scholarly journals Can Biological Markers Partially Explain the Link Between the Social Environment and Oral Health?

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-15
Author(s):  
Cristina Barboza Solís MSc, PhD
Keyword(s):  
Oral Health ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Biological Markers ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
The Body ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
New Perspective

Understanding how the social world affects humans´ health by “getting under the skin” and penetrating the cells, organs and physiological systems of the body is a key tenet in public health research. Here, we propose the idea that socioeconomic position (SEP) can be biologically embodied, potentially leading to the production of health inequalities in oral health across population groups. Recent studies show that being exposed to chronic stress across the life course could impact our health. Allostatic load (AL) is a composite biological measure of overall physiological wear-and-tear that could allow a better understanding of the potential biological pathways playing a role in the construction of the social gradient in adult health. However, to use biological measures to better understand the mechanisms that construct health inequalities in oral health has not been tested systematically. The purposes of this New Perspective is to discuss the value of using composite biological markers, such as AL, to analyze oral health. This can allow a better understanding of the mechanisms leading to health inequalities in oral health, and add some valuable information for implementing health interventions.

scholarly journals Can Biological Markers Partially Explain the Link Between the Social Environment and Oral Health?

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-15
Author(s):  
Cristina Barboza Solís MSc, PhD
Keyword(s):  
Oral Health ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Biological Markers ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
The Body ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
New Perspective

Understanding how the social world affects humans´ health by “getting under the skin” and penetrating the cells, organs and physiological systems of the body is a key tenet in public health research. Here, we propose the idea that socioeconomic position (SEP) can be biologically embodied, potentially leading to the production of health inequalities in oral health across population groups. Recent studies show that being exposed to chronic stress across the life course could impact our health. Allostatic load (AL) is a composite biological measure of overall physiological wear-and-tear that could allow a better understanding of the potential biological pathways playing a role in the construction of the social gradient in adult health. However, to use biological measures to better understand the mechanisms that construct health inequalities in oral health has not been tested systematically. The purposes of this New Perspective is to discuss the value of using composite biological markers, such as AL, to analyze oral health. This can allow a better understanding of the mechanisms leading to health inequalities in oral health, and add some valuable information for implementing health interventions.

Basic mechanisms of, and treatment targets for, stress-related disorders

2020 ◽  
pp. 829-839
Author(s):  
Bruce S. McEwen
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Social And Physical Environment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Brain

The response to the social and physical environment involves two-way communication between the brain and the body and epigenetic adaptation (‘allostasis’) via mediators of the cardiovascular, immune, metabolic, neuroendocrine, and neural mechanisms. Chronic stress causes wear and tear on the brain and body (‘allostatic load and overload’), reflecting also the impact of health-damaging behaviours and lasting effects of early life experiences interacting with genetic predispositions. Hormonal and other mediators of allostasis promote adaptation in the short run but cause allostatic load/overload when they are overused or dysregulated. The brain is key because it determines what is threatening and the physiological and behavioural responses, while showing structural remodelling that affects its function. Besides pharmaceuticals, there are ‘top–down’ interventions, like physical activity, that engage ‘the wisdom of the body’ to change itself, as well as the impact of policies of government and business that encourage individuals to manage their own lives and promote increased ‘healthspan’.

scholarly journals Life Course Predictors of Allostatic Load Among LGBTQ Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 735-735
Author(s):  
Charles Hoy-Ellis ◽  
Hyun Kim ◽  
Karen Fredriksen Goldsen
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Interpersonal Violence ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Identity Management ◽  
The Body ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Psychophysiological Stress ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Wear And Tear

Abstract LGBTQ older adults are at significantly increased risk for poor mental and physical health, likely consequential to lifelong bias. Allostatic load (AL), the net effect of “wear and tear” on the body resulting from repeated, chronic over-activation of the psychophysiological stress response system. Utilizing the Health Equity Promotion Model, the aim of this study was to test potential life course predictors of AL, including interpersonal violence, legal marriage, and identity management in a sample of LGBTQ adults 50 to 97 years of age (n=317). Results from a series of hierarchical linear regression models showed that adult physical abuse and late identity disclosure for those who had been in an opposite-sex marriage predicted higher AL in this sample of LGBTQ older adults, indicating need for increased research on bias over the life course as contributory to AL and biopsychosocial dysfunction among LGBTQ older adults.

Global Oral Health Inequalities

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Sheiham ◽  
D. Alexander ◽  
L. Cohen ◽  
V. Marinho ◽  
S. Moysés ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oral Health ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Oral Diseases ◽  
Major Health ◽  
Inequalities In Health ◽  
Limited Success ◽  
The Social ◽  
Underlying Causes

This paper reviews the shortcomings of present approaches to reduce oral diseases and inequalities, details the importance of social determinants, and links that to research needs and policies on implementation of strategies to reduce oral health inequalities. Inequalities in health are not narrowing. Attention is therefore being directed at determinants of major health conditions and the extent to which those common determinants vary within, between, and among groups, because if inequalities in health vary across groups, then so must underlying causes. Tackling inequalities in health requires strategies tailored to determinants and needs of each group along the social gradient. Approaches focusing mainly on downstream lifestyle and behavioral factors have limited success in reducing health inequalities. They fail to address social determinants, for changing people’s behaviors requires changing their environment. There is a dearth of oral health research on social determinants that cause health-compromising behaviors and on risk factors common to some chronic diseases. The gap between what is known and implemented by other health disciplines and the dental fraternity needs addressing. To re-orient oral health research, practice, and policy toward a ‘social determinants’ model, a closer collaboration between and integration of dental and general health research is needed. Here, we suggest a research agenda that should lead to reductions in global inequalities in oral health.

scholarly journals The impact of racially-motivated housing discrimination on allostatic load among Indigenous university students

