Re: LONGEVITY: Social Factors

Michelle Jones (spike66@ibm.net)
Sat, 22 Aug 1998 08:38:53 -0700

> >>It's clear that being poor is a very big hit on health, that it mostly isn't
> >>due to spending less on health care, nor to the poor having worse behavior
> >>like smoking, lack of excercise. eating fats, etc. <snip>

i saw an old friend from college last night. his wife has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. not only can she no longer work, but her medical bills are staggering. the medication alone is exceeding 1000 bucks a month now, and whats worse, there are known harmful side effects, such as immunosupression, mood swings etc. if that were not bad enough, one of their doctors is arguing that the medication is not effective. but how can they be sure?

how can we filter out the fact that poor health can make one poor? spike