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 Guide to Noses

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WINTER/SPRING1997
Volume XlV,No. 2

Odyssey is published twice a year by the Vice President for
Research and Graduate Studies, 207 Administration Build—
ing, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0052.
Copyright © 1996 by the University of Kentucky. All rights
reserved. Odyssey is distributed free of charge to graduate
alumni and friends of the University of Kentucky. Volun—
tary subscription donations to support the magazine may
be sent to the Office ofCommunications and Advancement.
West Wing Kinkead Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0057. Each
issue of Odyssey describes only a few of the many Univer—
sity of Kentucky research projects under way in a variety of
areas. Requests for permission to reprint material are wel—
come and should be sent to Communications & Advance—
ment. University of Kentucky, West Wing Kinkead Hall,
Lexington 40506-0057 (phone GOG/2578297; fax 606257—
8298: or e-mail . The publication of

Odyssey is not financed by the state general fund.

 

 0mm

WINTER/SPRING1997
VOLUME XIV, NO 2

FEATURES

THE NOSE KNOWS: PHEROMONES 53:;ng
AND THE SIXTH SENSE ‘ A ACURE,
How do these inzrisi/Jle, odorless messengers influenee human hehazlior.’ P' 24
Two UK researe/n’n‘ explore what some seientists

are milling ”the sixth sense. "

ASSESSING STRESS: GETTING

TO TH E H EART O F TH E MATTER

The high—effort eoping sly/e ofrnany A fi‘iean-A nzeriean young people

may he raising their risk/or hypertension.

THE BIG CHILL

A [any [\entzn‘hy newspaper editors fine the (hill oflihel litigation. Do
threats of‘snits and dental suits change what editors decide to publish?

COI’ING WITHOUT A CURE

( "K researe/ters Ivor/e to help earegioers onIlz/ieimers patients

 

 

understand lie/wz'ioral agitation oft/Jose afllieted with this disease.

TIPPING THE SCALES AWAY
FROM OBESITY

Hie anri/n'smrnines Al'ntza‘leians ta/eefor allergies and colds
may trigger unhealthy hunger. UK researchers explore
the histarnine—ohesity link.

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NOSE KNOWS:

 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
    

  

ODYSSEY

PHEROMONES AND
THE SIXTH SENSE

Good, good, good, good Vibrations.
—Tl1(’ Bear/J 30}:

y is it you‘d rather spend time talking with col—
league A than colleague B? You have a lot more in
common with B—she's interested in the same books,

the same movies. the same music. It‘s just that, well. you feel
more comfortable when you‘re with A, more at ease. She
somehow brings out the best in you.

What you might ascribe to “good Vibrations.“ shortened to
good vibes in the feel—good ‘705. may turn out to he scientific
fact. The comfort zone colleague A seems to create maybe due
to invisible. odorless substances called pheromones, and their
effect upon your yomeronasal organ. or VNO, a tiny cigar—
shaped pit found about one’halfinch up into each nostril. The
mystery of good vibes and how they work their magic on us
may, in fact, lie right under our noses.

An ongoing study at the University ofKentucky is attempt—
ing to unravel this mystery. Thomas Getchell, associate dean
for Research and Basic Sciences in the College of Medicine.
and Marilyn Getchell, a professor in otolaryngology surgery at
UK‘s SandersBrown Center for Aging, have been working
together to further our understanding ofwhat some scientists
are calling “the sixth sense.”

“Our mutual interest in the human VNO followed pretty
naturally from years of research on sense ofsmell and sense of
taste,” says Thomas Getchell, who met Marilyn at Northwest—
ern University in 1966 when they found themselves working
in the same laboratory. uWe’ve always conducted our own

 WRITTEN BY
JEFF WORLEY

PHOTOS BY LEE THOMAS

independent research on sepaiate projects \larilyn (ietchell adds.

Tom 5 focus has been more on neural biology\ and mine has been on
neural endocrinology, but what interests us most is how thesL two
areas are integrated.“ Endocrines, she explains, are internal secretions
(hormones) which are distributed in the body through the blood—
stream.

