Shocking life events and gnawing worry endanger people’s health.
The stress caused by them changes the cooperation of the immune system, nervous system and hormones, says University College London research.
The research team found financial worries to be the most harmful source of stress.
Researchers measured four markers in the blood of five thousand subjects over 50 years old. Among the substances measured, crp and fibrinogen are signs of inflammation. Cortisol and igf-1 tell about the immune reaction.
Based on the concentrations, the researchers divided the people into three groups with either a high, moderate or low risk of getting sick.
The immune, nervous and hormonal systems have been linked to many diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, depression and schizophrenia.
“When the immune system and hormone production work well together, a state of balance is found and health is maintained. However, chronic stress can upset the biological interaction and lead to illness,” says the lead author of the study Odessa Hamilton in the bulletin.
Next the researchers looked at the previous life situation of the test subjects to find out what kind of stressful events were associated with the marker profile that predicts health problems.
Based on previous research, six psychosocial stressors were included in the comparison: death of a loved one, divorce, long-term illness, disability limiting mobility, family care and financial worries.
The highest probability of belonging to the high-risk group was those who suffered from long-term financial worries, i.e. were afraid that the money would not be enough for future needs.
“The reason money worries are harmful may be that they can ruin life in many ways: cause family disputes, isolate socially and even lead to hunger and homelessness,” says Hamilton.
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Physical disability even reduced the probability of belonging to the high or moderate risk group.
Life-limiting long-term illness and the death of a loved one also strongly increased the health risk, while divorce did not.
Physical disability even reduced the probability of belonging to the high or moderate risk group. According to the researchers, the reason for this is unclear.
Slightly more than one in ten subjects had experienced severe stress, and after four years they were 61 percent more likely to be in the high health risk group.
The stress also piled up. If there was more than one stressor, each increased the probability of being in a health risk group.
Genetic factors did not seem to have an effect on the consequences of stress experiences in the body.