Chronic Stress and Health
Chronic stress, plays a significant role in the increase of morbidity and mortality rates in the lower socioeconomic groups of the population. Large amounts of the stress hormone cortisol can result in excessive levels of glucose in the bloodstream, which in turn can result in plaque build-up in the arteries, increased heart rate, and high blood pressure. Data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA), conducted in the United States of 35- to 45-year-old men and women, indicated that lower income and education were associated with higher cortisol levels in the late afternoon and evening. Furthermore, elevated levels among those with lower socioeconomic status could be mostly explained by differences in health behavior, such as smoking but also, to a lesser extent, by social network diversity, depression, perceived social support, and autonomy.
Read more about this topic: Social Determinants Of Health
Famous quotes containing the words chronic, stress and/or health:
“Ants are the only creatures on earth, other than man, who make war. They campaign, they are chronic aggressors, and they make slave laborers of the captives they don’t kill.”
—Ted Sherdeman, and Gordon Douglas. Dr. Medford (Edmund Gwenn)
“Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one’s mind.”
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1966)
“The fact that the mental health establishment has equated separation with health, equated women’s morality with soft-heartedness, and placed mothers on the psychological hot seat has taken a toll on modern mothers.”
—Ron Taffel (20th century)