Racial Discrimination and Health Problems Essay

Racial Discrimination and Health Problems - Essay Example How much of this stands true for racism specific stress has also been the subject focus of many studies. Researchers found an association between perceived racism and ambulatory blood pressure in African American college students. Also in the workplace, stressful racism places African Americans in a high probability group for the development of higher blood pressures. This clearly shows that racism can hasten the onset of hypertension even in younger age group and possible conclusion that can be drawn is that in an aging population the superimposed ill effects of stress induced by racism may be even greater. Similarly, women with higher stress scores who were subjected to high levels of internalized racism were at a higher risk of developing metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes due to altered hormone secretion. Studies have also attempted to assess objectively, mental and psychological implications of racism specific stress. Further research necessary to reach a conclusion linking the association of stress per se resulting from experiencing racial discrimination per se leading to changes in the health status of people who are getting older is carried out as seen below. Various measured variables are compared with a control group in the same age group without any exposure to racial prejudice taking into account confounding factors such as lifestyle habits, the presence of other risk factors such as smoking, environmental factors and preexisting or propensity for other age-related diseases because of heredity.