African American (AA) women are nearly twice as likely as non-Hispanic White (NHW) women to develop atherosclerosis associated with cardiovascular disease. Compelling evidence demonstrates that stress-related biomarkers, such as heat shock protein-70 (HSP70), are associated with increased atherosclerosis risk. Yet little is known about how social factors such as perceived discrimination, subjective social status, and socioeconomic status contribute to the levels of these biomarkers in women with atherosclerosis. The aims of this pilot study were to (1) describe perceived everyday discrimination, subjective social status, perceived stress, and HSP70 level in AA and NHW women diagnosed with coronary or carotid artery disease requiring intervention and (2) determine the extent to which perceived discrimination, subjective social status, and perceived stress are associated with HSP70 level, controlling for age, education, and race. The sample for this cross-sectional, descriptive pilot study consisted of 10 AA and 21 NHW women admitted to the hospital for elective percutaneous cardiac intervention or carotid endarterectomy. Participants completed questionnaires measuring psychosocial variables and provided blood samples for analysis of HSP70. Race, age, education, perceived stress, perceived discrimination, and subjective social status significantly (p = .022) explained 34% of the variance in HSP70 levels. However, only subjective social status (p = .031) and AA race (p = .031) were significant independent predictors of HSP70 levels, with lower subjective social status and AA race associated with higher HSP70. Although larger studies are needed to confirm these results, findings imply that race and subjective social status may play an important role in predicting stress biomarker levels.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1099800413491422 | DOI Listing |
PLoS Biol
January 2025
Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, United States of America.
Pivotal to self-preservation is the ability to identify when we are safe and when we are in danger. Previous studies have focused on safety estimations based on the features of external threats and do not consider how the brain integrates other key factors, including estimates about our ability to protect ourselves. Here, we examine the neural systems underlying the online dynamic encoding of safety.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSex Reprod Health Matters
January 2025
Associate Professor, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Associate Professor, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
We investigated the association between values and attitudes toward sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender equality, with reproductive agency in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Using 2020-21 World Values Survey (WVS) data (n = 3,096), we utilized the SRHR Support Index including five subindices to gauge SRHR attitudes, the WVS Equality Index for gender equality values, and the perceived level of freedom of choice and control over whether, when, and how many children to have as a proxy for reproductive agency. Descriptive statistics, bivariate, and multivariable logistic regressions were used to analyse how values and attitudes differed between respondents of high vs low reproductive agency using the median as cutoff, stratified by country and sex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoc Sci Med
January 2025
Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Hefei, China; Center for Big Data and Population Health of IHM, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, Hefei, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health Across the Life Course, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China. Electronic address:
Background: Behavioral jet lags (social and eating jet lag), the difference in sleep and eating time between weekdays and weekends, are ubiquitous in modern society. However, evidence on the effects of behavioral jet lags on circadian rhythm is limited.
Methods: Social jet lag was assessed using wrist-worn accelerometers.
Econ Hum Biol
January 2025
LEMNA, Nantes Université and TEPP, BP 52231 Chemin de la Censive du Tertre, Nantes 44322 Cedex, France. Electronic address:
COVID-19 has brought health protection to the top of the political agenda in many countries, at the cost of reduced freedoms, social relationships, and economic opportunities. This context may have led individuals to pay more attention to their health and to attach greater importance to it in life satisfaction. This paper examines the possibility of an increase in the correlation between life and health satisfaction after the onset of the pandemic using repeated cross-sectional data in France between 2016 and 2021 and an original jittering strategy to smooth the ordinal variables of life and health satisfaction in regression models of subjective well-being.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Surg Educ
January 2025
Department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany; Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Institute of Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany; Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Hand Surgery, Fachklinik Hornheide, Muenster, Germany.
Introduction: There is an ongoing increase in the percentage of females in the field of Plastic Surgery in Germany. Currently, 29,1% of fellows and 46% of residents in Germany are female. Several studies have pointed out the various obstacles that female doctors, especially female plastic surgeons, are confronted with in their professional life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!