4 ms·
> This sudden loss could have caused stress, inflammation and/or high blood pressure, any of which could make serious cardiovascular problems more likely, the s
by amalcon 9y ago
> This sudden loss could have caused stress, inflammation and/or high blood pressure, any of which could make serious cardiovascular problems more likely, the study authors noted. In addition, a financial blow of this scale may well have prompted people to skip important (but expensive) medical appointments or to stop filling necessary (but pricey) prescriptions.
The cart seems to be before the horse here, in at least some cases. One of the most reliable ways to experience a negative wealth shock is to incur a big medical bill. E.g. if someone develops cancer, it's reasonably likely that they will experience a negative wealth shock and then die, but the loss of money did not cause the death.
The study itself[1] does mention medical debts as a considered liability, but (at least from my skim) I didn't find any other reference to this explanation.
[1]-https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2677445 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2677445
- derefr 9y agoIt would be helpful, then, to do an equivalent study in a country with public healthcare.
- tlb 9y agoAlso, people in ill health are more likely to retire early or scale down their career, causing wealth decrease. When there are obvious mechanisms for reverse causation, while the mechanism for the claimed causation is speculative, be skeptical.
- ams6110 9y agoThe problem with that theory is that wealthy people generally have good health insurance.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- opencl 9y agoThe median net worth of the people that lost their wealth in the study was ~$110k, which is just slightly above the US median at ~$100k.
- DanBC 9y agoPlease don't use > to quote. It's broken for mobile users.
- vanattab 9y agoHow is > broken to quote mobile users? What is obnoxious for mobile users is using code block quotes to quote non code.
- amalcon 9y agoIf there were any sensible way to quote on HN, I'd surely use that instead. Could you suggest an alternative?
- chc 9y agoI think he actually means don't indent the quote, because it results in a truncated text box that you have to scroll awkwardly. The > quote markers are fine IMO.
- amalcon 9y agoIf you don't indent, then HN does not respect single line breaks. > quote markers only work at the beginning of a line. I've implemented another suggestion for how to avoid the need for them, though. Thanks!
- GuiA 9y ago
- jacquesm 9y ago> if someone develops cancer, it's reasonably likely that they will experience a negative wealth shock and then die, but the loss of money did not cause the death. That is not the case in many places.
- amalcon 9y agoIt is the case in the place that the study was done, though.