9 ms·

TLDR (or at least what I took from it): Too much adversity produces stress that is bad for the body in that it ages your immune system much faster than it shoul

by divbit 10y ago

TLDR (or at least what I took from it): Too much adversity produces stress that is bad for the body in that it ages your immune system much faster than it should. Sounds plausible.

treyfitty 10y ago
Important qualifier: (I only read up to the middle) the results were largely associated with African American subjects.
- afterburner 10y ago
  Yes, they kept saying the negative effects didn't happen to whites, so I'm not sure what the takeaway here is. Life is harder for black people?
  - epmaybe 10y ago
    The idea is that the constant stress imparted to black people by institutional and systemic racism leads to poorer health outcomes. This doesn't disprove that white people don't also have worse health outcomes with increased stress, but the focus for many researchers is in targeting health disparities and social inequalities. It just so happens that race plays a big role in that.
  - segmondy 10y ago
    Success is harder for black folks. If they don't leave the poorer areas they grew up in, did they really succeed? There's an increase risk of being a victim if you are richer than most in a poorer area. if they leave, they are socially isolated from their comfort zone and friends, labeled a sell out, have to conform to social norms of the new environment. In both cases friends and relatives constantly beg for money. The worry of losing it all is very real. Yes, life is harder for blacks in America. A black African that succeedes in Africa doesn't have as much stress.
    - travmatt 10y ago
      This has largely been my experience. You'd probably also be interested in "The short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace", a young man who went from inner city poverty, to a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale university, to being killed in a drug robbery.
  - divbit 10y ago
    I assumed, on reading, that they were suggesting it was due to some societal factors (e.g. racism) that makes it harder for black people, but maybe I misinterpreted it.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    Well, even as a poor white, fighting poverty etc, it's different than dodging bullets in your neighborhood (as was often the case, in the time of the study), plus, the dominant race of society seeing you as criminal/inferior/threatening.
- xigency 10y ago
  Also found recently in a Finnish population (skimmed through the end.)
- mcguire 10y ago
  If I understood the article correctly, the effect was originally associated with African Americans, but has recently been extended to others in similar "striving" conditions.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
venomsnake 10y ago
Is there info about social status. Because Trump should be on his deathbed now and Obama must be already very very sick. And generally speaking successful politicians live long. Castro, Mugabe... And they did had a lot of adversaries. And won against the odds.
- redmaverick 10y ago
  That was exactly what was going through my mind. Trump basically fought and won against the GOP establishment, the democrats, media and the pollsters and made it. He is still at war with the media and the world at large still hates him. He seems pretty unperturbed though.
  - Retric 10y ago
    Lot's of stress over a decade is not what this is studying. Suppose he aged 20% faster for 2 or 10 years that's simply not a big deal. However aging 20% faster for 50 years is.
  - oculusthrift 10y ago
    it's the cocaine that makes him seem unperturbed
    - jjawssd 10y ago
      He would be dead by now if he did coke because coke accelerates cellular mechanisms for aging For example, cocaine and alcohol addiction are associated with robust alterations in sleep architecture, including disturbances in slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement (REM), which has implications for several age-related diseases, since sleep contributes to the homeostatic regulation of the neuroendocrine and immune systems. src: http://dalgarnoinstitute.org.au/images/resources/pdf/researchmaterial/2016/IsbiologicalageingacceleratedindrugaddictionVolkowKlein2017.pdf http://dalgarnoinstitute.org.au/images/resources/pdf/researc...
      - adventured 10y ago
131012 10y ago
It is slightly more than adversity, as anyone can lose someone important or their job, suffer from brain trauma, etc. Upward mobility implies understanding and navigating through different sets of social rules and this can be extremely stressful and implies what sociologists call anomie. The sociological explanation of this phenomenon is almost a hundred years old. You can read it here: Merton, Robert K. (October 1938). "Social Structure and Anomie". American Sociological Review. 3 (5): 672–682. Sorry for the paywall, but you "hackers" know how to circumvent it, right?
- divbit 10y ago
  There is a also a wikipedia article on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomie which is a term I hadn't heard before.
- myowncrapulence 10y ago
  The wiki for Anomie is fascinating. ".. characterized by a rapid change of the standards or values of societies (often erroneously referred to as normlessness), and an associated feeling of alienation and purposelessness. He believed that anomie is common when the surrounding society has undergone significant changes in its economic fortunes, whether for better or for worse and, more generally, when there is a significant discrepancy between the ideological theories and values commonly professed and what was actually achievable in everyday life." This can certainly be said to describe how many are feeling with the current election outcome. Thanks for bringing this up.

