A tumbling stock market doesn't just damage your savings and portfolio.
According to this report, Duke University researchers found there was a link between how a stock index performed and how many heart attacks were treated at their North Carolina hospital shortly after the recession began in December 2007 through July 2009, when the market started picking up again.
The report says: "Mona Fiuzat, a doctor of pharmacy and researcher at Duke, had the idea for the new study. She tallied all patients who had a heart attack among those coming to the hospital for a test to detect heart disease. There were 965 heart attacks during the study period. She then researched economic indices and how to best measure financial changes over time. 'This is not as clear as say Sept. 11,' a specific date, she said. The health effects of bad financial news may emerge over weeks rather than on a single day, so she averaged heart attacks over three months, taking into account a period before and after each one, and compared these with the Nasdaq composite index. 'We felt the Nasdaq was most appropriate for the mainstream because it reflects small businesses' and therefore would have the most impact on the general public, Fiuzat said. As stock market values decreased, the incidence of heart attacks rose; the reverse also was true, she found."
Now heart disease of course is the number one killer in the United States. As reported here, it will kill 400,000 Americans this year. Despite new anti-cholesterol drugs and fewer people smoking, researchers say there is a problem because of rising obesity rates and lifestyle choices.
If Duke University researchers are right, owning shares would be another risk. If you're a fat, sedentary investor, it's a triple whammy.
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