The American journal of the medical sciences
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This commentary provides a brief overview of theory and research that supports the idea that sexism may be related to the disproportionate negative cardiovascular health outcomes in women. It describes sexism as a stressor and outlines its association with a variety of health outcomes as evidence for why sex disparities should be examined within the context of pervasive inequities. To date, population-based studies have not explicitly examined the relationship between sexism and cardiovascular disease, but smaller studies have yielded fairly consistent results. It is suggested that future research should aim to examine the influence of 2 types of sexism (ie, hostile and benevolent) and that daily or within-day designs be used to assess cognitive, behavioral and physiological responses to everyday sexist experiences.
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Statins reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in individuals with a history of CHD or risk equivalents. A 10-year CHD risk >20% is considered a risk equivalent but is frequently not detected. Statin use and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) control were examined among participants with CHD or risk equivalents in the nationwide Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study (n = 8812). ⋯ These data suggest that many people with high CHD risk, especially those with an FRS >20%, do not receive guideline-concordant lipid-lowering therapy and do not achieve an LDL-C <100 mg/dL.
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Given the established relation between testosterone and aging in older adults, we tested whether buccal telomere length (TL), an established cellular biomarker of aging, was associated with testosterone levels in youth. ⋯ The association between testosterone and buccal TL supports gonadal maturation as a developmentally sensitive biomarker of aging within youth. As stress levels of testosterone were significantly associated with buccal TL, these findings are consistent with the growing literature linking stress exposure and accelerated maturation. The lack of association of diurnal testosterone or morning basal levels with buccal TL bolsters the notion of a shared stress-related maturational mechanism between cellular stress and the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal axis. These data provide novel evidence supporting the interaction of aging, physiologic stress and cellular processes as an underlying mechanism linking negative health outcomes and early life stress.
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The racial disparity in hypertension and hypertension-related outcomes has been recognized for decades with African Americans with greater risks than Caucasians. Blood pressure levels have consistently been higher for African Americans with an earlier onset of hypertension. Although awareness and treatment levels of high blood pressure have been similar, racial differences in control rates are evident. ⋯ The reasons for the racial disparities in elevated blood pressure and hypertension-related outcomes risk remain unclear. However, the implications of the disparities of hypertension for prevention and clinical management are substantial, identifying African American men and women with excel hypertension risk and warranting interventions focused on these differences. In addition, focused research to identify the factors attributed to these disparities in risk burden is an essential need to address the evidence gaps.