A four-year study of heart calcification in African-American women has concluded that women who perceive the most discrimination in their daily lives experience the highest amount of coronary artery calcification:
The study included 181 African-American women, ages 45 to 58, from the Chicago, and Pittsburgh, Pa., areas. The women answered a nine-item Everyday Discrimination Questionnaire regarding their experience of discrimination and the results were averaged over a four-year period. Coronary artery calcification was measured on the fourth year through electron beam computed tomography…
Discrimination was measured by things such as feeling ignored or treated with a lack of courtesy or respect, she said. "The women reported discrimination in the form of having poorer service in stores or restaurants, being treated as if they were less smart or being treated as if they were dishonest."