Questions Related to Week 4 Readings:
1. Hertzmann and Boyce argue that “it is not genes or environment, nor is it genes and environment, but rather it is gene-by-environment interactions that influence developmental trajectories.” To what extent do you think that GxE interactions can contribute to major disparities along racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, or geographic dimensions? Please consider this both in general and in respect to your particular area of interest.
I am not convinced that gene-by-environment can influence disparities especially not along racial dimensions given that race is a social construct and not a biological construct. If we say that gene-by-environment contributes to major disparities along racial dimensions then I feel as though I am agreeing to the idea that there is a race gene and that for one reason or another makes certain “races” more vulnerable and thus one could argue inferior. This is dangerous and ill construed. Could gene-by environment interaction influence a behavior? Maybe. I think that the environmental pressures/inequalities of our society play a bigger role. For example, the authors mention that lower-SES children experiencing more chaos than do higher-SES children have a harder time to succeed in school over the long term. However, achieving school success could still be possible if these low-SES children had smaller class sizes, had good nutrition at home and had safe neighborhoods. Experiences, good or bad, have the potential of altering one’s psyche and behaviors so unclear how much the epigenetics play a role.
2. Discuss implications of epigenetic mechanisms of disease for intergenerational effects on health disparities, as well as for interventions designed to address health disparities.
I think that it is very appealing to think of precision medicine as a possible solution to health disparities. If we find the HTN gene in AA then we can potentially find a cure to target that specific gene and voila, no more HTN. However, just as I stated in my previous answer, I think that there is more that contributes to health disparities than “bad” genes. For example, we know that perceived racism leads to increased stress and that stress leads to poor health outcomes in communities of color. However, I am afraid that if we focus on such a specific cause of poor health outcomes we will stop striving for institutional changes that can help decreased health disparities.
3. Discuss how the findings in the Robinette paper relate to socioecological model we are using in this course – e.g. briefly describe how the different levels displayed in this model are related to each other in this paper.
The Robinette paper found that allostatic load is higher in low-income neighborhoods. It also found that their results indicated that “symptoms of anxious arousal, exercise habits, smoking, and the consumption of fast food partially accounted for this relation.” I thought that what they found tied nicely into the SEM in that economics and social opportunities impacts living and working conditions in homes and communities and in turn, affects behaviors and health. This is illustrated by how in a low SES neighborhoods there is a sense of less safety which can make an individual not want to go outside and exercise which adds to obesity and thus poor health.