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‘Weather’ Affects Black Women’s Health. What can we do about it?

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For many years, Black women have been told that the negative health outcomes we face are our own fault. We are fed the rhetoric that we have diabetes because we won’t stop eating foods which have been passed right down to us from our ancestors. We are genetically handicapped because we are inferior. We don’t exercise enough because we are lazy. Black women are told that we should not allowed to live so long as other races because we should not adequate.

Public health researcher Arline Geronimous challenged this notion in her 368-page book released in 2023. In the book, Geronimous delves into the results of stress on the body, specifically specializing in the health effects of Black women. In summary, he argues that the chronic stress of living in a racist society contributes significantly to poor health outcomes for marginalized people.

The public health researcher argues that the more dire health outcomes experienced by Black women are the results of the repeated impact of living under pressure on the intersection of race and gender, compounded by living in oppressive systems. This perspective, specific to Black women, sheds light on their unique challenges and the way they manifest of their health. In other words, Geronimous concludes that there are more aspects that influence our health.

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Although the term “weathering” attempts to position the blame for poor health on Black women and shine a light-weight on oppressive systems, Atlanta nurse Patricia Allen has mixed feelings about the word.

“While this may accurately reflect the challenges black women face in society, it can also be seen as labeling them as more fragile or inferior,” she explains. Allen doesn’t wish to hear terms describing something as “worn out or tired” when talking about his health in a bunch or as a person. But she acknowledges that research shows that black women not only have greater health disparities, but in addition more dire outcomes, and this must be addressed.

On the opposite hand, Melissa Ifll, a clinical social employee and wellness coach in Atlanta, agrees with the term.

“I see that the Black women I work with come in physically and emotionally tired, with a myriad of health symptoms,” she says. “Everything from chronic insomnia to lupus, after which symptoms that haven’t got a diagnosis but affect functioning. My clients are successful, but their bodies are damaged when we start working together.

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Whether weatherization is a suitable term or not, the impact of stress on Black women is undeniable. AND 2022 article on the National Library of Medicine titled “Assessing Gender- and Race-Related Stress Among Black Women” found that we have higher levels of psychological stress than white women. Moreover, we usually tend to suffer from chronic stress-related conditions, comparable to obesity, and experience stress related to race and gender.

Turning to real-life examples, we have seen Black women speak out about the challenges they face in institutional structures and the stressors they’ve recently caused. An Oscar-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson she said she considered quitting acting on account of feeling underpaid and never recognized despite her labor. We saw Claudine Gay resign as president of Harvard University after being attacked for calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. We heard about the death of Dr Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey after she wrote that she felt vilified by the vice-chancellor of Lincoln University. These are all initial stress bins for Black women, riddled with discrimination and racism. While we have not heard these women openly say that they’re stressed or that they’re experiencing poor health outcomes due to their experiences, their situation could easily create an ideal storm for weather conditions.

“Every day at work I hear about this feeling of being at the fishbowl and being criticized by black female customers,” Ifill says. “In fact, sometimes it seems like the closer they are to their perceived power, the more challenged they feel.” Black women are on the intersection of race and gender, and plenty of feel that irrespective of how high they rise within the roles they’re asked to play, they are going to at all times be disregarded, excluded, and ignored. The term weathering refers to this level of fatigue. This particularly applies to the breakdown of our bodies under the stressors and dire health outcomes we face.

“Black women typically experience earlier onset, delayed treatment, and more severe symptoms compared to other groups,” Allen says. She treated black women for a spread of issues, from chronic mental health issues to reproductive issues to hypertension and diabetes.

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While these health problems often result from the poor systems we interact with to deal with our health, research shows that additionally it is a biological impact of stress and the results of so-called telomere shortening.

Telomeres help the body distinguish healthy cells from damaged ones. Damaged telomeres prevent cell division, which is needed for healthy cells within the body and a powerful immune system. Shortened telomeres prevent cells from dividing and dying, which causes them to release chemicals that cause inflammation within the body, which is the explanation for many diseases. Our bodies come into contact with many diseases regularly, but when we experience chronic stress, our immune systems are unable to fight off infections, and these diseases attack and make us sicker, often sicker than others.

So what to do about it? We also have to deal with ourselves by way of emotional well-being and medicine; the answer is prevention. Preventive care is two-fold; may include regular visits with a trusted health care provider, in addition to an assessment of your lifestyle. On the previous, Allen says black women should consider genetic testing and seek advice from their doctor about it.

“The impact of stress on health is a posh interplay of genetic susceptibility and youth experiences. Some individuals are generally more sensitive to emphasize on account of genetic differences that make them more prone to stressors, he says.

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For this reason, functional medicine and genetic testing can play a big role in identifying the basis causes of disease. These approaches give attention to personalized treatment plans and lifestyle modifications based on genetic predisposition and disease risk.

That said, preventative care goes beyond annual visits to a wellness center — it is also about assessing the life-style we create through the work we select and the way we deal with ourselves, explains Ifil.

“Often we don’t even think about the life we ​​lead and what impact it has on us. We pursue roles and lifestyles because we believe we should have them and they are cultural norms, but we don’t consider the impact these roles have on us,” she explains. “We always need to take inventory of what we really want, the impact of our choices, and walk away from things when we realize they are not serving us.”

