Can Racial Hostility Affect Your Health?

Although evidence is just emerging, and therefore primarily criticized, an article from the William and Medlock NEJM suggested that the increasing racial hostility and community level prejudice towards marginalized groups will adversely affect health.  This will only increase the already present health disparities of the nation and is, therefore, an important issue to address and quickly find a solution for. A study on the perceived racial discrimination on health status and health behavior showed that there is an inverse relationship between the perception of discrimination and health.  This was mainly due to higher internalization and externalization reactions.  Internalization was related to self-reported health status, whereas externalization included changes in substance use problems.  This study showed that both substance use and physical health are affected negatively by discrimination (Gibbons, 2014). A study on Racism and Health showed that health can be negatively impacted by a variety of racial issues.    Any discrimination, even of the physician, adversely affects the healthcare a patient receives.  The study showed that “institutional and cultural forms” of racism “have been and continue to be major contributors to initiating and sustaining racial inequalities in a broad range of societal and institutional policies…” (Williams, 2014). Although the above study showed how patients might receive less than optimal healthcare due to discrimination by institutions and healthcare providers, health disparities are not just based on race.  The race is also complicated by social, economic status.  What I mean by that is this social, financial situation is sometimes lower among individual races, and therefore might have less access to health care. According to a study on race, socioeconomic status, and health, poverty varies by race; moreover, child poverty rates “for all racial groups, are higher than the overall poverty rates and child poverty is also strongly patterned by race.”  Furthermore, poverty levels of blacks and Hispanics were two to three times higher than those of whites (Williams, 2012). However, even after controlling for SES, “racial disparities in health often remain.”   Likewise, there are also racial differences in disease, even among high SES groups. Certain diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure were almost twice as high in black physicians than white physicians.  From a class lecture in my health policy class,  Life expectancy is also affected by race, as well as SES and income. According to a study on race, SES, and health, racial discrimination has gained a lot of interest in a possible stressor that may adversely affect health. Some of the health issues that are associated with racial discrimination include fibromas, diabetes, higher risk of drug abuse, and coronary artery disease (William, 2012). Stereotypes have also been found to adversely affect health disparities between races.  Any stigmas of inferiority, which have been found to affect academic performance, have also been associated with high blood pressure.  Stigmas such as  “blacks performing more poorly on exams than whites, women who were told they performed worse than men, white men told they perform worse than Asians,” etc.  Also, internalized stigma has been associated with a higher risk of being overweight, as well as more abdominal obesity in black women in the Caribbean and more cardiovascular outcomes in black women in Africa (William, 2012). Racial Hostility Another study showed how the patients themselves change their behaviors and increase their risk of illness.  A study on racial discrimination and HIV-related risk behaviors in Southeast Lousiana showed that those who experienced racial discrimination had higher levels of risky sexual behaviors. This puts them at higher risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and increased “vulnerability to HIV” (Kaplan, 2016).  According to Scherwitz, there is a relationship between hostility and health behaviors, which may contribute to adverse health, such as tobacco smoking and marijuana (Scherwitz, 1992).  One study found that even if exposed to hostile or racist interactions, as long as there are healthy, high-quality relationships in the patients’ life, their health is not as negatively affected since they are not exposed to the physiological changes that usually would occur in the person exposed to high interpersonal conflict (Guyll, 2011).  However, just as with any other disease, the psychological state is also essential to a person’s health and wellbeing.  A study has found a connection between anger, hostility, and aggressiveness, and many health risks (Staicu, 2010). I don’t agree that racial hostility alone is a significant cause of health disparities.  I do, however, firmly believe that how people react to hostility has a substantial effect on the body.   This effect can be physiological, psychological, and, therefore, physical. As a doctor and based on what I know from medicine, the body reacts to stress in many ways.  Many times having a sound support system at home or school, even in the community, increases your chances of thriving.  This has also been shown to work in babies in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU), where sometimes placing two babies in the same incubator, their health stats begin to rise.  It is unclear the reason why this occurs, but I think humanity strives through support.  Loneliness, marginalization, and isolation often lead to symptoms of depression.  This alone can wreak havoc on your body and adversely affect your health. I have conducted a lot of research on stress and its effects on the body.  Interestingly enough, the research I have done for my health blog and youtube channel have somehow coincided with what I have needed to know in my masters of public health.  In this case, I have learned all the reasons why specific exercises that decrease stress can have such positive gains on health.  It is not just that exercise is beneficial because, well, its activity. It is because things like yoga and meditation interact with how your body manages and responds to stress; mainly the stress hormone, cortisol.  Anything that decreases persistently higher levels of cortisol will have huge benefits on health.  I firmly believe that it is our physiological response to stress. In this care, racial hostility or marginalization that brings with it all the adverse effects previous studies have shown to be associated

