Sudden loss of wealth increases chances of death- Study
Watch your health and you watch your wealth
According to Time, the study was published Tuesday in the journal JAMA, and researchers examined how losing financial stability impacts a person’s health over time.
The study looked at more than 8,700 people, ages 51-61, who were participating in a national study.
The researchers looked at how experiencing a “negative wealth shock”—defined as losing 75% or more of their total asset value, including things like a pension, home or business, over two years—affected a person’s mortality over a twenty year period.
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Results showed that 25% of people experienced a negative wealth shock; those men and women were at a much higher risk for death from all causes.
The researchers also found that when they looked at a group of low-income adults, their risk of death over 20 years was 67%.
The study did not look at how the loss of wealth directly impacted people’s health. However, “the hypothesis is that wealth shock is a stressful event, and chronic stress over the long-term can affect pretty much every organ system.
The findings have serious implications for people who may undergo a financial crisis, and the research underscores the link between health and financial instability.
Source:TIME
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