A new study is showing a link between unemployment and heart attacks.
A joint study conducted by researchers and professors from Duke University and University of Michigan and sponsored in part by the National Institute of Aging found that unemployment can damage your heart as well as your pocketbook. The study specifically looked at the effects of unemployment on over 13,000 men and women between the ages of 51 and 75.
Job Losses and Heart Attacks
While the study did not indicate whether or not the job loss was a result of a layoff, termination, or voluntary resignation, it noted that though the increased risks were not huge, multiple job losses often presented as much of a threat as high blood pressure and smoking. Due to the age of the participants it is important to note that the study did not consider retirement as unemployment.
Theories behind the increased risk of heart attacks due to the loss of a job included that the event may trigger a coronary issue - especially in those that already have heart disease or clogged arteries - and the fact that health insurance and access to medical care are lost as well as the job itself.
How Poverty Comes Into Play
Impoverishment and heart disease risks have long been shown to be connected. In a 2009 study from the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that those in developed countries that have lower incomes and less education have increased risks for heart disease overall. Typically this is due to many of the same reasons behind job loss; increased and prolonged stress and a lack of adequate healthcare. Additionally, those who live in poverty are more likely to partake in smoking and are at an increased likelihood to be obese.
What Can Be Done?
Education and awareness are some of the most effective ways of combating these issues. Unfortunately people will lose their jobs, but the best thing we can do is keep them from slipping into poverty by supporting organizations that combat poverty. Both of these solutions are why the Omidi Brothers (Julian Omidi and Michael Omidi) have set up our own non-profit organization No More Poverty. By increasing awareness and helping to provide education and resources to fight poverty hopefully we will be able to increase the overall health of the people we share this planet with.
Sources:
Norton, Amy. "Lifelong Poverty Increases Heart Disease Risks." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 27 Mar. 2009. Web. 21 Nov. 2012. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/03/27/us-lifelong-poverty-idUSTRE52Q3S520090327>.
"Study Links Unemployment, Heart Attacks." Chicagotribune.com. Tribune Newspaper, 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Nov. 2012. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-study-links-unemployment-heart-attacks-20121119,0,836824.story>.
A joint study conducted by researchers and professors from Duke University and University of Michigan and sponsored in part by the National Institute of Aging found that unemployment can damage your heart as well as your pocketbook. The study specifically looked at the effects of unemployment on over 13,000 men and women between the ages of 51 and 75.
Job Losses and Heart Attacks
While the study did not indicate whether or not the job loss was a result of a layoff, termination, or voluntary resignation, it noted that though the increased risks were not huge, multiple job losses often presented as much of a threat as high blood pressure and smoking. Due to the age of the participants it is important to note that the study did not consider retirement as unemployment.
Theories behind the increased risk of heart attacks due to the loss of a job included that the event may trigger a coronary issue - especially in those that already have heart disease or clogged arteries - and the fact that health insurance and access to medical care are lost as well as the job itself.
How Poverty Comes Into Play
Impoverishment and heart disease risks have long been shown to be connected. In a 2009 study from the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that those in developed countries that have lower incomes and less education have increased risks for heart disease overall. Typically this is due to many of the same reasons behind job loss; increased and prolonged stress and a lack of adequate healthcare. Additionally, those who live in poverty are more likely to partake in smoking and are at an increased likelihood to be obese.
What Can Be Done?
Education and awareness are some of the most effective ways of combating these issues. Unfortunately people will lose their jobs, but the best thing we can do is keep them from slipping into poverty by supporting organizations that combat poverty. Both of these solutions are why the Omidi Brothers (Julian Omidi and Michael Omidi) have set up our own non-profit organization No More Poverty. By increasing awareness and helping to provide education and resources to fight poverty hopefully we will be able to increase the overall health of the people we share this planet with.
Sources:
Norton, Amy. "Lifelong Poverty Increases Heart Disease Risks." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 27 Mar. 2009. Web. 21 Nov. 2012. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/03/27/us-lifelong-poverty-idUSTRE52Q3S520090327>.
"Study Links Unemployment, Heart Attacks." Chicagotribune.com. Tribune Newspaper, 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Nov. 2012. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-study-links-unemployment-heart-attacks-20121119,0,836824.story>.
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