UNNATURAL CAUSES looks at what's making us sick in the first place, investigating new findings that suggest there is much more to poor health than bad habits, inadequate health care or unlucky genes. The series circles in on the social circumstances in which we are born, live and work that can affect our risk for disease as surely as germs and viruses.
Part One: In Sickness and in Wealth This is a story about health, but not about doctors or drugs. Set mostly in Louisville, Kentucky, it’s a detective story out to solve the mystery of what’s stalking and killing so many Americans before their time. The program uncovers connections between healthy bodies and healthy bank accounts — and why residents of other nations, including many poorer countries, live longer and healthier lives. Solutions, evidence suggests, may lie not in more pills but in more equality.
Studies show that early childhood poverty can have life-long health consequences.
Research has revealed a gradient to health. At each step down the socio-economic ladder — from the rich to the middle class to the poor — people tend to be sicker and die sooner. It’s no surprise that poor Americans die eight years before the rich on average, but middle-class Americans die almost three years sooner than the rich.
By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.