Their current research into the pheromone phenomenon is cen—
tered on analyzing properties of the vomeronasal organ, using au-
topsy specimens to investigate the expression of molecules that are
characteristic of olfactory receptor neurons. in this research, being
carried out in Marilyn Getchell‘s lab at the Sanders—Brown Center,
the researchers worked to determine whether the VNO, like the
olfactory organ in humans has a nerve tract to the brain.

This neu1al pathway is easy to see in, for example, the VNO ofa
rat or a hamster or a guinea pig, says Thomas Getchell. Rat

pheromones interact with receptors in the animal’s V \lO, setting off

nerve impulses that dash right up through nerve cells. But does it
work this way in humans? And if not, how does this sensing organ
work? This was our starting point.”

What are Pheromones?

Pheromones (from the Greek p/Jm‘ei, which means “to convey") are
chemicals that one animal gives off to communicate a message to
other members ofthe same species. The message might be one offear
or warning. In wood ant colonies, for example, soldier ants respond
to any intruder by releasing an “alarm pheromone.” Soon, all the
soldiers are scurrying around with their mandibles open, ready to
attack.

But the pheromones that have fascinated scientists for decades are
the so-called sex pheromones that one sex emits to influence the
opposite sex. From fruit flies to moths, hamsters and even kangaroos,
pheromones rule. When a sex pheromone called bombykol drifts
over the bushy antennae of the male silkworm, Marilyn Getchell
explains, the male single—mindedly flies upwind, sometimes for
almost two miles, to find the pheromone’s source: a female silkmoth
ready for mating. And as Karen Wright points out in a recent Discover
article, researchers have long known the effect on the female prairie
vole’s VNO when blasted by pheromones from the urine ofthe male:
her ovaries swell, her uterus triples in size, and she ovulates within two
days.

“The vomeronasal organ is very well described and functionally
characterized in most mammals,” says Marilyn Getchell. “it’s very
well known in pigs, for instance. To mate pigs, farmers use phero—
mones—one brand is called Boarmate—to stimulate the sow to be
submissive.” When a female gets a whiffofthe pheromones in a male
pig’s breath, she just can’t help herself.

So if animal pheromones are so powerful, why haven’t human

The pheromones that have fasci—
nated scientists for decades are the
so—called sex pheromones that one
sex emits to influence the opposite
sex. From fruit flies to moths,
hamsters and even kangaroos,

pheromones rule.

pheromones been much studied until lately? It’s a good question,
especially since our culture seems so utterly obsessed with sex.

“The primary reason,” explains Thomas Getchell, “is that until
recently scientists believed that adults had no functioning
vomeronasal organ, that it disappeared or became non- functional
sho1tly after birth So even though pheromones and their legend—
ary effects 1n the sex lives of animals were well known, researchers
concluded that peoplej ust got by without them. Besides, the
reasoning went, if something so profound were happening right
under our noses, wouldn’t we know it?

Re-Discovering Our
“Erotic Nose”
it was a very curious and unprecedented incident in the laboratory
of a University of Utah physician in the early 1960s that led
scientists to reopen the Case of the Disappearing VNO.

David Berliner, a physician and researcher, was working at this
time to characterize the chemical components of human skin.
Scraping cells from the discarded casts ofskiers with broken bones,
he studied numerous compounds from skin and happened to leave
them 1n open flasks 1n the laboratory.

Soon I noticed that people 1n the lab were unusually friendly and
relaxed, he said in a recent New lurk Tunes interview. Someone
in the group even suggested we all learn bridge over lunch. Bridge!
\We all said, Sure! But when I covered the flasks a couple of days
later, evervone went back to their usual grumpy selves, and bridge
stopped automatically. No more bridge W hen Berliner brought
out the extracts several months later, the curious 5011110111111 again
swept the lab, and the bridge games continued.

, 1
1‘ 1! Jill” 11 ff; (1 N pligr’ ’1’"

W" l N ’1‘ [i R S l’ R I N (i 1 F) 9 7 3

 

  

  

7 m7

ODYSSEY

Several dozen
pheromone tests
have shown that

the substances
can evoke physi—
ological reactions
which include
changes in heart
rate, respiration,
pupil size, and skin
temperature. Re—
sponses vary from
person to person,
and some

of the compounds

affect only men

or only women.

