In Sickness and In Wealth

 The video, "In Sickness and in Wealth," is part of the series Unnatural Causes put on by California Newsreel. Unnatural Causes is a documentary series that analyzes how health is affected by different social factors. 

The specific episode, "In Sickness and in Wealth," discusses how social class affects the health of people in America. The documentary focuses on the city of Louisville, Kentucky and shares the lives of four people, living in four different council districts. Each of these council districts have their own way of living through the different social classes they are a part of. 

First, we meet a man living in council district 16, where many people earn more than $100,000 each year. Then, we meet a woman living in council district 24, where many people are "financially comfortable" and consider themselves to be middle class. Next, we meet a man who lives in council district 21, where many families are working full time jobs and their salaries combine to be at the median household income. Finally, we meet a woman living in council district 5, where 30% of people live at or below the poverty line and have limited money to spend on food each month. 

What does social class have to do with how healthy people are? Dr. Adewale Troutman, the director of health in Louisville said "there's a direct connection between the health of populations in Louisville and the social conditions that can be seen as you go from one council district to another." You can see a change in the amounts of new developments, businesses and fast food chain restaurants by just looking from one side of a street to another in some areas of the city. 

The major cause of the differences in health based on social class is stress. Everyone encounters stress during their lives. There are many different factors that can cause stress for people. However, an excess amount of stress can cause a decrease in healthy individuals, as is seen by people living in economically challenged areas. The stress hormone, cortisol is released in the body and triggers a sense of "fight or flight." Small amounts of cortisol can be good for the body, but excessive amounts can cause harm. Here are some videos on how stress can affect your brain and your body. 

For people living in council districts 21 and 5, stress can be a constant feeling, as they feel that they have no control over their life, such as their jobs and overall ability to provide for themselves and their families. This constant state of stress causes harm to the body and can create an increased risk of many health conditions. 

Carol Shively, a comparative psychologist from Wake Forest University performed a study on macaque monkeys, in which she analyzed the arteries of dominant monkeys and subordinate monkeys. The dominant monkeys can be compared to people living in districts 16 and 24. These people have more control over their jobs and their abilities to provide for their families. The subordinate monkeys can be compared to people living in districts 21 and 5, who have less control over their jobs and their abilities to provide for their families. 

The artery on the left represents the dominate monkey and the artery on the right represents the subordinate monkey. When discussing the dominate monkey's artery, Shively states that "the hole in the center is large and that means that there is lots of room for blood to flow through." For the subordinate monkey, she says that the monkey has "developed much larger atherosclerotic plaque." This means that there is a smaller area for blood to flow through. Both monkeys were of the same age and had the same diet. The difference in the arteries stems from the increased amount of stress being produced by the subordinate monkey. 

For humans, there are similar differences that can be seen. Psychologist Sheldon Cohen performed a study on people by exposing them to the cold virus and studying how many people actually got a cold. It was discovered that the less stress that people were exposed to throughout their lives, the less likely they were to develop a cold. Their immune systems were not compromised since they were not exposed to excess amounts of cortisol. 

Based on the information I have learned from this documentary, I feel that there are people in some upper class communities that have created a sense of hope deferred. They do not see what they can do to change the way that others in their city are living. The feeling of hope deferred refers to a sense of not knowing what to do and making it "someone else's problem." While much of the problem does stem from a lack of policy that provides resources to those living in lower income communities, people who do not suffer from these problems can try to make a change in their communities to ensure that everyone has more equal opportunities.