Posted on 09/27/2022 1:07:42 AM PDT by 11th_VA
Prior to Steven Owens taking his retirement in 2018 he was an engineer. The 59-year-old who once built satellites for launch into outer space also played the guitar and saxophone.
That was before his diagnosis.
On Valentine’s Day 2017, Owens was told that he had early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
On Valentine’s Day five years before, his mother passed away from the same disease.
Dementia is one of the most common ailments associated with aging.
Now, studies are showing a link between experiences of racism and poor memory, cognitive decline.
Alzheimer’s disease is what most often comes to mind when anyone hears the term dementia.
As defined by the National Institute on Aging, dementia is the loss of cognitive thinking, remembering, and reasoning to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities. While the two terms often are used interchangeably, Alzheimer’s is just one type of dementia.
According to studies reported at the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in San Diego last month, experiences of structural, interpersonal, and institutional racism are associated with poor memory and increased cognitive decline in middle and old age, especially amongst African-American people.
The study focused on pathways that can lead to decreased memory and cognitive function decline.
“Trauma– including racism– leads to biological responses in the body,” said Master of Public Health, Carl Hill, chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at the Alzheimer’s Association.
“Inflammation in the body is well documented as leading to many serious medical conditions. For some people, dealing with the stress of racism and discrimination includes less heathy lifestyle choices and coping mechanisms. These coping mechanisms might include alcohol and other illegal substances, and overindulging in unhealthy foods.” …
(Excerpt) Read more at afro.com ...
Climate change itself is, after all, in the first instance a utilization of micro and macro structural racism to catalyze mechanisms of oppression and metamodernistic neocolonialism as a bracing reinforcement of white supremacy.
Just kidding. But I bet someone at Yale or Harvard is right now working on that as a dissertation topic.
Maybe a fresh start would be giving these folks credit as tough and capable Americans instead of the hopeless victims the left keeps portraying them to be.
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