     
    
   

4 O D loo [5‘ )’

 

 
   

 

 

 

 

USING EXTRACTS FROM NASAL TISSUES. THOMAS AND MARILYN GETCHELL LOOK FOR

PROTEIN MOLECULES CHARACTERISTIC OF ODOR OR PHEROMONE DETECTION.

Berliner became occupied with other research
matters and stuck these vials in a freezer and
forgot about them for over 30 years. ln 198‘).
around the time the good vibes ol‘the ‘00s and
""0s redefined themselves as pheromones. he
asked Larry Stensaas, a neuroanatomist at the
L'niversity of Utah. to work with him to try to
understand the human VNO and how it might
function to trigger these warm. human feelings.
Stensaas had worked with Berliner for many
years. And from various professional confer
ences. Stensaas had also gotten to know 'l‘homas
(ietchell.

“l was asked to join this project around 1900,"
(ietchell says, ~~because oli my background in
neurobiology. Larry was looking at the anatomy
olithe VNO. and l was brought in primarily to
look at the neural properties ofthe tissue samples
they sent. Marilyn enthusiastically joined us in
this work.“ The Getchells set to work to solve
this important piece of the pheromone puzzle.
The early fetal slides Stensaas sent were fol:

lowed hy adult tissue samples. and the his
researchers consistently found this allegedly ah
sent organ. the \NO. in the samples they ana—
lyzed.

"Soon after we hegan our work at his. another
Universityolktah researcher. luis Monti—Bloch.
a longtime friend or Stensaas who‘d spent de—
cades studying the function orchemoteceptors.
ioined the investigation." says Thomas (ietehell.
In the next few months Monti-Bloch, a physi—
cian. designed a system lot delivering chemical
suhstances to the \‘NO and measuring any elece
trical impulses on the surface or the organ. a
process that il’homas (,ietchell was soon to expe—
rience firsthand: he volunteered to he one of
Monti—Blochs first test suhiects.

“I can say right off that it‘s a painless proce-
dure." Lietchell attests. “You lie on your hack on
a lah hench. and a thin instrument called a nasal
speculum is inserted into a nostril. The doctors
headlamp heanis up into your nostril and—ifhe
knows what hes looking tor—the vomeronasal

 

 

 

  

  

  

 

 

   
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

pit can prettV easily be seen. " ~\ ”VerV small microelectrode“ was then
inserted into the opening of lthe \ \0V and through a small odor
dfl “(In [Ubt d l3Un3dn plic‘lmnnnc‘ (“XIIJCE \Vdfi puflLd lnll) [hC
\VVVO

The whole procedure took 1110410 minutes (ietchell saV s. ‘11
was aLtuallV fun He saVs he could not deteLt an odor so the
SUllsK‘dIlCC “338 HOE \[lln Uldting all) Oll'dClOr.‘ “L r\ (S. PCahS and \HllC} S
of electrical impulses did jump onto the screen of the
electrovomeronasogram lf‘iVG). however, which meant that the
\'.\I(3 was processintt this "scent"; but it was clearly bypassing the
olfactorV neurons in doing so. \Xhat Getchell had processed
ruined out to be V1 natural isolate from human skin cells.

(ietchell explains that for human pheromones to work,“ they
need V1 human Lell trigger of. some kind, since they affect only
members ofthe same species Moth pheromones drive moths crazy
but not fruit flies for example and docr gpheromones scare away less
dominant dogs but have no effect at all on cats. It made sense then
that sV11thes11ed pheromones from human skin would set off the relate to each
l‘\(i.\\l’1lcl’1 1s exaLtly what happened.

VNO’S Pathway to the Brain

HV1V 1110 had it personallV demonstrated that there was a VNO/brain
connection. (ietchell came back to UK to take the 1nv estigation a
stc p further Did the \ \0 he and his wife Marilyn asked use a
starate neuronal pathVVaV to the brain? Or was there some other
non—neural pathVVaV inVolVed.

