Impact of Federal, State, and Local Housing Policies on Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease in Black/African American Men and Women: From Policy to Pathways to Biology
Racist and discriminatory federal, state, and local housing policies significantly contribute to disparities in cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality for individuals that self-identify as Black or African American. Here we highlight three key housing policies – “redlining,” zoning, and the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2022.756734/full |
| _version_ | 1818050451418906624 |
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| author | Christopher Sistrunk Nora Tolbert Maria Dulfary Sanchez-Pino Loretta Erhunmwunsee Nikita Wright Veronica Jones Terry Hyslop Gustavo Miranda-Carboni Eric C. Dietze Ernest Martinez Sophia George Augusto C. Ochoa Robert A. Winn Victoria L. Seewaldt |
| author_facet | Christopher Sistrunk Nora Tolbert Maria Dulfary Sanchez-Pino Loretta Erhunmwunsee Nikita Wright Veronica Jones Terry Hyslop Gustavo Miranda-Carboni Eric C. Dietze Ernest Martinez Sophia George Augusto C. Ochoa Robert A. Winn Victoria L. Seewaldt |
| author_sort | Christopher Sistrunk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Racist and discriminatory federal, state, and local housing policies significantly contribute to disparities in cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality for individuals that self-identify as Black or African American. Here we highlight three key housing policies – “redlining,” zoning, and the construction of highways – which have wrought a powerful, sustained, and destructive impact on cardiovascular health in Black/African American communities. Redlining and highway construction policies have restricted access to quality health care, increased exposure to carcinogens such as PM2.5, and increased exposure to extreme heat. At the root of these policy decisions are longstanding, toxic societal factors including racism, segregation, and discrimination, which also serve to perpetuate racial inequities in cardiovascular health. Here, we review these societal and structural factors and then link them with biological processes such as telomere shortening, allostatic load, oxidative stress, and tissue inflammation. Lastly, we focus on the impact of inflammation on the immune system and the molecular mechanisms by which the inflamed immune microenvironment promotes the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. We propose that racial residential segregation and discrimination increases tissue inflammation and cytokine production, resulting in dysregulated immune signaling, which promotes plaque formation and cardiovascular disease. This framework has the power to link structural racism not only to cardiovascular disease, but also to cancer. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T10:53:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-558e0d34c0634c9aa0a48b7ef615e078 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-055X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T10:53:41Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-558e0d34c0634c9aa0a48b7ef615e0782022-12-22T01:51:57ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine2297-055X2022-04-01910.3389/fcvm.2022.756734756734Impact of Federal, State, and Local Housing Policies on Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease in Black/African American Men and Women: From Policy to Pathways to BiologyChristopher Sistrunk0Nora Tolbert1Maria Dulfary Sanchez-Pino2Loretta Erhunmwunsee3Nikita Wright4Veronica Jones5Terry Hyslop6Gustavo Miranda-Carboni7Eric C. Dietze8Ernest Martinez9Sophia George10Augusto C. Ochoa11Robert A. Winn12Victoria L. Seewaldt13City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, United StatesDepartment of Cardiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United StatesDepartment of Interdisciplinary Oncology, Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, United StatesCity of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, United StatesCity of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, United StatesCity of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, United StatesDepartment of Biochemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC, United StatesThe University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United StatesCity of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, United StatesDepartment of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United StatesSylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miami, FL, United StatesDepartment of Interdisciplinary Oncology, Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, United StatesVCU Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United StatesCity of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, United StatesRacist and discriminatory federal, state, and local housing policies significantly contribute to disparities in cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality for individuals that self-identify as Black or African American. Here we highlight three key housing policies – “redlining,” zoning, and the construction of highways – which have wrought a powerful, sustained, and destructive impact on cardiovascular health in Black/African American communities. Redlining and highway construction policies have restricted access to quality health care, increased exposure to carcinogens such as PM2.5, and increased exposure to extreme heat. At the root of these policy decisions are longstanding, toxic societal factors including racism, segregation, and discrimination, which also serve to perpetuate racial inequities in cardiovascular health. Here, we review these societal and structural factors and then link them with biological processes such as telomere shortening, allostatic load, oxidative stress, and tissue inflammation. Lastly, we focus on the impact of inflammation on the immune system and the molecular mechanisms by which the inflamed immune microenvironment promotes the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. We propose that racial residential segregation and discrimination increases tissue inflammation and cytokine production, resulting in dysregulated immune signaling, which promotes plaque formation and cardiovascular disease. This framework has the power to link structural racism not only to cardiovascular disease, but also to cancer.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2022.756734/fullredliningAfrican Americanracial residential discriminationstructural racismcardiovascular diseaseobesity |
| spellingShingle | Christopher Sistrunk Nora Tolbert Maria Dulfary Sanchez-Pino Loretta Erhunmwunsee Nikita Wright Veronica Jones Terry Hyslop Gustavo Miranda-Carboni Eric C. Dietze Ernest Martinez Sophia George Augusto C. Ochoa Robert A. Winn Victoria L. Seewaldt Impact of Federal, State, and Local Housing Policies on Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease in Black/African American Men and Women: From Policy to Pathways to Biology Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine redlining African American racial residential discrimination structural racism cardiovascular disease obesity |
| title | Impact of Federal, State, and Local Housing Policies on Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease in Black/African American Men and Women: From Policy to Pathways to Biology |
| title_full | Impact of Federal, State, and Local Housing Policies on Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease in Black/African American Men and Women: From Policy to Pathways to Biology |
| title_fullStr | Impact of Federal, State, and Local Housing Policies on Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease in Black/African American Men and Women: From Policy to Pathways to Biology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of Federal, State, and Local Housing Policies on Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease in Black/African American Men and Women: From Policy to Pathways to Biology |
| title_short | Impact of Federal, State, and Local Housing Policies on Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease in Black/African American Men and Women: From Policy to Pathways to Biology |
| title_sort | impact of federal state and local housing policies on disparities in cardiovascular disease in black african american men and women from policy to pathways to biology |
| topic | redlining African American racial residential discrimination structural racism cardiovascular disease obesity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2022.756734/full |
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