WORLD / Health
Racial discrimination tied to breast cancer risk
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-07-06 01:42
Black women who feel they've been victims of racial discrimination are
more likely than their peers to develop breast cancer, a large study
suggests.
A doctor examines a breast x-ray in an undated photo. Tools used to
predict whether a woman's breast cancer is inherited do not account for
smaller families and may leave some women in the dark about their risk
for future cancers, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. [Reuters]
The study, which followed 59,000 African-American women for six years,
found that those who reported more incidents of racial discrimination had
a higher risk of breast cancer.
The relationship was stronger among women younger than 50, researchers
found. This finding is particularly interesting, they note, in light of
the fact that, unlike the case with older women, breast cancer is more
common among young black women than young white women.
It's possible that racial discrimination plays some role, according to
the researchers, led by Dr. Teletia R. Taylor of Howard University in
Washington, D.C.
They report their findings in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Past studies have suggested that over time, perceived racial
discrimination can take a toll on a person's health. A possible
explanation is that unjust treatment serves as a source of chronic
stress, which itself has been linked to poorer physical health.
In the current study, women were asked how often they faced "everyday"
discrimination, like receiving poorer service than other people at
stores, or feeling that people are "afraid" of them or act superior to
them.
They were also asked whether they'd ever been treated unjustly on the
job, in trying to get housing, or by the police -- all considered
examples of "major" discrimination.
Overall, Taylor's team found, women who said they frequently ran up
against everyday types of discrimination had a higher risk of developing
breast cancer. The same pattern was seen with major discrimination; women
who reported on-the-job discrimination, for example, had a 32 percent
higher risk of breast cancer than women who reported no such prejudice.
Women who said they'd faced discrimination on the job, in housing and
from the police were 48 percent more likely to develop the disease than
those who reported no incidents of major discrimination.
More studies, according to Taylor's team, are needed to confirm these
findings, and to uncover the reasons for the connection between racism
and breast cancer.
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