Some doctors swayed by political beliefs – Research

Overall, a person with a lifetime of stressful events had a slightly increased risk of shorter telomeres, even after the researchers accounted for other factors that affect cellular aging, such as smoking, education, income, age, weight and medical history, Puterman said.

But when researchers drilled down deeper, they found that the childhood events seemed to be driving the increased risk of rapid cellular aging, rather than stress endured in adulthood, he said.

“It was the childhood events that they suffered that were driving

Athese effects,” Puterman said.

No one can fully explain this link, but Puterman said it could be due to the fight-or-flight hormones that are released during highly stressful events. These hormones can wear down the immune system, so it’s not much of a leap to think they might be wearing down a person’s cells and chromosomes as well.

“Events occur, and if they’re chronic and they’re repeated and they’re severe enough, over time they are going to wear down our physiological system to be able to cope with those stressors,” doctor’s political beliefs can sway his or her treatment decisions. That’s the conclusion of a study by Yale University researchers who surveyed primary care doctors in 29 states on how they would deal with different types of patient health concerns, including abortion, firearms and marijuana use.

While Republican and Democratic doctors had similar views about general issues such as depression, alcohol abuse and obesity, there were significant differences when it came to political hot-button topics.

Republican doctors expressed more concern than Democratic doctors about marijuana use and abortion, while Democratic physicians were more concerned about firearms, the findings showed.

Democratic doctors were more likely to urge patients not to keep guns in the home while Republican doctors were more likely to warn patients about the mental health risks of abortion. Republicans were also more inclined to advise patients to reduce marijuana use and consider the legal risks of using the drug, the study found.

“The evidence suggests that doctors allow their political views to influence their professional decisions in the medical exam room,” study co-author Eitan Hersh said in a Yale news release. Hersh is an assistant professor of political science.

“Just as patients choose physicians of a certain gender to feel more comfortable, our study suggests they may want to make a similar calculation based on their doctor’s political views,” Hersh said.

Study co-author Matthew Goldenberg added that “given the politicization of certain health issues affecting countless patients, it is imperative that physicians consider how their political views may affect their professional judgments.”

Goldenberg, an assistant professor of psychiatry, said the study findings indicate the need for more training concerning “biases in how we address politically salient health issues.”