How Your Personal Income Affects Your Health Risk
QHHL 
Jan 31 2019
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0 QHHL
You’re probably used to thinking about the affect that your income has on your lifestyle. But to be healthy over the long term, you need to consider how it affects your physical health as well.
Your personal health is determined by several different factors. This can include your profession, lifestyle choices, relationships, and even where you live. But the one health risk factor that a lot of people don’t question is how much money you earn. This can affect every aspect of your health, your health treatments, and the outcome of any treatments. And this truth is what makes your income a very important health risk factor. However, the exact nature of its influence may not be what you think it is.
You probably already instinctively know that your income affects your health. The amount of money you make often determines your access to health care. It can even direct and control your diet and certain lifestyle choices. So it clearly has an important role in your long and short term health. However, it isn’t the best determiner of your overall health and life expectancy for several reasons, including the following:
What this all means is that the role of income isn’t absolute in determining your health. However, this doesn’t mean that money doesn’t affect your health at all. In fact, several studies highlight the fact that there is a significant life expectancy gap between people in higher and lower income brackets. For example, recent statistics suggest that US men in lower income brackets who are aged 40 and over can expect to live 14.6 years less than men in the highest income bracket. This is a startling statistic, and not one to dismiss or accept.
The amount of money may not be as important as you think. In fact, the stability of your income may be more important to your health. A recent study has revealed that income instability during your early years has a lasting impact on long-term health. The study evaluated nearly 4000 participants who had experienced income instabilities during a 15-year formative earning period. Basically, this period was at the start of their careers when their wages were experiencing dips and highs. The goal was to explore the association between this instability and serious health risks in the following ten years. In particular, the researchers were interested in cardiovascular disease and early mortality from all causes.
The results of the study were startling. The participants who experienced early stability had double the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and failures. And their risk of dying from any cause during this period was almost double the normal rate as well.
These statistics reveal just how detrimental these types of experiences can be for your health. It’s also worrying that they can affect your health long after your income stabilizes. At the moment, there is very little information about why this health risk exists and which mechanisms drive it. But even with the little information available, this data carries long term implications for your health and your health monitoring activities.
The best way to stay healthy in the long term is to predict potential health problems and eliminate or reduce them where possible. This is why health monitoring and accurate health assessments are so valuable. And it’s also why understanding the link between health and personal income is so important. By adding your early income history to your health assessments, you will be able to make more accurate health assessments. It’s an easy, personalized and straightforward way to get a more comprehensive picture of your health and well-being. And this will allow you to avoid illnesses where possible or achieve the best outcome possible.
This information is even more important for young people, who probably aren’t thinking about health risk factors. It highlights the importance of early health monitoring. Starting early means you can identify significant health risk factors, such as income instability, that may impact your midlife. And this will allow you to design and implement early interventions, which is the best way to ensure that you live a long and healthy life.
If you’re concerned about a health risk, try using HomeLab to keep track of your condition and any preventative measures you take. And if you see signs of a significant problem, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible.
Tags: health risk, income