The great American rags-to-riches story may, in reality, come with some unfortunate health side effects.
That was the message of a New York Times column looking at health risks of upward mobility. The column was co-authored by Gene H. Brody, director of the Center for Family Research at UGA, Gregory Miller and Edith Chen, psychology professors at Northwestern University.
“Those who climb the ladder, against the odds, often pay a little-known price: Success at school and in the workplace can exact a toll on the body that may have long-term repercussions for health,” the authors wrote.
A study of African-American subjects in rural Georgia, the article said, suggests that individuals who succeed in school and in their careers “had higher blood pressure and produced more stress hormones.”
