Lifetime of stress takes toll on cardiovascular health of Black Americans

Lifetime of stress takes toll on cardiovascular health of Black Americans April 5, 2024 Editors’ notes This article has been reviewed according to Science X’s editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content’s credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread by Jon Meerdink, University of Michigan Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Daily and lifetime exposure to stress may cause wear and tear on the stress responses of Black Americans, blunting their biological stress response, a new University of Michigan study shows. Kira Birditt, research professor at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, and colleagues found race differences in the links between lifetime stress exposure and daily cardiovascular reactivity that may reflect wear and tear on the stress response among Black Americans. Structural inequities and systemic racism in the United States has had long-term implications for marginalized racial and ethnic groups. Black Americans, in particular, experience higher rates of hypertension and cardiovascular disease-related mortality than their white counterparts in part because of their greater exposure to stress across the life course. And according to the new U-M study, lifetime exposure to greater stress may have implications for daily experiences of stress and cardiovascular reactivity,...