A new study has found that while exposure to stressful life events or conditions is linked to biological health deterioration, financial stress, in particular, had the strongest detrimental effect on the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems, which are essential for maintaining good health, according to New Atlas, citing the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. These systems actively and continuously communicate to maintain balance—a self-regulation process through which the body achieves optimal performance. This integrated network of body systems controls physiological processes such as cell growth and differentiation, metabolism, and human behavior, and when it fails, it can lead to physical and mental illnesses, including cardiovascular diseases, depression, and accelerated aging. Stress, particularly chronic stress, has been included as a modifier of these systems and their activities. However, there is little scientific evidence on the impact of stress on neuroendocrine immune activity in older adults. Therefore, researchers from University College London examined the relationship between psychological stress and distinctive immune and neuroendocrine characteristics among older adults.
Odessa Hamilton, the lead researcher of the study, stated, "When the immune system and neuroendocrine system work well together, balance is maintained, and health is upheld," adding that "chronic stress can disrupt this biological exchange and lead to disease."
The researchers analyzed levels of four blood biomarkers in 4,934 individuals aged 50 and older (average age 65) who participated in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Two of the biomarkers, C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen, are involved in the innate immune response to inflammation. The other two are cortisol and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which play a role in the physiological response to psychological stress.
Using latent profile analysis (LPA), a powerful statistical technique that allowed researchers to identify subgroups of individuals with similar biomarker activity, they identified groups categorized into three health risk profiles: low risk, moderate risk, and high risk. They also examined how early exposure to six psychological stressors—financial stress, caregiving, disability, illness, bereavement, and divorce—affected the likelihood of individuals being in the high-risk group.
The results indicated that 12.5% experienced high levels of stress. Regarding individual stressors, 17% faced financial stress, 7% were informal caregivers, 45.8% had difficulty mobilizing, 31.5% suffered from long-term illness, 40.9% were bereaved, and 9.2% were divorced.
Researchers discovered that overall exposure to stress was associated with a 61% increase in the likelihood of belonging to the high-risk group after four years, and the effect was cumulative. For each stress factor individuals were exposed to, they were 19% more likely to fall into a high-risk neuroendocrine immune profile.
Financial stress was found to be the strongest independent factor for belonging to the high-risk immune and neuroendocrine category, followed by the reduction of long-term illnesses and bereavement. Participants who reported financial stress alone and perceived that they might not have enough resources to meet future needs were 59% more likely to belong to the high-risk group after four years.
