A foreclosure can affect more than just your wallet. A new study has found that a foreclosure – even one next door — can elevate your blood pressure.

Moreover, each additional foreclosure within 100 meters (328 feet) of your abode corresponds with an increase of 1.71 millimeters of mercury in systolic blood pressure, according to Mariana Arcaya, a researcher at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.

The 1.71 mmHg increase won’t push most homeowners into hypertension territory, but it is worrisome and reveals larger public-health implications, Arcaya told the Wall Street Journal.

The study also found that foreclosures mess with our health in other ways, such as increased alcohol consumption and nominal weight gain. If people are coping with the stress of a foreclosure, “they may drink more alcohol; they may change their sleep patterns; they may eat worse,” Arcaya said. [WSJ] – Christopher Cameron