Pathways to Disease: The Biological Consequences of Social Adversity on Asthma in Minority Youth
Abstract
The Fiscal Year 2014 Topic Area of Respiratory Health will be addressed with this proposal. Asthma is increasingly common worldwide and affects disadvantaged and minority populations more so than the general population. There are many underlying factors that determine who will develop asthma, and some of these factors are affected by poverty. There is overrepresentation in the Active Duty military of poor minority populations, including African Americans and Latinos. These groups experience the greatest social adversities, are significantly burdened by asthma, and have the highest asthma-related deaths. Currently, potential military recruits are ineligible from entering the military if they had an asthma diagnosis as a teenager. In addition, the stress from combat, close living quarters, and exposure to environmental risk factors may lead to the development of asthma and trigger asthma attacks among Active Duty military personnel. Continued exposure to these stresses can create a condition known as "toxic stress," which weakens the body s immune system, causes hormone imbalance, and changes the makeup of the microbiome (i.e., the bacteria that normally live on the body surfaces of healthy people). These changes are known to negatively affect the course of various diseases. Different racial/ethnic groups are likely to respond in unique ways to toxic stress, and the response may further depend on genetics, environmental upbringing, and an individual s psychological resilience. Unfortunately, very little research has been conducted on how social adversities can be changed to help prevent asthma and asthma-related complications. The current proposal will address the cause, treatment, and prevention of asthma in high-risk populations, an important step identified by the Department of Defense. This will be achieved by identifying the biological processes of how social adversities affect a person s risk for asthma and related complications in minority populations. The proposal will compare the toxic stress response in African American and Latino children with and without asthma. This will be the largest study of the toxic stress response in youths with asthma and the first study of its kind in minority populations with asthma. The first goal of the proposal will focus on how the immune system and the body s hormones respond to social adversities and the effect these changes have on asthma risk and related complications. The proposal s second goal will examine the effect of social adversities on the human microbiome and whether the differences observed are associated with asthma. This will represent the largest study of the microbiome s association with asthma. This proposal will allow for better identification of high-risk populations and development of interventions that target the modifiable aspects of social adversities to effectively improve asthma outcomes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 04, 2016
- Source ID
- W81XWH1510116
Entities
People
- Neeta Thakur
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of California, San Francisco