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Currie ◽  
Takara A. Motz ◽  
Jennifer L Copeland
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
University Students ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
The Body ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Housing Discrimination ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Allostatic load (AL) is an aggregate measure of wear and tear on the body due to the chronic activation of the stress response system. The goal of this study was to examine the association between racially-motivated housing discrimination and AL score within a sample of Indigenous university students.Methods Data for this cross-sectional study were collected from Indigenous adults attending university in a small city in western Canada between 2015 and 2017 ( N = 104; Mean age = 27.8 years). An item adapted from the Experience of Discrimination Scale was to assess racially-motivated housing discrimination in the past 12 months. AL was measured as a composite of 7 biomarkers assessing neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune system function. Bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrapped linear regression models were used to examine associations adjusting for age, income, parenthood, and other situations in which discrimination had been experienced.Results Indigenous university students who experienced racially-motivated housing discrimination in the past year (16.8% of the sample) had an average AL score of approximately 4, which was almost double that of their peers who had not. In an adjusted model. racially-motivated housing discrimination was associated with a-1.5 point increase in AL score. This model explained 35% of the adjusted variance in AL score, of which racially-motivated housing discrimination explained 24% ( R 2 Change = 0.24, F Change = 32.52, Sig. F Change p <0.001).Conclusions Indigenous adults who experienced racially-motivated housing discrimination in the past year had early and more pronounced wear and tear on neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune system functioning in young and middle adulthood than Indigenous peers who did not. These findings combine with others to highlight the need for increased efforts to prevent racially-motivated housing discrimination in urban centres.

scholarly journals A Longitudinal Study of Allostatic Load in Later Life: The Role of Sex, Birth Cohorts, and Risk Accumulation

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 419-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana van Deurzen ◽  
Bram Vanhoutte
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The Body ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
The Life Course

Are challenging life courses associated with more wear and tear on the biological level? This study investigates this question from a life-course perspective by examining the influence of life-course risk accumulation on allostatic load (AL), considering the role of sex and birth cohorts. Using biomarker data collected over three waves (2004, 2008, and 2012) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing ( N = 3,824) in a growth curve framework, AL trajectories over a period of 8 years are investigated. Our results illustrate that AL increases substantially in later life. Men have higher AL than women, but increases are similar for both sexes. Older cohorts have both higher levels and a steeper increase of AL over time. Higher risk accumulation over the life course goes hand in hand with higher AL levels and steeper trajectories, contributing to the body of evidence on cumulative (dis)advantage processes in later life.

Inequity Embodied

2019 ◽  
pp. 24-41
Author(s):  
Tyan Parker Dominguez
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
The Body ◽  
Medical Risk ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
Increasing Risk ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy ◽  
Traditional Risk Factors ◽  
Stress Burden

This chapter examines African American women’s disproportionate risk of low birth weight, preterm delivery, and infant and maternal mortality, and the ways in which race, gender, and class oppression create a unique matrix of stress burden that increases allostatic load (i.e., weathering or wear and tear on the body), thereby increasing risk for these adverse pregnancy-related outcomes. The chapter describes how traditional risk factors, such as health behavior, medical risk, and lower socioeconomic status, do not account for racial disparities in childbearing health, and it utilizes a stress paradigm for explaining how the intersectional burden of race, gender, and class inequity can affect African American pregnancy women. The chapter concludes by noting several mobilization efforts that are underway to eliminate health disparities in adverse birth outcomes by promoting health equity that is fair and just opportunities to be healthy.

scholarly journals Depressed mothers and their offspring differ in terms of health risk profiles and allostatic load

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Risk ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
The Body ◽  
Risk Profiles ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
Depressed Mothers

Allostatic load is essentially the “wear and tear” that accumulates in the body in individuals exposed to chronic stress. Because some patients with psychiatric disorders have a shorter lifespan than their healthy counterparts,1 some researchers have suggested that there might be a link between disorders such as depression and increased allostatic load.

Health Inequality

2021 ◽  
pp. 258-287
Author(s):  
Christian Schemmel
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Health Inequality ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
The Social

This chapter argues that relational egalitarianism has distinctive, and plausible, implications not only for the goods directly produced by social cooperation, but also for health. First, it yields a clear ordering of the injustice of different kinds of health inequalities: inequalities caused by inegalitarian relations which are independently unjust are more unjust than those caused by other social processes, which in turn are more unjust (unless justified according to the model developed in the preceding chapter) than those not so caused. The resulting requirements fit well with important strands in public health research on the social determinants of health. Second, it also justifies the universal provision of healthcare, and relational egalitarians need not, and should not, be committed to prioritizing patients with socially caused health deficiencies at the point of delivery of treatment. There are other, better ways to justly prioritize the fight against such health inequalities.

scholarly journals A Cultural Interpretation of the Bodies of Marginalized People in Welty’s - A Curtain of Green and Other Stories

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Liu Liu ◽  
Yu Sun
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Black People ◽  
The Body ◽  
Eudora Welty ◽  
Cultural Interpretation ◽  
Body Culture ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Physically Disabled People ◽  
Curtain Of Green

A Curtain of Green and Other Stories is a collection of short stories written by Southern American writer Eudora Welty. In the story collection, Welty portrays life and people in Mississippi in the first half of the 20th century, including quite a few marginalized people. Being a photographer as well, Welty has a unique vision for body expression. This essay tries to make an analysis of the body narration of two types of marginalized people in A Curtain of Green and Other Stories, including physically disabled people and black people. By analyzing the body culture in Welty’s works, this essay tries to give a vivid picture of Southern marginalized people’s daily existence, probe into the social circumstances of Southern America in early 20th century, and find a new perspective to interpret Southern American culture.

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