Biomarkers of Psychological Stress in Health Disparities Research

Abstract

Psychological stress can contribute to health disparities in populations that are confronted with the recurring stress of everyday life. A number of biomarkers have been shown to be affected by psychological stress. These biomarkers include allostatic load, which is a summary measure of the cumulative biological burden of the repeated attempts to adapt to daily stress. Allostatic load includes effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, the sympathetic nervous system and the cardiovascular system. These in turn affect the immune system via bidirectional signaling pathways. Evidence is also building that psychological stress, perhaps via heightened inflammatory states, can increase oxidative stress levels and DNA damage. The inter-relationships of ethnicity, genotype, gene expression and ability to adequately mitigate stress response are just starting to be appreciated. The need to conduct these studies in disadvantaged populations is clear and requires methods to address potential logistical barriers. Biomarkers can help characterize and quantify the biological impact of psychological stress on the etiology of health disparities.

A comparison of health disparities among transgender adults in Colorado (USA) by race and income

“…There is a substantial body of research regarding the connections between environmental racism and increased exposure to environmental toxins among cisgender people of color (for example, see Hernandez, Collins, & Grineski, 2015). Further, research has started to document a link between experiences of stress, such as racism, and particular physical health conditions such as adultonset asthma (Coogan et al, 2014) and auto-immune disorders (Djuric et al, 2008). Such patterns are similarly manifested within our sample of transgender adults, indicating differential risks by race as a reflection of the compounded stress experienced by these subgroups.…”

Religious and Spiritual Biomarkers in Both Health and Disease

“…In medicine, a biomarker can be considered as anything that may be used as an indicator of a particular physiological or psychological state of a human being. A number of biomarkers have been shown to be affected by psychological stress [29,30]. -Spiritual biomarker‖, can be defined as any physiological and/or psychological biomarker that is capable to reflect the changing state of a human being involved in a certain religious and/or spiritual activity.…”

Perceptions from Latino and African American Older Adults about Biological Markers in Research

“…In addition to race-ethnicity, 9, 10 environmental and social factors 11 may also contribute to variation in biological marker levels and health outcomes for older minorities. 12-14 Lack of knowledge and skills to culturally tailor outreach and recruitment methods targeting older Latinos and African-Americans may leave investigators unprepared to effectively recruit in these minority communities.…”