There is a direct link between wallet size and health, according to a new study that confirms economic inequality is a key part of what makes people ill.

Economic inequality is measured by looking at the distribution of wealth and income in a society, not the general wealth of the country, according to an Oct. 19 Time magazine article published online.

One way to understand how the economic inequality is related to health is that money allows for fewer barriers to obtain health care, according to the article. The health gap has become so bad that high-level health officials from at least 60 countries attended a recent World Health Organization conference where the topic centered on wealth and its relation to human health, according to the article.

Though this health gap clearly exists, the problem of health disparities among the rich and the poor reaches deeper levels and may be related to our primitive ancestors, according to the article.

After following wild baboons in Africa who have similar social structures to humans, researchers found that a key side effect of inequality is stress. Chronic stress is directly related to poor health, as high levels of stress hormones overtime are known to reduce immune system function and increase virtually all mental and physical illness, according to the article.

Due to lifestyle factors and differences in hardships, those who are less economically successful are also more likely to have chronic levels of stress, according to the article

‘There are two striking findings. The first was that there was about a threefold difference between the top and bottom in mortality. That’s absolutely enormous,’ said Michael Marmon, professor of epidemiology at University College London, in the Time article.

This means the morality rate of those who are poorer were much higher than those who were wealthier. Further, Marmon noted in the Time article that there is a direct correlation between wealth and health.

‘There was a stepwise relationship between your socioeconomic position and your health,’ Marmon said.

Health disparities are not new to health care. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a list of articles about health disparities directly on its website. It describes how race, economic standing, gender and age can all make one more susceptible to poor health than their counterparts.

Lindsey Adams, a senior public health major, said she understood where the study results were coming from.

‘I think it’s correlated, but it doesn’t necessarily make it a rule,’ she said. ‘Even though healthier options might be easier to attain with a higher income, it is by no means a death sentence, as there are still ways to maintain healthy lifestyles at lower incomes. It may just be slightly more difficult.’

knvanbru@syr.edu

Published on October 31, 2011 at 12:00 pm