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)
“Anyone who wishes to combine domestic responsibilities and paid employment with the least stress and most enjoyment might start by pondering this paradox: the first step to better functioning is to stop blaming herself for not functioning well enough.”
—Faye J. Crosby (20th century)
“The ideal of men and women sharing equally in parenting and working is a vision still. What would it be like if women and men were less different from each other, if our worlds were not so foreign? A male friend who shares daily parenting told me that he knows at his very core what his wife’s loving for their daughter feels like, and that this knowing creates a stronger bond between them.”
—Anonymous Mother. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 6 (1978)