Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the
Leading Causes of Death in Adults.

This report describes many of the ways in which being poor is bad for one’s health and points to policies that have the potential for restoring the prospect of good health to the lives of the poor. We present compelling evidence that poverty has an impact on not just the body politic but the body corporeal as well—that being poor leaves a broad footprint on the health of individuals. The health costs of poverty are high. Those among us who are poor tend to have more illness and die younger. These effects have been noted in recent reports from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America, the World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and the United States Government Accountability Office. Recognizing that the poor disproportionately bear the nation’s burden of ill-health is important, but how are we to break the link between poverty and poor health?

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Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO 2005).

The past twenty five years have seen major advances in the practice of medicine including discovery of immunosuppressive drugs that make organ transplantation possible, development of new procedures such as in vitro fertilization and microscopic surgery, invention of new diagnostic tools like the PET scanner, and approval of new medications such as those extending the lives of individuals infected with HIV. These innovations have made a major difference for many patients and their families.

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