"We looked at the expression of molecules in our tissue
samples and found that there were cells within the VNO
organ that are similar in size and shape to olfactory receptor
neurons \larily 11 Getchell saVs. These cells express two of
the three characteristic proteins also expressed by human

olfactorV neurons. lhe significance of their probing as so
often happens in science was in \V hat they did not find.

Theres a third molecule, called an olfactory marker

protein that‘s found almost exclusively in olfactory recep
tor neurons \larian (xetchell explains. W e did not find
this protein. \or did we see anV nerVes analogous to the
olfactory nerVe leaving the \ NO. So we then hypothesized
that signals from the pheromones were traveling up to the brain
some other \V ay

This other pathway, she now believes, is the bloodstream. ”lfthese
cells in the VNO are neuroendocrine cells rather than neurons—and
we believe this is a good possibility since markers for neuronal cells
are also markers for neuroendocrine cells—then when V1 pheromone
enters the nose and the \"NOV it may intereact with these cells and
release a hormone into the bloodstream. The hormone targets the

Scientists who have studied phero—
mones know something is going on,
and that something seems to be

centered on how men and women

other.

1’11111111141'1/iii/pdgt‘(1

4” A) 1’ X 1'?

 

 

  

 

ODYSSEY

 

brain, the hypothalamus in particular, which causes various bodily
changes.”

This theory would explain why there were measurable changes in
the skin blood flow ofsubjects involved in the “pheromone tests” in
Salt Lake City. Although they couldn’t consciously detect the puffed—
in pheromones, the subjects’ autonomic nervous system was acti—
vated, as evidenced by changes in the galvanic skin response (a change
in the electrical resistance of the skin). It is also significant that this
skin response, as traditionally defined and understood,
involves a change in a person’s emotional state. This
would perhaps explain in some significant way the
good vibes in Berliner’s lab over 30 years ago.

To date, Monti—Bloch has tested several dozen
pheromones derived from the 20 natural isolates Ber—
liner discovered in his human skin extracts. The tests
have shown that the substances can evoke physiological
reactions which include changes in heart rate, respira—
tion, pupil size, and skin temperature. Responses vary
from person to person, and some ofthe compounds affect
only men or only women—as would be expected, given the
role of pheromones in the rest of the animal kingdom.

Pheromones
and Human Behavior

So, given the fact that human pheromones exist and notice—
ably alter our body chemistry, what scientific claims can be
made about their influence on human behavior?
Perhaps the strongest case for a human pheromone _‘ H
involves menstrual synchrony. Psychologist Martha
McClintock’s 1970 study ofwomen in a college dormi—
tory showed convincingly that when women live to—
gether in close quarters for months at a time, their : ‘
menstrual cycles begin to coincide. In this study, T
McClintock observed that many of the dormitory
residents adopted the rhythms of a certain few
women perhaps because they broadcast a chemical
signal, a pheromone, that the other women heeded.
Skeptics have said women achieve menstrual
synchrony because they eat, study, wash, vaca—
tion, and talk together—that shared stresses
and joys regulate their cycles, not chemical
messages. But a 1986 study by researchers at
the Monell Chemical Senses Center and the
University of Pennsylvania offered strong

evidence of the power of human phero—

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

mones.

In this study 10 women with individual, unsynchronized cycles
were exposed to underarm sweat from other women. The subjects
were daubed under the nose every few days with the female sweat.
After three months, the women’s cycles began to coincide with
sweat donorsa cycles. The Monell researchers say this is strong
evidence that a pheromone in sweat affects menstrual synchrony.
(Other women, controls in the study, were daubed with alcohol and

showed no significant change.)

If pheromones can, then, affect human behavior,

how powerful are these invisible messengers? To

what extent do they affect our relationships?

“It’s important to keep all this in perspective,"
Thomas Cetchell says. “Clearly we aren’t as affected
by pheromones as are rats and guinea pigs and fruit
flies. The way we socialize is shaped more by experience

and higher level thinking than it is in other animals, so
our responses to chemical urgings aren‘t as inflexible.”

