Researchers from the University of Florida have revealed that discrimination is indeed stressful, and it affects a person's blood pressure.

An ethnographic interview with 157 African-American participants was conducted to measure roughly 30,000 genetic variants. Some of the discriminative acts used in the study include disrespect to a person's race and current health problems caused by environmental and genetic factors. These may be thrown by a close friend or family member to the victim.

Using the investigative measurement for hypertension, the researchers discovered that discrimination could trigger certain variants of a person's genes which result in a change in blood pressure. It was revealed that discrimination initiated by the study participant's family members or close friends created a significant impact.

Further, eight genetic variants that are linked to cardiovascular diseases in five studied genes were identified. Using sociocultural data, it was found that discrimination interacts with certain genetic variants associated with blood pressure. They added that discrimination might also trigger variants associated with anxiety and depression thus resulting in higher sensitivity and blood pressure.

The more interesting part is that second-hand discrimination also has adverse effects o a person's health. Professor Connie Mulligan elaborated that "it may be more distressful to hear about bad experiences happening to people close to you than experiencing them yourself."

"You might think, 'Well, I'm tough. I can handle it. I can handle whatever life throws at me. But don't you do anything to my little girl,'" she added.

Mulligan also said that a huge factor which explains racial disparities in disease has been missing. She added that genetic and environmental factors make it harder to identify all other risk factors for "complex diseases" such as hypertension, cancer, and psychological disorders.

The study was inspired by the death of the Carribean-American husband of head researcher Jackly Quinlan due to a heart attack. The research team hopes that their findings will expand the approach of both medical and academic sectors to addressing certain diseases.