By Isobel Williams via SWNS
Poor people have a high risk of heart problems, according to a new study that has overturned previous thinking.
It was generally believed that the environment and lifestyle of the poor actually protected them against heart disease.
But a prevalence of obesity and high blood pressure in the poor of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have actually increased the condition.
Heart disease is the world’s number one cause of death and the team from the University of Birmingham and Stanford University and two German Universities looked at 78 countries for the study.
It is the largest analysis of its kind and explored the relationship between poverty and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, includng hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity.
Most adults living in extreme poverty were not treated for these CVD-related conditions.
The researchers note that their findings, published in Nature Human Behavior, contradict the common assumption that the environment and lifestyles of those living in extreme poverty in LMICs protect against CVD risk factors.
Professor Justine Davies, from the University of Birmingham, said: “Our study turns conventional wisdom about the relationship between poverty and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors on its head.
“As LMICs develop economically, overweight and obesity prevalence among the poorest segments of their societies will increase – creating a rise in unhealthy weight, along with growth of diabetes, dyslipidaemia, and hypertension.”
To get their results, the international team pooled data from 105 nationally representative household surveys across 78 countries.
Countries included in the researchers’ dataset are estimated to be home to 85 percent of individuals living in extreme poverty worldwide, 53 percent of the global population, and 64 percent of the global population living in LMICs.
Assistant Professor Pascal Geldsetzer from Stanford University, California, added: “Our detailed analyses of how CVD risk factor prevalence and treatment coverage vary around the world could help to effectively target interventions and policies to reduce CVD risk in vulnerable populations.
“Moreover, our study provides a crucial empirical foundation for future work in improving health outcomes for those living in the poorest sections of global society.”
The study demonstrates that CVD risk factors affect individuals across the full socio-economic spectrum, including those living in extreme poverty, within countries at all levels of economic development.
The research team hope that their results will better inform health policy in LMICs.
Professor Till Baernighausen from Heidelberg University, Germany, said: “People living in extreme poverty experience a high prevalence of CVD risk factors and low levels of treatment for these conditions, suggesting that we need to reassess health policy in this space.
“Understanding how an assumption of low prevalence of CVD risk factors among those in extreme poverty holds true is important for setting priorities within health policy and care delivery, both for equity and effectiveness.”
Professor Sebastian Vollmer from the University of Göttingen, Germany, concluded: “Further research into mechanisms of CVD risk specifically affecting individuals living in extreme poverty is essential – uncovering the different pathways that may predispose various groups to CVD risk will be vital in reducing that risk.”