There is anything but widespread agreement, in fact,
on the effect of pheromones on humans. But scientists

who have studied pheromones know something is going
on, and that something seems to be centered on how men
and women relate to each other.
Most of these researchers say this system is almost cer—
tainly involved in the recognition of individuals. Studies
have shown that mothers and babies can recognize each
other blindfolded, for example. David Moran, an electron
' microscopist and associate at the University of Penn—
‘ sylvania Smell and Taste Center, says that human
pheromones might be the mysterious link to this
bond, and may also be used by adults seeking a mate.

uPheromones have to involve elemental bonding

between males and females,” Moran says.

If so, let’s skip to the question that has gotten
more than its world enough and time of media
play: Are human pheromones an aphrodisiac?

The answer is yes, according to Charles
Wysocki of the Monell Center. “Most mam-

mals instinctively rub, kiss, lick, or bite facial
features in greeting. Most human cultures do
too. Western cultures kiss,“ Wysocki says,
adding, “and Pacific Islanders rub noses.” If
the evidence for pigs, dogs, and horses
extends to human beings, human breath
and saliva are motherlodes of pheromones.

 

6 ODYSSEY

 

  

 

Sniffing Out a Winner
in the Marketplace

Downwind of such scientific pronouncements, their nostrils and
wallets flared, are the chief execs of the $4.8 billion fragrance
industry. These fragrance companies, struggling to spice up stagnant
sales with something truly new, have spent millions, ifnot billions in
the past few years, trying to isolate human pheromones. Brazen ads
now appear regularly in fashion magazines, men’s magazines, and on
the World Wide Web. For example, a company operating out of
Kissimmee, Florida, offers “The Scent,“ that “when unknowingly
inhaled by any adult woman unblocks all restraints and fires up the
raw animal sex drive in every woman” ($19.95 per bottle).

Thomas Getchell smiles at such grandiose claims, pointing out
that research into pheromones is in its infancy. At the same time, he
does not discount the possibility that human pheromones added to
perfume or cologne may have some positive effects on the wearer.
And he has some direct experience in the matter: his one—time
research colleague Berliner is now manufacturing commercial fra-
grances containing human pheromones.

“Along with being a scientist, Dr. Berliner has been an entrepre—
neur for years,“ says Getchell. “His corporation, Pherin, in Menlo
Park, California, is producing a men’s cologne and a woman’s
perfume, through a company called Erox. The fragrances contain
pheromones under the trade name Realm. These are the only
commercial fragrances on the market, as far as I know, which contain
human pheromones.“

Are these fragrances aphrodisiacs? Berliner is the first to respond
with an unequivocal “No. ”

“The pheromones 1n Realm are intended only to enhance the well—
being of the person wearing them Berliner says Pierre de
Champfleury, Erox s president and chief executive, says the fra—
grances are intended to make the wearer “feel a sense of confident
ease, feel more comfortable and more sensual. By feeling more confi—
dent, the wearer might feel more free to approach someone he or she
might not otherwise approach.“

And Getchell, again, has some firsthand knowledge of such
fragrances. Not long ago, a company sent him “an esteem—enhancing
fragrance," which he decided to try, he says, “purely as a scientific
experiment, of course.”

“I put on a liberal dose in the morning, came here to my office in
the medical center, had a number ofmeetings, talked to several dozen
people, had lunch, ran some errands, then went home. Just the usual
day.“ Asked after a long silence, plenty of time for the punchline to
fall, if the fragrance seemed to make any difference to the opposite
sex, Getchell said, “None whatsoever."

The overall response to Berliner’s work has been mixed. Michael
Meredith, a professor at Florida State University, says the findings

 

Clive Jennings-White, a psychiatrist
at the University of Utah, says that
the vomeronasal organ is clearly a
“sixth sense providing us With an—

other Window on the world.”

are “very interesting and promising, but not conclusive.” He believes
some experimental holes need to be filled. Gordon Shepherd, a
neuroanatomist at Yale University, says, “I see no reason to pooh—
pooh the evidence. It raises valid and interesting questions. And
Gary Beauchamp, director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center,
adds, “Five years ago, most ofus did not believe pheromones existed
in humans. But now the field is coming to life.”

