Nearly Half Of The Mortality Gap Between Black, White Adults Can Be Traced To Cumulative Toll Of A Lifetime Of Stress, Heightened Inflammation, Study Shows

The Washington Post (1/26, Johnson) reports a new studypublished in JAMA Network Open shows that “nearly half of the mortality gap between Black and White adults can be traced to the cumulative toll of a lifetime of stress and heightened inflammation.” Researchers “tracked the prevalence of two proteins linked to inflammation in the body and tied it to enduring discrimination and related social challenges.” They observed that “decades of stress – childhood adversity, trauma, discrimination and economic hardship – were associated with higher levels of inflammation later in life, which correlated with earlier death.” Overall, the results bolster “the body of evidence showing that chronic stress takes a biological toll that shortens lives.”

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Posted in In The News.