Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Debt causes stress, which causes everything else
Debt causes stress, which is causing the common health complaints that are the bread and butter of a busy internal medicine practice.
There's certainly more people worrying about the economy, but does that really mean internists will see more patients? An AP-AOL Health poll suggests so.
The AP consulted with Paul J. Lavrakas, a research psychologist who created an index to measure how much people are stressed by debt. He analyzed the poll's results and suggested that the estimated 10 million to 16 million people with debt could have health problems.
Look at the symptoms that arise: digestive tract problems or worse pain from ulcers, migraines and headaches, anxeity and depression, muscle tension or low-back pain, and double the rate of heart attacks. They're what internists deal with daily, and are all linked to the fight-or-flight response to stress that, if it lingers, can affect everything about the body.
What's really stressful is that Mr. Lavrakas reported a link between credit card debt and health eight years ago, in what seems now like a serene economy that was pre-9/11, pre-tech bubble and pre-housing crisis.
posted by Ryan DuBosar at
9:45 AM
ACP Internist hosted Grand Rounds on June 16, wrapping up the best of the medical blogosphere. Click here for the complete wrap-up.
Contact ACP Internist
Send comments to ACP Internist staff at acpinternist@acponline.org.
Previous Posts
- Medical News of the Obvious
- Talk to your patients about alternative medicine
- Camera pills get remote control
- How to win at our cartoon caption contest
- Confirming our suspicions
- Patients as partners
- Medical News of the Obvious
- Blog keeps track of all those guidelines
- Get drug alerts, warnings and recalls fast
- Virtual exercise's real effects studied
Blog log
American Journal of Medicine
Also known as the Green Journal, the American Journal of Medicine publishes original clinical articles of interest to physicians in internal medicine and its subspecialities, both in academia and community-based practice.
Clinical Correlations
A collaborative medical blog started by Neil Shapiro, ACP Member, associate program director at New York University Medical Center's internal medicine residency program. Faculty, residents and students contribute case studies, mystery quizzes, news, commentary and more.
db's Medical Rants
Robert M. Centor, FACP, contributes short essays contemplating medicine and the health care system.
Everything Health
EverythingHealth is designed to address the rapid changes in science, medicine, health and healing in the 21st Century.
Getting Better with Dr. Val
Getting Better is the continuation of Dr. Val Jones' previous blog at Revolution Health. It is devoted to helping people understand health issues from a balanced, scientifically sound perspective.
HealthHombre
A roundup of health policy news drawn from a database of hundreds of Web sites.
Interact MD
Michael Benjamin, ACP member, doesn't accept industry money so he can create an independent, clinician-reviewed space on the Internet for physicians to report and comment on the medical news of the day.
Kevin, MD
The alter ego of Kevin Pho, ACP Member, is the closest thing to royalty in the medical blog world.
LSUHSC-S Medical Library Evidence Alert
Major guidelines, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and/or major reviews by national and international organizations.
PLoS Blog
The Public Library of Science's open access materials include a blog.
White Coat Rants
One of the most popular anonymous blogs written by a doctor.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home