http://www.destyhealth.com/2015/12/hormone-defects-make-poor-age-more-quickly.html#
A study conducted by researchers suggested that uneducated and poor people age faster and could be more vulnerable to diseases because, the hormones they have are out of balance

Although scientists have revealed this some years back that most underprivileged people in our society die earlier just because they are "biologically older" than rich people. Those living in the most affluent countries or cities are expected to live up to eight years longer than those in the poor countries or regions.

Recently searchers at University College London (UCL) believe they have found a possible reason for this claim. A study which was conducted by 1,880 British men and women from 1946 has proved that hormones critical to healthy ageing are significantly out of balance by the time the most disadvantaged reach 60-64 of age.

Those men who earn as little as £6,000 ($NZ 13,000) per year had ten percent lower testosterone levels than men earning higher like £30,000 per year or more. Low testosterone can cause several health problems such as depression, loss of muscle, osteoporosis as well as weight gain. In contrast, ladies whose parents were uneducated workers had testosterone levels 15% higher than the daughters of professionals.

Too much testosterone in women is bad because its linked to polycystic ovaries, infertility and early puberty.

Those with the lowest education in both sexes also had depleted levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) which has been linked to poor cognitive function and an increased risk of cancer and of cardiovascular mortality.

Levels of IGF in women with no qualifications were 16 per lower than in those who had degrees. For men, the difference was 8 per cent.

Low levels of cortisol, which can lead to heart palpitations, depression, pain and insomnia, were also seen in both men and women with the lowest education. Professor Diana Kuh, of the Medical Research Council's Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, said the hormonal differences showed how societal factors literally "get under the skin" and affect health.

"We found that socioeconomic disadvantage across life, based on father's social class and on the study member's education, social class and income, was associated with an adverse hormone profile," Prof Kuh said.

"These hormones are thought to work together to ensure healthy development and also have many different roles in regulating health in older age.

"So our findings suggest that these socioeconomic differences in hormone systems may play a role in explaining social inequalities in health as we age."

Hormones can be affected through exposure to stress and adverse events, obesity, health problems and unhealthy lifestyles including poor diet, smoking, physical inactivity and so on.

Socio-economic status has a great impact on health, studies shows that being poor is linked with increased risks of respiratory, rheumatic, cardiovascular as well as psychiatric diseases, infant mortality and low birth weight.

"Our study shows that people from a disadvantaged background are biologically different which could explain health inequalities. said Dr David Bann, of the institiue of Education at UCL.

Scientists believe psychological stresses of having a less secure future, being bossed around and having lower self-esteem and less access to social support networks cause an increased rate of molecular damage. Living in an area of high crime is also thought to accelerate ageing.