Neighborhoods affect long-term health
Experts at the Hopkins School of Public Health have published a study in the American Journal of Public Health showing that a person's living environment has a direct and profound effect on health.
They found that long-term increases in stress hormones and other factors contribute to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, among other ailments, for those living in neighborhoods where violent crime and signs of economic collapse are prominent.
Reactions to our environment most likely began as an evolutionary advantage. Supposing that a threat to the survival of an early human was present in their vicinity, such as a dangerous animal, an innate response that we now refer to as "fight or flight" was activated.
When this occurs, an area of the brain known as the hypothalamus, which controls the basic human instincts of eating, drinking, sex, emotion and stress, is stimulated. Our nerve cells fire and induce the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine.
The release of these hormones causes physical changes that include increased heart and respiratory rates, decreased digestion so that a greater supply of blood may be sent to the muscles and dilated pupils for better vision in order to enable us to scan the environment for possible threats to survival.
If a person becomes chronically stressed, such as from living in an emotionally taxing environment, the accumulation of such hormones may lead to autonomic nervous system disorders. The Baltimore Memory Study showed that these include headaches and cardiovascular problems, such as high blood pressure and an increased risk of heart attacks.
Researchers at Hopkins, led by Brian Schwartz, examined the association between cardiovascular disease and psychosocial hazards in 65 neighborhoods in Baltimore to determine if such factors impacted the health of older adults between 50 and 70 years of age. These hazards included crime and abandoned buildings.
Unsurprisingly, they found that such features accounted for increased cardiovascular risk factors - stressful living environments caused adverse effects on health.
Even after controlling for individual risk factors, researchers concluded that residents of neighborhoods that had scores in the highest quartile of the psychosocial hazards scale were four times as likely to have a history of heart attack and three times as likely to have heart attack, stroke, transient ischemic attack or intermittent leg pain, when compared to residents living in neighborhoods that ranked in the bottom quartile of the psychosocial hazard scale.
They found that long-term increases in stress hormones and other factors contribute to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, among other ailments, for those living in neighborhoods where violent crime and signs of economic collapse are prominent.
Reactions to our environment most likely began as an evolutionary advantage. Supposing that a threat to the survival of an early human was present in their vicinity, such as a dangerous animal, an innate response that we now refer to as "fight or flight" was activated.
When this occurs, an area of the brain known as the hypothalamus, which controls the basic human instincts of eating, drinking, sex, emotion and stress, is stimulated. Our nerve cells fire and induce the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine.
The release of these hormones causes physical changes that include increased heart and respiratory rates, decreased digestion so that a greater supply of blood may be sent to the muscles and dilated pupils for better vision in order to enable us to scan the environment for possible threats to survival.
If a person becomes chronically stressed, such as from living in an emotionally taxing environment, the accumulation of such hormones may lead to autonomic nervous system disorders. The Baltimore Memory Study showed that these include headaches and cardiovascular problems, such as high blood pressure and an increased risk of heart attacks.
Researchers at Hopkins, led by Brian Schwartz, examined the association between cardiovascular disease and psychosocial hazards in 65 neighborhoods in Baltimore to determine if such factors impacted the health of older adults between 50 and 70 years of age. These hazards included crime and abandoned buildings.
Unsurprisingly, they found that such features accounted for increased cardiovascular risk factors - stressful living environments caused adverse effects on health.
Even after controlling for individual risk factors, researchers concluded that residents of neighborhoods that had scores in the highest quartile of the psychosocial hazards scale were four times as likely to have a history of heart attack and three times as likely to have heart attack, stroke, transient ischemic attack or intermittent leg pain, when compared to residents living in neighborhoods that ranked in the bottom quartile of the psychosocial hazard scale.
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