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Social inequality a key factor in heart disease risk

Friday 21st October 2016
Doctors have explored why social inequality is a key factor in peoples risk of developing heart disease in a new study. Image: Evgenia Bolyukh
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Social inequalities play a key role in determining people's risk of developing heart disease, new research has confirmed.

Scientists based at the University of Oxford have been exploring why people from lower-income households or deprived areas are significantly more likely than their wealthier counterparts to be diagnosed with potentially life-threatening cardiovascular disease.

Women's heart health 'most likely to be affected by social inequalities'

The research, which was part-funded by the British Heart Foundation, led to an interesting discovery; women from poorer economic backgrounds are much more likely than men who have had the same upbringing to develop heart disease in later life, which doctors believe is due to their lifestyle choices.

To make this discovery, scientists analysed data relating to more than one million women, using information collected during the Million Women Study, which encompassed details on approximately one in four of all females born in Britain in the 1930s and 1940s. Over a 12-year period, some 72,000 of these women were diagnosed with coronary heart disease.

Extensive analysis found that women from lower-income backgrounds were significantly more likely to smoke, drink, be overweight or obese and not take part in as much physical activity as their counterparts belonging to other demographics. As a result, their lifestyle choices placed them at an increased risk of developing heart disease, with those who smoked long term found to be at the highest risk of cardiovascular problems.

Overall, females from the most deprived areas of the UK were twice as likely to be diagnosed with heart disease than women from the least deprived parts of the country. However, once lifestyle-related factors were taken out of the equation, the gap between heart disease among women of different demographics was closed.

How can these inequalities be tackled?

As the Oxford University research found that it was lifestyle choices rather than social background itself that influenced women's risk of heart disease, making sure females are encouraged to stop smoking and drinking, alongside following healthier diets and partaking in exercise could all help to lower their risk.

However, this can be much easier said than done, so it is vital that cardiology specialists are at the centre of all initiatives devised by the NHS or local authorities to encourage people to give up bad lifestyle habits and lead healthier lives.

Catherine Kelly, director of prevention, survival and support at the British Heart Foundation, stated: "It's an important reminder that tackling heart health inequalities should remain a public health priority, and that further research is crucial to identify the most effective ways of supporting people to make sustainable changes to their lifestyle.

"A powerful way of encouraging people to improve their heart health is to calculate their 'heart age' using the Heart Age Tool we developed with Public Health England. We would also encourage people to take advantage of the free NHS health check as a way of understanding their risk of heart disease and the steps they can take to lower it."

Written by Mathew Horton

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