People who have been discriminated against throughout their life are more likely to suffer from cognitive decline.
- As part of the study, 6,509 people underwent five clinical examinations and answered questions about the discrimination they had experienced during their lifetime.
- The prevalence of discrimination was 42% for all volunteers and 72% for black people.
- Participants who reported being discriminated against in more than two situations had a higher risk of dementia.
“We need to better understand how experiences of discrimination influence health and dementia risk, as well as racial/ethnic disparities.” This was stated by Mike Bancks, professor of epidemiology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine (USA) in a statement. With several researchers, he carried out a study to find out if discrimination can constitute a risk factor for dementia. As a reminder, dementia is “a syndrome, usually chronic or progressive, in which there is an impairment of cognitive function, greater than that which could be expected from normal aging”, noted the World Health Organization (WHO).
Cognitive decline: more than 6,500 adults have undergone five clinical examinations
As part of the research, published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the scientists evaluated data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a cohort involving 6,509 men and women living in Baltimore, Chicago, Forsyth County, North Carolina, Los Angeles, New York City and St. Paul. Participants were contacted by telephone each year and had to perform five clinical examinations between 2000 and 2018.
The authors questioned the volunteers about the discrimination they suffered on a daily basis or had experienced during their life. They asked them if they had been treated unfairly in six different situations, for example being denied a pay rise or being treated unfairly by the police. Adults were also asked to indicate the potential reason for the unfair treatment, such as race, religion, gender, physical appearance, income or sexual orientation.
A link between discrimination and the incidence of dementia
According to the results, the lifetime prevalence of discrimination was 42% for all participants and higher among black adults (72%). During a follow-up of approximately 15 years, 466 cases of dementia were recorded. People who reported being discriminated against in more than two situations in their lifetime had a higher risk of dementia.
According to Mike Bancks, a few mechanisms may link lifelong experiences of discrimination to cognitive decline, such as chronic stress, receiving inadequate or delayed health care, undiagnosed or undiagnosed high blood pressure. -processed. “But further research is needed,” he concluded.