Estrogen dips in black females but stays the same for whites when facing stress.
It’s been documented for a while: black women in the U.S experience higher rates of cardiovascular disease than white women. But why this happens has remained a bit of a mystery, at least until now.
Researchers think one element could be key when it comes to poorer heart health in blacks: the response to stress.
Scientists from the Medical College of Georgia have found that estrogen levels in black women and girls drop during stressful events, and then rise again afterwards. In their white counterparts however, this isn’t the case. Estrogen levels remain constant.
The reason this presents a problem is that estrogen helps your blood vessels dilate, something that’s beneficial during stressful experiences. When it’s gone, this can present a problem.
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“We are now thinking that when black girls are under stress, they are losing all the protective effects of estrogen,” said Gregory Harshfield, director of the Medical College of Georgia’s Georgia Prevention Institute
“In whites under stress, their estrogen levels are consistent so they are secreting vasodilators, they are blocking angiotensin and the sympathetic nervous system so the stress is not affecting them as much,” Harshfield explained.
Harshfield also noted that both healthy black girls and boys have a reduced ability to get rid of sodium following stress. This leaves their blood pressure elevated for longer, even during sleep, compared to their white peers.
How can this change? Time will tell. Currently, twice as many black females die from hypertension compared with white females. Figuring out the mechanisms driving this difference could be essential to a better future for all.
