Socioeconomic position and cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses following cognitive challenge in old age.

Social disparities in health persist into old age, and differences in psychophysiological responsivity may contribute to this pattern. We assessed whether higher socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with attenuated cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses elicited by cognitive tasks in old age. We tested 132 community-dwelling men and women aged 65-80 years, divided on the basis of educational attainment into higher and lower SES groups, and compared them with 26 higher educated participants aged 27-42 years.

How neighborhoods and physical functioning are related: the roles of neighborhood socioeconomic status, perceived neighborhood strain, and individual health risk factors.

Background: Increasing attention is being paid to the impact of neighborhood residence on individual health status.

Purpose: This study examined pathways through which low neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and associated subjective neighborhood characteristics may be associated with self-reported physical functioning.

Methods: A sample of 658 adults responded to a questionnaire survey sent to residents of lower and higher SES neighborhoods.

Cortisol responses to mild psychological stress are inversely associated with proinflammatory cytokines.

Glucocorticoids can down-regulate immune activity, but acute stress has been reported to increase both cortisol and levels of plasma cytokines. We investigated individual differences in cortisol responses and their associations with proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), cardiovascular activity, and mental health. Saliva samples and blood were taken from 199 healthy middle-aged participants of the Whitehall II cohort at baseline, immediately after stress and 45 min later.

Psychosocial and socioeconomic factors associated with glycated hemoglobin in nondiabetic middle-aged men and women.

The authors tested associations between glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c; an index of glucose homeostasis and an indicator of cardiovascular disease risk in nondiabetic populations) and socioeconomic status (defined by grade of employment) and psychosocial factors in 234 British civil servants. HbA1c concentration was inversely related to grade of employment. Higher HbA1c was associated with greater waist-hip ratio, lower control at work, lower internal locus of control, lower active coping, and lower social support.

Socioeconomic status and stress-related biological responses over the working day.

Objectives: The influence of low socioeconomic status on cardiovascular disease may be mediated in part by sustained activation of stress-related autonomic and neuroendocrine processes. We hypothesized that low socioeconomic status would be associated with heightened ambulatory blood pressure and cortisol output over the working day.

Methods: One hundred eight men and 94 women from the Whitehall II epidemiological cohort participated.

Influence of socioeconomic status and job control on plasma fibrinogen responses to acute mental stress.

Objective: An elevation in plasma fibrinogen may be one of the pathways through which low socioeconomic status increases cardiovascular disease risk. This study assessed the influence of socioeconomic status, job control, and social isolation on fibrinogen responses to acute stress.

Methods: The study was conducted with 125 white men and 96 white women aged 47 to 58 years, drawn from the Whitehall II cohort.

Reactivity and vulnerability to stress-associated risk for upper respiratory illness.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that the greater a person's laboratory stress-elicited elevation in cortisol, the greater the life stress-related risk for upper respiratory infection (URI). We also tested the prediction that the greater the laboratory stress-elicited rise in natural killer cell (NK) cytotoxicity, the smaller the life stress-related URI risk. Finally, we explored whether sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and enumerative immune reactivities to laboratory stress moderate the relation between life stress and URI.