Racial Discrimination, Inflammation, and Chronic Illness Among African American Women at Midlife: Support for the Weathering Perspective.

ABSTRACT: It is widely accepted that socioeconomic status (SES) is a fundamental cause of health inequality. There is evidence, however, that race is also a fundamental cause of disparities in health. Based on this idea, the weathering hypothesis developed by Geronimus and her colleagues views the elevated rates of illness and disability seen among Black Americans as a physiological response to the structural barriers, daily slights, and other threats to identity that comprise the Black experience. The current study tests the weathering hypothesis using chronic inflammation as an indicator of biological weathering. Specifically, we examine the extent to which persistent exposure to racial discrimination predicts elevated inflammation and, in turn, diagnosed chronic illness, after taking into account

SUBMITTER: Simons RL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8183614 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature