for a moment and scowled.
“Yeah, my family has been poor since the early ninteen-forties…” he replied with venom in his voice.
Doctor Yusuf sat back in his chair in disbelief. He knew poverty was a difficult issue to tackle, but if his family has been living as such for more than a century it very well could have led to this in his life.
For all the technology and the medicine at his disposal, he had no fix for generations of people living with the stresses of not having their basic needs met. Never before as a doctor had he encountered such a problem.
Placing his tablet on the desk next to him he looked Jeremy in the eye seriously.
“Listen. Jeremy. I can’t fix society for you but I can do everything in my power to make your life better.”
The young man met his gaze with daggers. Anger was welling in this poor boy. Doctor Yusuf didn’t know what to say.
“I appreciate that doc… So… What exactly can we do?” asked Jeremy.
Picking up the tablet and tapping Jeremy on the shoulder, Yusuf got an excited look in his eyes.
“Well, let’s take a look shall we.”
Putting the tablet in front of Jeremy, Doctor Yusuf began to run down his treatment options for extreme fatigue.
