Health

Taking a pay cut at work could boost your heart disease risks by nearly 20%, study finds


Taking a pay cut at work could boost your heart disease risks by nearly 20%, study finds

  • Researchers split into participants into three groups: income went up by at least 50%, fell by at least 50%, or remained steady 
  • Those who had a pay raise lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease by 14%
  • Participants who had wage cuts increased their disease risk by 17%
  • Income loss may lead to bad diet habits, stress and anxiety, which are all risk factors for cardiovascular disease 

Getting a pay raise may protect you against heart disease and strokes, a new study suggests. 

Researchers found that those whose salary increased were almost 15 percent less likely to suffer heart failure over the next 25 years.

But the risk of strokes and heart attacks rose by nearly 20 percent for men and women whose household income dropped.  

The team, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, says its findings could lead to doctors paying more attention to patients’ financial circumstances during cardiology check-ups.

A new study from Brigham and Women's Hospital found that the risk of strokes and heart attacks rose nearly 20 percent for those whose salary decreased (file image)

A new study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that the risk of strokes and heart attacks rose nearly 20 percent for those whose salary decreased (file image)

Previous research has found that having a higher income is linked with a lower risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease.

However, few studies have examined the association between changes in salary and heart disease. 

‘We like to think that people with an increased income will go to the gym or eat more healthy, but they could spend it on cigarettes or alcohol,’ first author Stephen Wang, a student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, told DailyMail.com   

For the study, published in JAMA Cardiology, the team recruited nearly 9,000 participants from four areas of the US and tracked them for an average of 17 years. 

The adults, who ranged between 45 and 64 years old, were divided into three groups based on whether their income went up or fell by at least 50 percent, or remained steady, over six years. 

One in five of the participants had a wage hike, from an average of $26,099 to $53,347.

One in ten suffered a cut from about $40,516 to $14,655. The remaining group went from an average of $43,897 to $43,057, remaining similar wages.

Researchers found that those whose salary rose lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease by 14 percent.

This is mainly because of a lower risk of heart failure, according to Wang, who was a master’s of public health student at Harvard at the time of the study.

But participants whose income dropped had a 17 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease. 

That’s because these adults were at a greater risk of suffering a heart attack or a stroke. 

Wang says there are several other mechanisms that could put someone whose had a a pay cut at risk for cardiovascular disease

‘It could induce changes in health behavior. Studies have shown people with financial stress are more likely to eat calorically-dense food, which is cheap,’ he said.

‘There’s a link between CVD and alcohol and cigarette use, and an increase in stress and depression, seen in CVD risk.’  

The team says one of the limitations of its study is that participants who developed health issues may have been more likely to experience a salary cut. 

Wang hopes that both doctors and the general public are aware of the risk financial circumstances could have on heart disease.

‘There’s social factors that are a significant part of someone’s risk for cardiovascular disease,’ he said.

‘It’s subject that’s not been very talked about in medicine. We focus on medical devices and medication. In the future, we should focus on both.’ 



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