Racism Accelerates Aging In African-American Men, New Study Suggests

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/....html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices&ir=Black Voices



Scientists have long known that experiencing racism is bad for your health. In fact, racial discrimination has been linked to depression, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and the common cold among other health issues. But can it help account for the fact that African-American men have a life expectancy nearly five years shorter than their white counterparts?

Maybe so, as a new study suggests that racial discrimination actually accelerates aging at the cellular level.

“Our findings suggest that racism literally makes people old,” lead investigator Dr. David H. Chae, an epidemiology professor at the University of Maryland's school of public health, said in a written statement.

In the study, 92 African-American men between 30 and 50 years of age answered questions about facing discrimination, such as at work, in stores, or from police. The men also completed a so-called implicit association test that measured their attitudes toward different racial groups.

The researchers then analyzed the men's DNA and looked specifically at the length of their telomeres. Those are the repetitive sequences of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes to protect them from "fraying" -- like the tips on the ends of shoelaces.

Why telomeres? They shorten each time a cell divides, losing around 50 to 100 base pairs every year on average, and they shorten more rapidly when a person is under stress.

“Telomere length may be a better indicator of biological age, which can give us insight into variations in the cumulative ‘wear and tear’ of the organism net of chronological age,” Dr. Chai said in the statement.



n electron micrograph showing telomeres in red. Telomeres are repetitive sequences of DNA capping the ends of chromosomes. Shorter telomere length is associated with increased risk of premature death and chronic disease such as diabetes, dementia, stroke and heart disease.

The researchers found that the men who had experienced greater racial discrimination and also displayed a stronger unconscious bias against their own racial group had the shortest telomeres. But no link was found between racism and telomere length in the African-American men who had pro-black attitudes.

"African American men who have more positive views of their racial group may be buffered from the negative impact of racial discrimination," Dr. Chae said in the statement. "In contrast, those who have internalized an anti-black bias may be less able to cope with racist experiences, which may result in greater stress and shorter telomeres."

The researchers noted that their findings may shed light on the detrimental health effects of policies like "stop-and-frisk" and others that may lead to racial profiling.

"While contemporary forms of racial discrimination may not have an overt racist component, studies consistently underscore a pattern of differential treatment of African Americans across social domains," Dr. Chae told The Huffington Post in an email.

"There need to be efforts to address policies that are discriminatory and also greater enforcement of existing protective legislation," he said, "this includes practices that are subtle and those which may not necessarily be illegal (e.g., receiving poorer service at restaurants, being followed in stores)."

The study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

 

no surprise at all. even in the animal kingdom, males at the bottom of the dominance hierarchy suffer more from stress related diseases, and have lower levels of beneficial hormones, etc. etc.

Among humans, being fucked over can color your outlook, and make you less likely to take initiatives that could improve your situation, after all, you already know it's just "that kind of world" and you can't win for losing...

Which is why I'm constantly begging black men to stop simply taking shit, and stand up for your dignity. The more shit you just take, the more that outsiders can make good characteristics among us "maladaptive".

That is, the punks without brains or balls enough to care much about their personal dignity as men or care about social and economic mobility will do just fine. But black men who "catch the racists eye" by not fitting in the little box of low expectations ppl reserved for the "black male" will catch hell. Today, as in the days of yore.

And the entire society is set up to shit on us, from white men to black women. The only solution is to insist on the psychological "breathing room" to improve ourselves and our situation, and that means standing up for yourselves. It ain't hard, and doesn't have to involve violence. Just a friendly "on point" assertiveness will generally make bullies of all stripes move on to easier targets

But nobody wants to hear shit like that

Gotta say, it's good news that there are outlets willing to publish findings like that. Props to huffpost

 

I absolutely agree. I read somewhere that MLK's heart was in the condition of a 60 year-old's because of all the stress he went through.

Boxing legend Joe Louis was a similar story. He died at the age of 66 but looked "96." The government took all his money. All those years of racism put him in bad health and took him down. He died penniless and insane.

