New Evidence Shows How Discrimination Shortens Lives in Black Communities

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, a new study published Monday shows.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, bolsters the body of evidence showing that chronic stress takes a biological toll that shortens lives.

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Researchers analyzed the proteins in the blood in more than 1,500 Black and White adults who were part of an aging study in the St. Louis area spanning 17 years. They found 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.

Epidemiologists say the two biomarkers — C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 — tend to linger in the blood after the body’s fight-or-flight system has been repeatedly triggered, allowing them to capture what’s accumulated overtime.

The study, which was largely driven by Washington University in St. Louis graduate student Isaiah Spears, supports the “weathering hypothesis,” which posits that biological wear and tear is caused by striving to overcome hardships in an unequal society.

Over the course of the study, 25 percent of Black participants died compared with about 12 percent of White participants, the study found, meaning Black participants were more likely to die at younger ages. Researchers found that 49.3 percent of this gap was explained by stress and inflammation.

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