Lifestyle incongruity, stress and immune function in indigenous Siberians: The health impacts of rapid social and economic change Export

@article{citeulike:3137455, abstract = {The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of economic and cultural change on immune function and psychosocial stress in an indigenous Siberian population. We examined Epstein-Barr virus antibodies (EBV), an indirect biomarker of cell-mediated immune function, in venous whole blood samples collected from 143 Yakut (Sakha) herders (45 men and 98 women) in six communities using a cross-sectional study design. We modeled economic change through the analysis of lifestyle incongruity (LI), calculated as the disparity between socioeconomic status and material lifestyle, computed with two orthogonal scales: market and subsistence lifestyle. EBV antibody level was significantly negatively associated with both a market and a subsistence lifestyle, indicating higher cell-mediated immune function associated with higher material lifestyle scores. In contrast, LI was significantly positively associated with EBV antibodies indicating lower immune function, and suggesting higher psychosocial stress, among individuals with economic status in excess of material lifestyle. Individuals with lower incongruity scores (i.e., economic status at parity with material resources, or with material resources in excess of economic status) had significantly lower EBV antibodies. The findings suggest significant health impacts of changes in material well-being and shifting status and prestige markers on health during the transition to a market economy in Siberia. The findings also suggest that relative, as opposed to absolute, level of economic status or material wealth is more strongly related to stress in the Siberian context. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2008. {\copyright} 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.}, address = {Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC; Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR; Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL; Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Institute of Health, Academy of Sciences, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia}, author = {Sorensen, Mark V. and Snodgrass, James J. and Leonard, William R. and Mcdade, Thomas W. and Tarskaya, Larissa A. and Ivanov, Kiundiul I. and Krivoshapkin, Vadim G. and Alekseev, Vladimir P.}, citeulike-article-id = {3137455}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20899}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/121381794/ABSTRACT}, doi = {10.1002/ajpa.20899}, journal = {American Journal of Physical Anthropology}, keywords = {biocultural, culture-change, immune-function, status-incongruity, stress}, number = {9999}, pages = {NA+}, posted-at = {2008-08-19 17:40:06}, priority = {3}, title = {Lifestyle incongruity, stress and immune function in indigenous Siberians: The health impacts of rapid social and economic change}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20899}, volume = {9999}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3137455 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3137455 N2 - The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of economic and cultural change on immune function and psychosocial stress in an indigenous Siberian population. We examined Epstein-Barr virus antibodies (EBV), an indirect biomarker of cell-mediated immune function, in venous whole blood samples collected from 143 Yakut (Sakha) herders (45 men and 98 women) in six communities using a cross-sectional study design. We modeled economic change through the analysis of lifestyle incongruity (LI), calculated as the disparity between socioeconomic status and material lifestyle, computed with two orthogonal scales: market and subsistence lifestyle. EBV antibody level was significantly negatively associated with both a market and a subsistence lifestyle, indicating higher cell-mediated immune function associated with higher material lifestyle scores. In contrast, LI was significantly positively associated with EBV antibodies indicating lower immune function, and suggesting higher psychosocial stress, among individuals with economic status in excess of material lifestyle. Individuals with lower incongruity scores (i.e., economic status at parity with material resources, or with material resources in excess of economic status) had significantly lower EBV antibodies. The findings suggest significant health impacts of changes in material well-being and shifting status and prestige markers on health during the transition to a market economy in Siberia. The findings also suggest that relative, as opposed to absolute, level of economic status or material wealth is more strongly related to stress in the Siberian context. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. IS - 9999 JF - American Journal of Physical Anthropology AD - Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC; Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR; Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL; Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Institute of Health, Academy of Sciences, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia TI - Lifestyle incongruity, stress and immune function in indigenous Siberians: The health impacts of rapid social and economic change VL - 9999 SP - NA KW - biocultural KW - culture-change KW - immune-function KW - status-incongruity KW - stress AU - Sorensen, Mark AU - Snodgrass, James AU - Leonard, William AU - Mcdade, Thomas AU - Tarskaya, Larissa AU - Ivanov, Kiundiul AU - Krivoshapkin, Vadim AU - Alekseev, Vladimir PY - 2008/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20899 ER -