Constant mindfulness is important because stress affects our cognitive abilities, and increasing stress makes it difficult to resolve problems creatively. So you’ll want to pay attention to what you might be agreeing to and have a plan to deal with yourself through it. For example, if you happen to determine to remain in corporate America, prepare a self-care plan to aid you deal with the stress of labor. Meditation, journaling, finding a protected place to vent fears, setting boundaries, and searching for moments of joy and true connection alleviate stress.

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Black women face countless social and political situations which can be stressful for us. However, we must bear in mind that the impact of stress will not be only psychological, but in addition biological. Understanding our needs, our family history, and searching for competent care to resolve problems are only a number of the ways we can deal with ourselves. Additionally, it is necessary that we take the time to grasp that we can make decisions that lead us to situations which can be at increased risk of stress. Ultimately, we must make decisions that support our overall well-being, even when it means leaving these situations behind.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

Can psychedelics help you drink less alcohol? Our new study aims to find out

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Psychhedels reminiscent of LSD and psilocybina (Active ingredient in magical mushrooms) is gaining increasingly more attention in psychiatry. Research suggests They can offer therapeutic advantages in conditions reminiscent of depression, anxiety, obsessive and compulsive disorders, dietary disorders and addiction.

Our research team Study whether N, N-Dimetytryptamine (DMT)Quickly acting psychedelic, can help people reduce alcohol consumption.

Alcohol is most frequently Incorrectly used substance in Great Britainpartly since it is legal, widely available and deeply rooted in social culture. While many individuals can enjoy alcohol sparselyIN significant number Fight to control their drinking. For these people, Excessive alcohol consumption It can lead to serious physical, mental and social consequences.

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Traditional treatments don’t work for everybody, which is why we examine alternatives reminiscent of psychedelics, which may allow people to change their behavior in a single transformational experience.



DMT is Metabolized quickly within the body. When administered intravenousThe effects start almost immediately, often in a single to two minutes. However, these effects are short -lived, lasting only ten to 20 minutes.

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Despite the short duration of many users, they describe this experience as very deep. They often report live visions, complex patterns and feeling in one other reality. In some cases, experience leads to a whole change in how they think, feel and perceive the world. For many, this experience is deeply significant and transformational.

But what happens within the brain presently and the way can it affect long -term behavior, reminiscent of a discount in alcohol consumption?



Neuroplasticity and addiction

Our team He is especially all for how psychedelics reminiscent of DMT can help within the context of addiction. One theory is that psychedelics can temporarily increase neuroplasticityBrain ability to create new neural connections. This temporary reinforcement can open a window of flexibility, enabling some people more open to change.

For someone who got stuck in a heavy drinking cycle, this increased plasticity can help them break the old habits and develop healthier behavior. Basically, it might probably offer the brain Opportunity for “again” Sam and disturbing unhealthy patterns underlying addiction.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys9fbb19ws0

We also deal with reward and brain motivation systems, which play a key role in addiction. These systems affect the behavior related to pleasure, including food, sex and alcohol.

In individuals with Alcohol consumption disorderThese systems turn out to be hypersensitive to alcohol guidelines, often on the expense of other satisfying experiences. Some early studies He suggests that psychedelics can help “reset” these paths. We test this theory to see if DMT can reduce alcohol consumption by re -calibrating the brain prize system.

To examine these possibilities, we designed a study with drinking heavy, who’re motivated to reduce alcohol consumption. Each participant undergoes a radical screening test to be sure that they’re suitable for testing, and all sessions are conducted in a highly controlled, clinical environment with doctors and experienced researchers supervising this process.

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The study includes three visits to our UCL laboratory. We use through the first and third visit Functional imaging of magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) to measure brain activity and observe how different areas of the brain interact.

During scans, participants watch emotionally engaging movies that provide a more natural way of testing brain response compared to abstract tasks. This helps us assess how DMT can affect the brain function in real, emotionally charged situations.

During the second visit, the participants are randomly assigned to receive DMT, placebo or non -pryshedel medicine (D-CykLoserina Or Lisers). It is believed that these subszymical substances are believed Promote neuroplasticity Without inducing full psychedelic effects of DMT.

. The test is double blind – Neither participants nor scientists know which substance is run. This helps to eliminate bias and ensures that the outcomes are as reliable as possible.

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In addition, we measure changes in brain activity during infusion of the drug with electroencephalography (EEG). EEG tracks the brain electrical signals and may help us predict which participants will almost certainly use DMT.

Participants also perform various psychological assessments, including questionnaires and tasks that measure memory, attention, mood and decision making. These data will help us understand how changes in brain function can relate to changes in behavior related to drinking.

What can we hope to discover

We are still within the technique of collecting data, but we’re excited whether DMT can lead to a major reduction in alcohol consumption. As scientists, it’s crucial for us to remain objective and permit the evidence to conduct our conclusions. By maintaining a “blind” test, until all results can be found, we be sure that our arrangements are objective and reliable.

