The Myth of Normal 59

Just as poverty and racism affect epigenetic functioning, so do these factors also shorten telomeres, and therefore lives. This sobering linkage was brought home vividly by a study of Black American men in 2014. “Our findings literally suggest that racism makes people old,” the lead author commented.[15] The same holds true for women. As part of the U.S.-based Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), the telomeres of Black and white middle-aged women were compared. The results were shocking: Black women were found, on average, to be over seven years more biologically aged than their white counterparts, consistent with higher rates of poverty, stress, hypertension, obesity, and related health conditions.[16] As Dr. Epel told me, the effects of our socioeconomic environment are visible within our cells, if one knows what to look for. “The neighborhood deprivation, the crime, the income of the zip code,” she said, “all of that is associated with aging of the cells. That is to me one of the biggest demonstrations that our health is outside of our body.” Dr. Szyf spoke in similar tones: “For a century we’ve been obsessed with chemical changes, thinking anything that is chemical is true and anything that is not chemical is not true. What epigenetics taught us is that social changes are really not different than chemical changes.” The one is manifested in the other. Fortunately, the door of environmental effects swings both ways: it turns out that experiences that build stress resilience can lengthen our telomeres, even in the face of illness or adversity. This has been shown by the work of Dr. Epel and colleagues with meditators, by Dr. Gene Brody’s work with deprived Black American teenagers, and in other research on men with prostate cancer.[17] This will be a recurring theme as we proceed: the seemingly bad news giving way to something empowering, if we approach it wisely. By learning about the impacts of adversity, we can also find pathways toward healing.