by divbit 10y ago

TLDR (or at least what I took from it): Too much adversity produces stress that is bad for the body in that it ages your immune system much faster than it should. Sounds plausible.

treyfitty 10y ago

Important qualifier: (I only read up to the middle) the results were largely associated with African American subjects.

afterburner 10y ago
Yes, they kept saying the negative effects didn't happen to whites, so I'm not sure what the takeaway here is. Life is harder for black people?
- epmaybe 10y ago
  The idea is that the constant stress imparted to black people by institutional and systemic racism leads to poorer health outcomes. This doesn't disprove that white people don't also have worse health outcomes with increased stress, but the focus for many researchers is in targeting health disparities and social inequalities. It just so happens that race plays a big role in that.
- segmondy 10y ago
  Success is harder for black folks. If they don't leave the poorer areas they grew up in, did they really succeed? There's an increase risk of being a victim if you are richer than most in a poorer area. if they leave, they are socially isolated from their comfort zone and friends, labeled a sell out, have to conform to social norms of the new environment. In both cases friends and relatives constantly beg for money. The worry of losing it all is very real. Yes, life is harder for blacks in America. A black African that succeedes in Africa doesn't have as much stress.
  - travmatt 10y ago
    This has largely been my experience. You'd probably also be interested in "The short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace", a young man who went from inner city poverty, to a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale university, to being killed in a drug robbery.
- divbit 10y ago
  I assumed, on reading, that they were suggesting it was due to some societal factors (e.g. racism) that makes it harder for black people, but maybe I misinterpreted it.
- coldtea 10y ago
  Well, even as a poor white, fighting poverty etc, it's different than dodging bullets in your neighborhood (as was often the case, in the time of the study), plus, the dominant race of society seeing you as criminal/inferior/threatening.
xigency 10y ago
Also found recently in a Finnish population (skimmed through the end.)
mcguire 10y ago
If I understood the article correctly, the effect was originally associated with African Americans, but has recently been extended to others in similar "striving" conditions.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

venomsnake 10y ago

Is there info about social status. Because Trump should be on his deathbed now and Obama must be already very very sick. And generally speaking successful politicians live long. Castro, Mugabe... And they did had a lot of adversaries. And won against the odds.

redmaverick 10y ago
That was exactly what was going through my mind. Trump basically fought and won against the GOP establishment, the democrats, media and the pollsters and made it. He is still at war with the media and the world at large still hates him. He seems pretty unperturbed though.
- Retric 10y ago
  Lot's of stress over a decade is not what this is studying. Suppose he aged 20% faster for 2 or 10 years that's simply not a big deal. However aging 20% faster for 50 years is.
- oculusthrift 10y ago
  it's the cocaine that makes him seem unperturbed
  - jjawssd 10y ago
    He would be dead by now if he did coke because coke accelerates cellular mechanisms for aging For example, cocaine and alcohol addiction are associated with robust alterations in sleep architecture, including disturbances in slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement (REM), which has implications for several age-related diseases, since sleep contributes to the homeostatic regulation of the neuroendocrine and immune systems. src: http://dalgarnoinstitute.org.au/images/resources/pdf/researchmaterial/2016/IsbiologicalageingacceleratedindrugaddictionVolkowKlein2017.pdf http://dalgarnoinstitute.org.au/images/resources/pdf/researc...
    - adventured 10y ago

131012 10y ago

It is slightly more than adversity, as anyone can lose someone important or their job, suffer from brain trauma, etc. Upward mobility implies understanding and navigating through different sets of social rules and this can be extremely stressful and implies what sociologists call anomie. The sociological explanation of this phenomenon is almost a hundred years old. You can read it here: Merton, Robert K. (October 1938). "Social Structure and Anomie". American Sociological Review. 3 (5): 672–682. Sorry for the paywall, but you "hackers" know how to circumvent it, right?

divbit 10y ago
There is a also a wikipedia article on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomie which is a term I hadn't heard before.
myowncrapulence 10y ago
The wiki for Anomie is fascinating. ".. characterized by a rapid change of the standards or values of societies (often erroneously referred to as normlessness), and an associated feeling of alienation and purposelessness. He believed that anomie is common when the surrounding society has undergone significant changes in its economic fortunes, whether for better or for worse and, more generally, when there is a significant discrepancy between the ideological theories and values commonly professed and what was actually achievable in everyday life." This can certainly be said to describe how many are feeling with the current election outcome. Thanks for bringing this up.