Health Benefits of Yoga | Yoga for Mental & Physical Health

Are your joints getting stiffer? Is your back or neck pain troubling you? Are you struggling with an eating disorder or drug addiction? Do you face problems with concentration and decreased energy levels? Are you battling anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, cardiovascular disease, or cancer? Have you considered yoga? It may seem too easy to think just yoga can improve your quality of life, but the fact is; yoga has many benefits on the body and mind.  These will not only leave you amazed, but you might end up enrolling in your first class. Who knows, maybe you become a full-on Yogi. So, what can yoga do for you? 1- It makes you flexible. We all know that yoga = flexibility, AND it is the first thing you will notice.  Starting yoga is quite uncomfortable. You may experience muscle cramps and strains. BUT – those aches and pains begin to disappear.   YES, our body gets used to it; you become flexible, and suddenly, what you couldn’t do a few sessions ago becomes easy.  Is flexibility a good thing? Mixed reviews.  It doesn’t improve your endurance or strength.  BUT, as the joints and connecting tissues start loosening, your range of motion improves, your posture improves, you have a lower risk of injury doing daily activities like reaching down to tie your shoe, or reaching overhead for something, looking over your shoulder, etc.  As you get more flexible, you’ll be able to complete more complex poses, and your self-confidence will skyrocket! And these are all good things. 2- Improves your blood flow Another direct effect of yoga is improved circulation. The twisting, inverting motions, relaxation techniques, and breathing exercises all increase blood flow and oxygen delivery to your entire body. It not only increases the flow of oxygen to your blood, fueling your muscles and brain with energy, the higher oxygen also improves your immunity and makes your blood thinner. This may seem like a small thing, but it is not; it lowers your risk of heart attacks and stroke; blood clots often cause these. Overall, this benefits all the other types of exercises you will want to practice by helping your body maximize oxygen uptake and use. 3- Lowers your stress level Stress is another big talk! So I’ll try not to get too detailed here. Cortisol is a stress hormone. This hormone is good to have when you need to combat a crisis; It is 1 of 3 stress hormones that induce the “fight or flight response” of your body AKA the sympathetic nervous system.  The different aspects of yoga help your body to shift from a fight-or-flight to a more relaxed state, AKA parasympathetic nervous system. To be exact, yoga is known to reduce cortisol levels.  This not only lowers your stress levels but also prepares your body to deal with stress more efficiently.  Why would this be important? No doubt, cortisol is essential. BUT Excessive cortisol in the blood can cause Depression, osteoporosis (bone loss), insulin resistance (diabetes), and high blood pressure. By regulating the amount of cortisol, yoga boosts your immune system, decreases stress and also helps you cope with stress. 4- Improves your Sleep Cortisol is not just a one-job hormone.  It also plays a role in your sleep cycle.  Cortisol is low when you are falling asleep, and goes up towards the end.  This means that a rise in cortisol decides when sleep ends.  So if your cortisol level is always high because of stress, falling asleep will NOT be easy.   From what I said before, yoga helps lower cortisol…so you can get the ZZZ’s you need! 5- Makes you happier Yes, one of the long-term benefits of yoga is an increase in happiness. Practicing yoga for a long time increases the level of serotonin in the body, which makes you feel happier. Lowering serotonin is a reason why it also helps with Depression. Yoga also decreases Inflammation in the body.  Why is that a good thing? Patients with Depression have been found to have higher levels of Inflammation.  So it is thought that Inflammation has a role in depressive symptoms.  Meditation, which is a part of yoga, helps you to be in the moment and connect to your higher self. This also helps you to lead a peaceful and contented life. Just look at the YOGI bear!  Such a happy bear! 6- Improves your Sex Life That’s right!  Yoga enhances your sex life! Especially if you are a female over the age of 45 and are having issues with sex, this includes arousal, lubrication, orgasm, and pain. Being peri-menopausal and even post-menopausal doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy everything life has to offer, and this includes sex. So, is it only suitable for women? NO! It’s also helpful to men.  Men who are under a lot of stress commonly have trouble in the bedroom. Stress has been shown to cause erectile dysfunction and decreased libido. Knowing that yoga reduces stress… what do you think yoga will do for these men?  ERECTION! Well… not right then during yoga! But definitely when at the right moment. CONCLUSION: It Promotes a Healthier Lifestyle Yoga helps you cope with both physical and emotional stress in better ways. It can protect you from injury during daily activities and prevents falls, especially in the elderly. It improves concentration and efficiency. It makes you happier, more confident, and may even enhance your sex life. For people who struggle with drug addiction, yoga has been shown to help with motivation to stay sober.   People with eating disorders also benefit from the added confidence and improved self-image. All of these are great benefits of yoga, and let’s not forget it helps you maintain your physique, all while helping the rest of your body. For those of you who have never tried it, those of you that think you cannot do it, those of who think you are “too old,” “too weak, “too fragile” to do it; don’t be discouraged.  The great thing about yoga is that it is tailored to you.  You do what you can