Great Recession heightened cardiovascular risk factors, study finds

FINDINGSThe Great Recession, from late 2007 to mid-2009, was associated with heightened cardiovascular risk factors, including increased blood pressure and glucose levels, according to a new UCLA-led study. The conditions were especially pronounced among older homeowners and people still in the work force, two groups that may have been especially vulnerable to the stresses this recession brought about.BACKGROUNDVirtually all Americans were affected directly or indirectly by the Great Recession, the most significant economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s — some lost jobs, others their houses or life savings. Previous studies have arrived at mixed evidence for the health impact of the recession, with some reporting negative health effects and others reporting benefits. But no study has looked at health measures at multiple time points leading up to the recession or used well-known biomarkers of overall health — blood pressure and glucose — to study the question objectively.METHODThe team looked at data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis for the period from 2000 to 2012. Blood pressure and glucose levels for the 4,600 participants, ages 45 to 84, were analyzed at the outset, at multiple times leading up to the Great Recession and one time immediately after the recession ended. The researchers calculated changes in blood pressure and glucose level that would have been expected to occur naturally with age had the recession not occurred, and compa...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news