Wavy: Delaney speaks on Financial Stress and Aging

(NewsNation) — Persistent financial stress accelerates age-related cognitive decline, according to a new study published in “Innovation in Aging.”

The British study examined data from 2,759 people who answered questionnaires throughout their lives as part of a national health survey given to those born in 1946.

Researchers found those who struggled with low income or financial hardship in their early and middle adulthood scored worse on cognitive tests by the age of 53.

After examining brain scans from a subgroup, researchers found those who had sustained low income also had more brain shrinkage by the ages of 69 to 71.

Even after adjusting for factors including childhood disadvantage and education level, the results remained.

“I think we all recognize that money is one of the biggest stressors that we have in our lives, because so many of the most important things in life depend on us having enough of it,” said Delaney Busching, HUD-certified housing and financial counselor.

In general, men also experienced more decline than their female counterparts. Researchers believe possible factors for the difference may include disadvantaged men being more prone to unhealthy behaviors and that, given the age of the cohort, they may have experienced more of the burden of financial stress as the primary earner.

“I think a lot of us carry shame if we are struggling because we look around and it doesn’t seem like anyone else has these kind of problems,” said Busching. “That can cause us to feel like our financial situation is a moral failing.”

One possible mechanism for the connection between financial stress and cognitive aging is inflammation, caused by chronic stress and known to accelerate brain aging. Money stress could also increase cognitive load, leaving less bandwidth for other cognitive tasks.

“So many people that we work with are on a fixed income or lower income with few opportunities to increase their income. And so it feels to them like financial hardship is always right around the corner, like there’s always going to be another crisis, another emergency to deal with, and that can make it really frustrating and help you get you to where you don’t just feel like you know where to start,” said Busching.

If you want to learn more about the Housing and Financial Counseling with Up Center, you can click here.

Read the original article on WAVY10, here.