A recent study has revealed that people who have to suffer from economic hardships for even as less as 4 years are prone to ageing faster as compared to their peers who are economically stable. The researchers at the Department of Public health at the Copenhagen University of Denmark carried out a study to compare economically well to do, late middle aged adults and adults experiencing financial issues.
The study involved over 5575 adults in their late middle ages with a benchmark hardship of 60% less than that of the national average over 22 years period. Out of these 5575, 18% were having financial hardship during the period of 1987-2008. Lead by Rikki Lund, the team studied and analyzed cognitive as well as physical functions like chair rise, jump, balance, grip and strength.
The study found that people who experienced poverty over 4 years performed less as compared to people of the same age who were living without any financial problems. The findings suggest that the absence of economic problems protects from aging faster while the opposite not only increases ageing but also the blood CRP levels.
When people are less capable of doing physical activities earlier than then the others of the same age it is called accelerated aging. It could be a result of higher inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein (CRP) and IL-6 or poor cognitive functioning.
In the Western society, aging population means more healthcare costs and hence healthy ageing is promoted. The study has results that match the earlier studies with did show an inverse connection between economic difficulties and physical abilities besides cognitive difficulties that have been already reported.
Having said that, there is one story that has a different story to tell. It states that a human’s perception about economic hardships is more significant indicator and not their real financial condition. The study does come with a few limitations though, which include factors like not considering data of various societies, not considering any other potential confounding factors responsible or even diseases and conditions that are not a result of poverty but still could affect longevity and speed ageing.
*Sourced from Internet
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