Stress takes a physical toll

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Stressful events accumulate through life and contribute to earlier ill health and death.
Stress has long been thought to have an adverse impact on your health. Now researchers at the University of Michigan confirm that a high stress load throughout life leads to an ealier death. They report from the Americans' Changing Lives Study, covering 3,617 adults followed over eight years, noting the stressful events they had experienced in their lives.

Nearly half had experienced at least one of four major stressful events - being widowed or divorced, losing a child or being the victim of serious physical assault. Those who had experienced more of these events had a 25 per cent higher mortality rate during the eight years.

The researchers found a striking socioeconomic influence on the likelihood of experiencing a stressful event. For instance, 16 per cent of those without a high school degree had been widowed compared with only six per cent of the most educated. The study also measured three types of chronic stress - financial, marital and parental. Those in lower socioeconomic brackets tended to suffer more from all of these. It has long been known that there are socioeconomic disparities in health. Stress may be the link that explains these.

Source
Journal of Health and Social Behavior November 2005