The ailing economy is making people sicker - The Boston Globe

The ailing economy is making people sicker - The Boston Globe:
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"The chief of outpatient medicine at Boston Medical estimates that financial turmoil figures into at least half of all patient visits, and at one of the nation's premier psychiatric hospitals, McLean in Belmont, 31 percent more patients were admitted last month than in December 2007.

'I've been stunned by how pervasive the impact of the current economic downturn is on the health of my brood,' said Dr. Stephen Hoffmann, whose medical practice in Framingham has nearly 3,000 patients.

The economic crisis is far too fresh for any government agency or professional organization to have quantified the health consequences. But during previous recessions, researchers linked spikes in unemployment in the United States and Europe to increases in deaths from heart disease, cancer, and psychiatric disorders."