Some researchers are more exuberant in their enthusiasm for this
line of research. Cl ive Jennings— White, 9. ps\ chiatrist at the Univer—
sity ofUtah, says that the vomeronasal organ is clearly a sixth sense
providing us with another window on the world Marilyn Getchell
adds that this work“ opens up a tremendously interesting area of
human behavior for analysis at the cellular and molecular levels in
terms of finding out why interactions and feelings between people
develop.”

The Getchells agree that as work continues in this relatively new
research arena, we will certainly come to know more about how men
and women speak the silent language of pheromones.

WINTER /SPRI.\’G I997 7

 

  
 

ODYSSEY

llllllll

OFTHEMATIR

’35 \E; V‘\ 11
'1' K\. j - .\\\\\\l\\,’\ll 4,7/
. , \c . , . - .

GETTING TO THE HEART

jo/m Henry was 11 steel— elm/mg. man and
he died 1011/9 /st hammer m 15 band.
ffi‘ffi” [/lé) [V(Idll/()’11’1[/(}/A’flfilg

ohn Henry‘s physical prowess is leg—

endary, and his hard—driving style has

given rise to a new psychological/physi-
ological concept—“John Henryism."

John Henryism, a term coined by
Sherman james a researcher at the Univer—
sity of Michigan is a coping stVle charac—
terized by a strong predisposition to confront
daily psychosocial stressors in an actiVe and
effortful manner saVs Ivnda Brown
\X right from behind a desk piled high with
papers in her office in Dickey Hall. This
style incorporates aspects of the more fa-
miliar Type A personality with a commit—
ment to hard work, a determination to
achieve onels goals and a physical and men—
tal tenacity." she adds.

\‘V'right says that such high-effort coping
in the lace olioverwhelming odds is thought
to particularly characterize the plight of
many African Americans. especially the
working classes, who struggle to overcome
the many barriers related to racism and
general social and economic oppression.

\X'right‘s passion {or her work and her
persistence in looking for ways to topple
these barriers has helped break new ground
in the area of psychosocial variables and
their effect on cardiovascular health. On
the basis of a proposed extension of this
research. Wright has recently been awarded
a prestigious National Institutes ot‘Health
Research Career Development Award. The
$559,000 NIH grant—one of only live in
the country awarded in the study of the
heart—will support \X’right's research eli—
forts over the next five years.

Wright‘s work will involve collecting data
on positive (as well as negative) psychosocial
Forces in young peoples' lives—qualities
such as religiosity and the impact offamily
and community ties. This data will be used
to develop prevention and intervention
programs. Having experienced the positive
effects ofchurch, family and community in
her own life. Wright hopes to quantify their

 

 
 
  
         
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
  
  
 
  
 
  
 
    

-—-’ r-y-‘F A —-(

My ._..

(era—u-rmcnm

  

 

 

effects on a person’s health and document
the importance of these factors in helping
young people achieve their potential.

Fitzgerald Bramwell, vice president for
Research and Graduate Studies at UK, notes
that “the award is a significant commit—
ment on the part of federal agencies to
support her research efforts and is recognition
of her outstanding scholarly potential.”

80 how does a psychologist end up with
an award to study physiological changes of
the heart? Wright’s initial research interest
was in exploring what factors cause some
children to succeed while others fail under
the same social and economic conditions.
Asked about how she became involved with
a study of cardiovascular health, Wright
still seems a little surprised herself: “I got
into this area indirectly. My interest has
always been with African-American chil—
dren and the assessment of factors that
impede or enhance their achievement in
school and their self—esteem. I was particu—
larly concerned with what was happening
to African—American males—especially in
the schools.”

However, while completing her PhD.
studies in counseling psychology at Texas
A&M University, Wright did an intern—
ship at the Medical College of Georgia,
where she met Frank Treiber, a researcher
in the departments of pediatrics and psy—
chiatry. Wright’s interest in children coin—
cided with aspects of work Treiber had
begun on cardiovascular risk factors in
youth, and she began to see how interre-
lated his work was to her own.