 

i wonder if they took skin color into consideration...

 

The more "African-looking" you are, you can add 10 years to your life physically.

 

What? lol. You're cracking me up today son.

Personally I don't know if I agree with this "study" because they are leaving out very important factors outside of the racism like diet, socioeconomic conditions, education, lifestyle. There are colorism/ethnic issues in other countries in countries like India and China yet on average they out live us but other countries like Ethiopia or the Congo and they don't outlive us.

 

Racism leading to stress in society. That's entirely plausible.

We all know living a stress free life reduces aging. Now imagine stress from things you can't control such as racism.

 

But racism by itself? That doesn't sound right. BM are dying earlier now than they were 60 years ago and shit was way more stressful then.

 

I don't need to spell this out for you, but examples:

-Glass ceilings in jobs. Causes stress.
-Being on edge in certain areas

To expound on that last point I know for example my grandmother feels more uncomfortable around a lot of whites and more comfortable with blacks. My sister and I, our generations we don't feel that discomfort because we have been around a lot of whites.

Think about small things such as usage of language, mannerisms, etc a minority may not be used to when around whites or something. That could cause a bit edginess and discomfort.

I'm trying to think of other situations here, but it isn't exactly racism itself, but how racism affects people in society.

 

Still don't buy it, while the glass ceiling thing sucks I doubt it's causing stress levels to the point people are aging quicker. I think it's MAINLY poor diets and sedentary lifestyles that is causing this aging. Poverty doesn't necessarily equal shorter lifespans either. For example my grandfather lived to be 94 my grandmother lived to be 70 and she moved here in here 30s but had a much poorer diet and worked nights for decades. My grandfather lived and died in a third world country yet was able to live much longer.

 

Essentially they're linking the stress to shorter telomeres, and indicator of aging. You're right the correlation doesn't equal causation, however racism is lifelong and stressful, and stress kills in lots of ways, so I don't doubt that racism shortens the telomeres.

I hope you're right that there are other factors involved, since if that's true maybe a healthy lifestyle can offset the ravages of the racism.

... But being picked on, marginalized and humiliated obviously is going to age you and weaken your defenses, particularly if you don't have the refuge of community, like past generations had. And bottling it up (because of the taboo against speaking out against it, "whiner") can multiply its effects in all kinds of ways.

Things I've read as a science nerd:
Stress raises blood pressure (and in blacks the effect of the rise is longer lasting).

Stress lowers immune response. (and the diminution can even be "tethered' to otherwise innocuous stimuli, such as merely being around whatever causes the stress. In other words, if your boss stresses you regularly, eventually just being around your boss lowers your immune response.)

Stress lowers testosterone levels and lowers the body's production of certain other beneficial hormones. (..So keep letting people make you feel impotent! :mrgreen

Stress kills brain cells.

Stress kills creativity.

...And that's prolly just the tip of the iceberg.

 

And let's not forget jack johnson -- killed in a car accident, purportedly "driving angry" after a racial humiliation

 

We look 10-15 years younger than whites the same age.

If anything being racist ages you worse.

 

Ohmygosh. I actually agree with one of your posts. The first point goes without saying. :mrgreen: And the second - hatred will make a person ugly so fast they don't know what happened. If inward beauty is reflected outwardly, what does inward ugliness look like on the outside? Old, tired, faded - ugly.

 

Let's not forget: whites are the main beneficiaries of america's racism, but whites aren't the only racists

There's a whole rainbow of racism (nazism) out there, but there's a grain to it: pro-white, anti-black

white is pure, yellow is caution, brown is shit, black is evil

That's america's nazism in a nutshell

 

The fear of violence,either real and or imagined, is another factor.

 

Interesting point gorath (if I understand what you mean)... Would you mind breaking it down?

 

Someone actually got paid to study what we already know

 

Too true.

 

And you can bet they're not even black lol