Black women who report experiencing racial discrimination may be at higher risk of having a stroke, a new study finds.
Participants who reported experiencing racial discrimination in employment, housing, and interactions with police were more likely to experience any type of stroke than black women who did not identify as experiencing racial discrimination. An estimated 38% higher, the study found.
The study, published under Boston University’s Black Women’s Health Study (BHWS), followed 48,375 Black women from 1997 to 2019 who were free of cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study. investigated. The study identified 1,664 black women with stroke over a 22-year period.
black adults, 50% more likely According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, black women are twice as likely to have a stroke than white women, and are more likely to have a stroke than white adults.
Dr. Julie says that although experts point to factors such as obesity and high blood pressure as contributing to these high rates, BWHS may be caused by underlying environmental and social factors (such as racism) that individuals cannot change. The aim is to show that other causes should also be considered. Palmer is director of the Boston University Sloan Epidemiology Center and co-author of the study.
“Our real goal is to provide information that will help reduce the number of people who get serious illness,” Palmer said.
Boston University’s BHWS was started in 1995 in response to “very little research being done” on Black women’s health, Palmer said. Inspired by the Nurses’ Health Study, BHWS collected data from her 59,000 Black women across the country and followed them every two years to examine changes in their health status. Although this study did not include women of other races, the fact that this study focuses only on Black women is more of a limitation, as experiences of discrimination can vary by group. is also a strength, said Shanshan Sheehy, an assistant professor at Boston University. He is a professor at the university’s medical school and co-author of the study.
This study focused specifically on perceived racism, which relied on participants reporting their experiences in a survey. Additional findings from this study showed that participants who experienced racial discrimination in employment, housing, and police were more likely to live in neighborhoods with higher socioeconomic status and higher education levels, and less likely to live in the South. It became clear.
Regarding the link between racism and higher education attainment, Palmer argues that educated women are more willing to name racism, and that “they don’t want to share what they experience with racism.” “This may be due to the perception that they are being treated as special or special.”
“Black women who live in areas with strong structural racism may be unaware or unwilling to report it in surveys, which could also influence study results,” Sheehy said. It’s sexual,” he added.
What causes Black communities to have a higher risk of stroke?
Stroke is caused by damage or blockage of blood vessels, which deprives the brain of oxygen and causes brain death, said Dr. Olajide Williams, professor of neurology and associate dean of the School of Community Health at Columbia University Valléros College of Physicians and Surgeons. Chronic psychosocial stressors, such as discrimination, can lead to harmful stress that is dangerous for the body, he said.
Countless studies have confirmed that factors of racism and discrimination disproportionately impact Black people and negatively impact their health.Research conducted by Pew Research Center In a 2021 survey, approximately 79% of Black Americans said they had experienced racial or ethnic discrimination. Additionally, 63% of Black Americans say racism is a very big or very big problem they face, additional data from the survey found.
In addition to increasing the likelihood of stroke, a Boston University study found that racism can act as a psychological stressor and promote systemic inflammation in the body. Previous research from Boston University identified an association between perceived interpersonal racism and increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and even subjective cognitive decline, resulting in a number of case, frequent confusion and memory loss. Other studies have also shown an association between perceived interpersonal racism and a higher risk of high blood pressure, hormonal dysregulation, unhealthy behaviors and lifestyles, and other health problems.
Dr. Carolyn D. Brockington, director of the Mount Sinai Stroke Center, said medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure increase the likelihood of a stroke, so it’s important for individuals to identify and control these conditions over the long term. He said there is. West and Morningside at Mount Sinai in New York City. She also said it’s important to recognize the signs of a stroke, known as .Do it quicklyIf you notice a drooping face, slurred speech, or other symptoms, you should seek help right away. 1.9 million brain cells During a stroke, it is lost per minute.
“Those are brain cells that don’t grow back,” Brockington says. “So we want people to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of stroke and understand that stroke is an emergency.”
Reducing health disparities
Palmer said that with her study providing more evidence of the harm that systemic racism causes to Black people, she hopes policymakers will use this data to spur change. Williams said there are multiple environmental factors that increase the likelihood of having a stroke, including a disproportionate number of fast food restaurants and smokers within the Black community. He also said public health systems need to be held accountable for the “devastating effects of structural racism.”
Williams said biased housing practices that affect the makeup of neighborhoods are also to blame.
“Our communities continue to suffer not only from the long-term effects of redlining, but also from the effects of unconscious bias that continue to plague American society,” Williams said.
For black women, Palmer said she hopes the findings will inform actions to reduce the risk of experiencing a stroke, such as exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet. Professor Brockington suggested that patients should work with their doctors to identify their own risk factors, which he said could “significantly reduce their risk of stroke”.
“It’s a constant conversation,” she said. “You don’t just have one meeting with your doctor and be done with it, right? This will be a lifelong lifestyle change for you.”
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