“Unnatural Causes”

 Monday, May 24, 2021        Asynchronous Learning 

On: In Sickness and In Health; Episode 1

“Unnatural Causes”

Argument:

This episode, of "In Sickness and In Health" argues that inequitable distributions of wealth in our country leads to unequal and inequitable distributions of sickness and disease. This science-based argument leads to a call for action to distribute wealth equitably in order to become a healthier country. 

Questions Explored: 

• "Is inequality making us sick?"

• “Why are we getting sick in the first place? Is it our American diet? individual behaviors? Those behaviors themselves are determined in part by economic stages"

• "How do we carry social class in our bodies? How does it get under our skin?"

• "We know that social class is the most important determinant of health, above any other respect. But what does social class mean? is it housing, medical care, education or is it power, confidence, a sense of security?" S. Leonard Syme; Epidemiologist; UC Berkeley  

Quotes: 

"There are ways that our society is organized that is bad for our health, there are ways that we could reconfigure ourselves in ways that are better for our health."

This quote stood out to me as organization is a cause for bad health. This seems unthinkable. However, studies, science and lived experiences continue to prove this quote true. The fact that the structure of our society is carried out through the health of our citizens shows the depth of our society's problems and the complexity of solving them.

"When the brain perceives a threat it signals the adrenal glands to release potent stress hormones, among them, cortisol. They flood your bloodstream with glucose, increase your heart-rate, raise blood pressure. They put your body on alert."

Stress response is typically not a bad thing. Our body's response to stress is natural and designed to help us survive. However, our bodies were not designed to be in a constant state of stress. Episode 1 of "In Sickness and In Health" looks in detail at the causes and the effects of the human body being in a state of constant stress. Ultimately the human stress response, when over worked, leads to poor health and shortened lifespan. Initially, before watching this episode of "In Sickness and In Health" I would have attributed these poor health conditions to lifestyles such as food consumed, lack of exercise and poor living conditions. While these all do contribute to health and are all harmful circumstances of poverty, science shows that regardless of physical influences, the impact of stress proves to be the cause for health conditions that lead to shortened life. 

"A normal stress response spikes up when needed, and then turns off. But what happens when pressures are relentless and you lack the power and resources to control them? When the stress response stays turned on for months? Or years? These systems begin to work overtime, we produce too much cortisol. Chronically cortisol can impair immune function, it can inhibit memory and it can actually cause areas of the brain to shrink." 

The world that we have created as a society is not normal; therefor, the "normal stress response" is not effective. This quote highlights the change in effect of the normal stress response from helpful to harmful when it is overworked. This leads to higher rates of disease, increased aging, diabetes, heart disease and more.

The Cold Study

One study referenced in Episode 1 of "In Sickness and In Health" was The Cold Study. In this study, scientists exposed subjects from different socioeconomic statuses to equal doses of the common cold. The Cold Study revealed that individuals with higher status and therefore less chronic stress caught less colds than individuals with more chronic stress due to lower status. This study tests how effective the immune function of individuals is. The results support the argument that poor, working class individuals are more susceptible to illness and are therefore have poorer health. This is not the fault of the individual, but rather the impact that our society has on their physical being.

Demand & Control

There is a clear relationship between demand & control and the output of chronic stress. Individuals that have highly demanding jobs, but also autonomy within their jobs, do not suffer from chronic health conditions; these are the more affluent members of society. However, individuals with equally demanding jobs, but no autonomy within their jobs, suffer from chronic health conditions; these are the members of society living in poverty.

No control over work variables, High demanding job, Chronic Stress,  Illness and Poor Health 

Until next week,

Emily