Systemic racism accounts for much of the difference between the average life expectancy of Black and white adults. Really!

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Washington Compost spread again dubious theories or junk science!

Do not black Americans suffer from higher death rates due to smoking? What about violent deaths? What about obesity? The abstract of this study does not mention any of these factors!

"The prevalence of two proteins connected to inflammation and stress supports the “weathering hypothesis” that systemic racism accounts for much of the difference between the average life expectancy of Black and white adults, per a new study published in JAMA Network Open. ..."

From the key points and abstract:

"Key Points

Question

Are elevated cumulative stress across the lifespan and inflammation associated with racial disparities in mortality between Black and White populations?

Findings

Within this longitudinal cohort study of 1554 individuals, greater cumulative stress across the lifespan and higher inflammation partially mediated elevated mortality among Black participants.

Meaning  These findings suggest that heightened cumulative stress and elevated inflammation are plausible mechanisms through which mortality disparities arise between Black and White individuals; there is a continued need for preventions, interventions, and policies that limit stress exposure and its potential impacts on health to reduce racial disparities in mortality.

Abstract

Importance  In the US, Black individuals experience higher mortality risk than White individuals. Greater stress exposure and its biological sequelae are theorized to drive this heightened risk.

Objective

To evaluate whether greater cumulative lifespan stress exposure and elevated inflammation are associated with increased mortality risk among Black compared with White US individuals.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This longitudinal cohort study (St Louis Personality and Aging Network) recruited participants from 2007 to 2011 from the St Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area. ...

Exposure

A latent lifespan cumulative stress factor was derived by applying bifactor confirmatory analysis to assessments of childhood maltreatment, lifetime trauma exposure, research assistant–verified stressful life events, major experiences of discrimination, and indices of socioeconomic status (ie, highest level of self and parental education, and annual household income).

Main Outcomes and Measures

C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured from serum collected from 2014 to 2019 following all indices included in the cumulative stress factor. A CRP–IL-6 composite was formed. Mortality and cause of death were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Death Index queried in December 2023. Linear regression and accelerated failure time models estimated mediational effects (ie, direct and indirect associations).

Results

Among 1554 participants (505 Black [32.5%]; 1049 White [67.5%]; 853 [54.9%] female; mean [SD] age at baseline, 58.1 [2.9] years), Black individuals had shorter survival times than White individuals (time ratio, 0.937 [95% CI, 0.918 to 0.957]). Cumulative lifetime stress and the CRP–IL-6 composite, which were each higher among Black compared with White individuals, partially mediated the associations between race and mortality, accounting for 49.3% of racial disparities in mortality (indirect associations: serial, b = −0.006 [95% CI, −0.008 to −0.044]; cumulative stress, b = −0.009 [95% CI, −0.017 to −0.002]; CRP–IL-6, b = −0.016 [95% CI, −0.025 to −0.009]).

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cohort study of St Louis adults, heightened cumulative lifespan stress and elevated inflammation were associated with shorter survival among Black participants, suggesting these pathways may represent plausible mechanisms mediating racial disparities in mortality among Black and White US individuals. The findings underscore the need for policies that address structural racism, alongside treatments that reduce inflammation and limit stress exposure to reduce mortality disparities."

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Stress and inflammation in Black communities shortens survival, study says. "New evidence shows how discrimination shortens lives in Black communities"

Cumulative Lifespan Stress, Inflammation, and Racial Disparities in Mortality Between Black and White Adults (open access)

Figure.  Results of Linear Regression and Accelerated Failure Time Models