The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity

by Michael Marmot

Overview

"Bold, important and masterful . . . Marmot's message is not just timely, it's urgent."

-The Washington Post Book World

You probably didn't realize that when you graduate from college you increase your lifespan, or that your co-worker who has a slightly better job is more likely to live a healthier life. In this groundbreaking book, epidemiologist Michael Marmot marshals evidence from nearly thirty years of research to demonstrate that status is not a footnote to the causes of ill health-it is the cause. He calls this effect the status syndrome.

The status syndrome is pervasive. It determines the chances that you will succumb to heart disease, stroke, cancers, infectious diseases, even suicide and homicide. And the issue, as Marmot shows, is not simply one of income or lifestyle. It is the psychological experience of inequality-how much control you have over your life and the opportunities you have for full social participation-that has a profound effect on your health.

The Status Syndrome will utterly change the way we think about health, society, and how we live our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805078541
Publisher:	Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	09/05/2005
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Sir Michael Marmot is Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at UCL, a leading intellectual both in the UK and globally. He will take up the Lown visiting professorship at Harvard in 2015. He chaired the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2005-8), his recommendations have been adopted by the World Health Assembly and taken up by many countries and the British Government appointed him to conduct a review of social determinants and health inequalities. The Marmot Review and its recommendations are now being implemented in three-quarters of local authorities in England. He previously published Status Syndrome in 2004.

Editorial Reviews

[The] cutting edge of public health research... [Marmot] transformed the health establishment's thinking about the link between status and health.” —The New York Times

“Shows that all societies demonstrate the same truth... social status provides two crucial props to good health and personal well-being.” —The Observer (London)

“A wake-up call to those of us in the wealthy industrialized world who think our social status has no impact on our health. [The Status Syndrome]... will make readers look at the rat race in a whole new way.” —Publishers Weekly

“Michael Marmot is a world-class scientist who writes deeply about matters of life and death with the grace of a world-class essayist. Anyone concerned about the health of our society should read this book.” —Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone and Better Together

From the Publisher

With 30 years of research and a catchy name for his theory, epidemiologist Marmot gives a wake-up call to those of us in the wealthy industrialized world who think our social status has no impact on our health: whether you look at wealth, education, upbringing or job, health steadily worsens as one descends the social ladder, even within the upper and middle classes. Beyond a simple explanation of how the deprivation of extreme poverty leads to disease, Marmot shows that life expectancy declines gradually from the upper crust to the impoverished. The odds are that your boss will live longer than you and that Donald Trump will outlive us all. Marmot bases his conclusions on his study of British civil servants, but backs up his theory at every turn with mountains of other research, from experiments on rhesus monkeys to studies of cigarette factory workers in India. For a book based on statistics, the text contains only a few graphs, but Marmot still provides a comprehensive overview of the current understanding of how our health depends on the society around us, and particularly on the sense of autonomy and control one has over one's life. As an adviser to the World Health Organization, Marmot has had the opportunity to make policy recommendations based on his theory. The Status Syndrome may not be a page-turner, but it will make readers look at the rat race in a whole new way. Agent, Rob McQuilkin. (Aug. 9) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Recently, researchers have turned their attention to the relationship between social status and health in richer countries. Marmot (epidemiology & public health, University Coll., London) illustrates how, time and again, health appears to follow a gradient based on social status-i.e., the lower the status, the worse the health; all social groups are affected, not just those at the bottom or the top. This phenomenon appears to continue even after accounting for differences in genetics, diet, smoking habits, and exercise. Marmot supports his thesis with evidence from numerous studies, particularly the Whitehall research, which followed 18,000 British civil servants over several decades and indicated that the more opportunity people have for social engagement and the greater control that they have over their lives, the better their health. Although the book is scholarly in format, jargon is kept to a minimum. Highly recommended for public health collections.-Tina Neville, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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