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Faster Aging may be Another Side Effect of Racism

13 Jan, 2014 | Labroots

Racial disparities in health are well-documented, predicting a shorter life expectancy and an increased risk of age-related illnesses at younger ages for African Americans, in comparison to those in whites. Now, a new study shows that there may be a link between accelerated aging at the biological level to the impact that racism has on individuals at the cellular level. Findings from the study were printed in the science journal American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and the story was later printed in a science article in Science Daily News. Dr. David H. Chae, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, served as the study’s lead investigator. Dr. Chae explains that shorter telomere length is associated with an increased risk of premature death and from chronic disease including dementia, diabetes, stroke and heart disease. During the study, researchers found that the African American men who had been exposed to the greatest degree of discrimination in their lives and who showed more bias against their own racial group had the shortest telomeres of those in the study group. The study included 92 African American males between the ages of 30 and 50 years. Methods were used to collect information about their racial bias that including unconscious attitudes and beliefs that might otherwise have been unknown to them or that they were unwilling to report. Investigators also adjusted the chronological age, socioeconomic factors and health-related characteristics, resulting in the same results. Those with a high racial discrimination and anti-black bias in their history were the ones associated with the shortest telomeres. At a time when racism is being reported on as a larger problem for African American men, once again, this study has produced timely results. Dr. Chae believes that additional research is required to replicate the findings, particularly in larger study groups that cover longer periods of time. Even so, the findings from this research strongly suggest that racism literally makes people old.