Discrimination interacts with certain genetic variants to negatively impact health

It’s no secret that discrimination is stressful for those who experience it, but turns out the issue is more than skin deep – these stressors can interact with our genetics to negatively impact our health, a new University of Florida study shows. Study researchers developed a novel measure of unfair treatment to study the effects of discrimination on health, particularly with respect to racial disparities in complex diseases, which are illnesses resulting from both genetic and environmental factors.