If DMT proves to be effective in helping people to reduce alcohol consumption, especially for many who struggled with other treatments, it might probably pave the best way to a new approach to addiction therapy. Even if the outcomes are ambiguous, they may proceed to provide precious insight into the potential role of psychedels within the treatment of addiction and open new possibilities of future research.

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It is very important to emphasize that these research takes place in a protected, controlled environment. Psychhedels are strong substances, and their effects could be unpredictable, especially outside the clinical settings. They usually are not a “magic ball” and usually are not suitable for everybody. The controlled setting allows us to examine our effects, while minimizing the chance for participants.

Having said that, we imagine in psychhedels offer a special opportunity To higher understand the brain and its ability to change. By examining how transformational experiences can affect behavior, we hope to contribute to the event of simpler treatment of addiction and other mental health conditions.

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This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Tina Knowles reveals the diagnosis of breast cancer and reminds people not to “bend over mammograms”

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Tina Knowles reveals the diagnosis of breast cancer and reminds people not to

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Tina Knowles revealed that she was fighting breast cancer. The 71-year-old learned that she had cancer in stage 1 in July 2024. She learned about her diagnosis at a time when she launched the Cécred hair care line along with her daughter Beyoncé.

“It is important not to slow down to your mammograms,” she said during an interview with people. The creator also revealed that she missed mammography. Task group of American preventive services recommended That women aged 40 to 74, who’re exposed to the average risk of breast cancer, receive mammography every 2 years, but you may also get one yr.

“I forgot that I did not go to the test for two years before I thought I did it,” she said – “Because Covid came, they called me and canceled and said, we would call you when we started testing again. I just thought that I did it. So you can’t play with it.”

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Tina revealed a message about her meeting with breast cancer in her diary, which he published on April 22.

“I fought with whether I would share this journey [in the book] Because I’m very private. But I decided to share it because I think these are many lessons for other women – he says. “And I believe that as women sometimes we’re so busy and we’re so wrapped and running, but you’ve got to go to the test. Because if I did not get the test early, I mean, fascinated with what could occur to me.”

While the news of a loved one could be devastating, Knowles said that her daughters had a realistic response to listening to her diagnosis.

She said that Beyoncé “took it well, remaining positive, and I already felt her mind racing, focusing on this as a task with precision.” Tiny’s second child, Solange said: “Mom, we’ll deal with it.” Additionally, Kelly Rowland who’s close to the matriarch, and her niece Angie Beyinka was also at her side. “My girls have become my team,” she wrote in a newly published book.

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Fortunately, the dressmaker underwent surgery last yr to remove the tumor, and also obtained breast reduction.

“I’m great,” she said. “Without cancer and incredibly blessed that God let me find him early.”

Knowles wants women to remember about regular research – key detection is essential.

“I didn’t know that there was stage 0. I could catch it at stage 0 if I didn’t miss my mammogram,” she said.

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Mama Super Gwiazda also wants people to know you can undergo the difficult terror of health and proceed to go to the top: “I want to show people that you can go and continue to fly.”

Nowadays, the 71-year-old is doing and feels good.

“I’m healthier, I eat better, I lost weight,” she told people.

“I want to give people hope,” Knowles added. “What scares me now is not the best to use every day that I left in this life.”

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This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

President of HBCU will submit a request for a donor of organs in graduation

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Livingstone College, organ Donation, kidney


President HBCU prays that a member of his school community may also help him find an organ donor.

Dr. Anthony J. Davis, president of Livingstone College, has been fighting kidney failure for almost two years. Since the diagnosis, Davis has undergone almost 10 hours of dialysis treatment at night, and was also juggling the duties of institutions. During the last ceremony of starting Livingstone, May 3 revealed his tragic request for a donor of organs.

“When the Lord is a blessing, the enemy begins to play”, he shared Graduate class, on.

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Davis stays involved in lifting the college and her body, despite his medical failures. He remains to be working on increasing registration and recruitment, remaining at the highest of his goals to lift Livingstone. His term also recorded a donation of two anonymous gifts price $ 10 million per school.

Describing his health journey, he also noticed that none of his members of the family was entitled to a match because of their different blood groups.

“I said, my children, what is happiness? They have a good mother’s appearance and her blood group,” he shared the group’s laughter.

His emotional speech also inspired graduates to beat obstacles that they might encounter in their lives. Davis also began the “Be my match” campaign to assist search. The “Be My Match” initiative encourages those in the HBCU Livcustone community and out of doors of it to get to know a living donor. Davis expressed the hope and faith that his public declaration concerning the need for a donor would cause his community to seek out a match.

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Blacks are disproportionately affected by kidney disease. According to the National Institute of Health, the 2023 annual report showed that this demographic group Accounts 30% of all individuals with final kidney disease (ESKD). Black are also 4 times more exposed to death because of their ECOD than their white counterparts, because of which their ability to seek out a match is more essential than ever.

Bearing in mind these numbers, Davis hopes that his network will strengthen this campaign to the masses to assist the educator and supporter of HBCu save his life. When he finished his powerful and key message, the category of 2025 and Davis hope that in the subsequent era of their lives with latest prosperity.

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This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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