Article 3J9DG Researchers find dramatic health effects in people hit hard by Great Recession

Researchers find dramatic health effects in people hit hard by Great Recession

by
Beth Mole
from Ars Technica - All content on (#3J9DG)
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The Great Recession from 2007 to 2009 not only claimed millions of jobs and houses, it took a toll on our health, too, according to a new study published in PNAS this week.

After the financial crisis, researchers studying a cohort of nearly 4,600 middle-aged and older adults found significant boosts in blood pressure and blood glucose levels-both contributors to health problems such as heart disease. Because the researchers had years' worth of baseline health data on the group, they could determine that the increases were well beyond what was expected for the group based on aging and progression of preexisting health conditions alone. However, some of the increases-but not all-could be explained by some participants who stopped taking or decreased their blood pressure and diabetes medication after the recession. This appeared to be another harmful side-effect of the economic downturn.

Overall, the participants who appeared to take the hardest knocks to their health were those who were already taking medications before the recession and had the most to lose: middle-aged adults in the workforce who may fear job loss and older, more highly educated adults who owned their homes and were most likely to have invested in the stock market.

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