An assistant professor at the University
ofGeorgia at that time, Wright received her
first NIH grant, a supplement to Treiber’s
work, focusing on psychosocial risk factors
inAfrican—Americans’ cardiovascular health.
This preliminary study produced data which
showed that children who have limited
socioeconomic resources exhibit a high de—
gree ofJOhn Henryism and are likely to also
have higher than expected changes in blood
pressure. Thus, at an early age, the cardio—
vascular systems of these children exhibit
some negative effects.

More African Americans die from the

w R i T T E N B Y
LEATHA
PHOTO

KENDRICK
BY LEE THOMAS

effects of high blood pressure (hyperten-
sion) than whites, and among African
Americans those from lower socioeconomic
backgrounds have a noticeably higher preva—
lence of physical health problems—espe-
cially hypertension. According to a 1994
article in The Lancet (“Ethnic Aspects of
Hypertension”), “about a third of the ex—
cess mortality of U.S. blacks over non—
blacks can be explained by their greater
burden of hypertension.”

Although diet and lifestyle have long
been known to contribute to the prevalence
of hypertension among African Americans
(especially those from lower socioeconomic
backgrounds), “recent findings suggest that
environmental stress—related factors may
also play a significant role” in the difference
in prevalence rates of hypertension experi—
enced by African Americans of different
socioeconomic backgrounds, according to
The Lancet article.

Treiber points out that Wright’s work is
unique in that she is looking at African
Americans from poor socioeconomic back—
grounds as opposed to African Americans
from the middle socioeconomic strata to
determine the difference in the stressors
this first group encounters daily, as well as
to see how different coping styles affect a
propensity for early onset of hypertension.
Wright’s research will try to quantify this
disparity in the hypertension rate between
blacks of different socioeconomic classes
and pinpoint the psychosocial variables
which may cause this difference.

Wright’s current NIH grant has targeted
environmental stress—related problems as-
sociated with racism and discrimination as
well as the crime, violence and crowded
living conditions which are the norm for
many young African Americans from lower
socioeconomic backgrounds. Wright notes
that these elements are “all factors that are
special concerns of lower socioeconomic
African Americans and have been positively
associated with increased perceived emo—
tional/ psychological stress among African—
American adults.” In this study, Wright
will be looking for the antecedents of hy—
pertension in the African—American young

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ODYSSEY

people prior to their having developed car—
diovascular disease or damage.

The significance ofW’right‘s work is bol—
stered by data from a group ofyoung people
in Georgia who have been involved in a
longitudinal study of their cardiovascular
health since 1989. These 250 youths. now
13 to 18 years old. form a stable pool from
which to draw conclusions about long-
term effects of the combination of coping
styles. psychosocial variables. and economic
backgrounds. The group is evenly divided
between African Americans and whites.
males and females, selected on the basis of
having a family history ofhypertension. All
of them had normal blood pressure at the
outset ofthe study. Though Wright‘s NIH
grant targets hypertension rates in black
students, her findings can potentially be
applied to students of all races. For ex—
ample. her preliminary findings revealed
that the coping style ofjohn Henryism,
when added with the effects of a lower
socioeconomic background, yields greater
statistically significant variations in the rate

 

of cardiovascular disease than any other
indicator—including race. In other words,
low socioeconomic students. both white
and Africian American, who exhibit the
John Henry coping style tend to have a
greater incidence of hypertension.
Researchers normally use physical stres—
sors such as treadmill exercise, putting a
subject‘s arm in a bucket of ice water, or
applying cold packs to the forehead to
stimulate the type of cardiovascular re—
sponse which psychological stress might
bringon.\X'right‘sstudywillcombinethese
traditionally used physical stressors with
the Sensitive Events Questionnaire [SEQ] t a
new research approach she is pioneering.
This questionnaire is already being used to
gather data on physiological responses to
incidents of racism and discrimination
which the African-American adolescents in
the study have experienced. The SEQ in-
terviewer leads subiects to recall these events
and articulate the emotions the events
aroused. Cardiovascular responses are mea—
sured before, during, and after the inter—

 

 

 

 

 

LYNDA BROWN WRIGHT WAS RECENTLY AWARDED A $539,000 GRANT FROM
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH TO SUPPORT HER RESEARCH INTO
PSYCHOS