Men who work with higher incomes are more likely to develop high blood pressure, reports a study presented at the 84th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Japanese Circulation Society (JCS 2020).
JCS 2020 takes place online from July 27 to August 2 in conjunction with the 2020 Congress of the Asian Society of Asian Pacific Cardiology (APSC 2020). The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and JCS hold joint scientific sessions as part of the ESC Global Activities program.
“Men with higher incomes need to improve their lifestyle to prevent high blood pressure,” said study author Dr. Shingo Yanagiya of Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan. The steps include eating healthy, exercising, and managing weight. Alcohol should be kept at moderate levels and avoid excessive alcohol consumption. “
More than a billion people have high blood pressure worldwide. About 30-45% of adults are affected, reaching more than 60% of people over the age of 60. High blood pressure is the leading global cause of premature death, accounting for almost 10 million deaths in 2015. Of these, 4.9 million were due to ischemic heart disease and 3.5 million to stroke.
Japan alone has more than 10 million people with high blood pressure, and the number continues to rise. Dr. Yanagiya said: “High blood pressure is a lifestyle related disease. As a physician caring for these patients, I wanted to know if the risk varies by socioeconomic class, to help us focus our prevention efforts. ”
This analysis from the J-HOPE study examined the relationship between family income and high blood pressure in Japanese employees. A total of 4,314 employees (3,153 men and 1,161 women) with day jobs and normal blood pressure were enrolled in 2012 at 12 workplaces.
Workers were divided into four groups based on annual household income: less than 5 million, 5 to 7.9 million, 8 to 9.9 million, and 10 million or more Japanese yen per year. The researchers investigated the association between admission and development of high blood pressure over a two-year period.
Compared to men in the lowest income category, men in the highest income group were almost twice as likely to develop high blood pressure. Men in the 5 to 7.9 million and 8 to 9.9 million groups had a 50% higher risk of developing high blood pressure compared to men with the lowest incomes, although the positive association did not reach statistical significance in the group of 8 to 9.9 million.
The findings were consistent regardless of age and were independent of baseline blood pressure, workplace, occupation, number of family members, and smoking. Relationships weakened slightly after taking into account alcohol consumption and body mass index (BMI; kg / m2), which were higher for men in the higher income groups.
In women, there was no significant link between income and blood pressure. However, women with higher family incomes tend to have a lower risk of developing high blood pressure.
“Some previous Japanese surveys reported that higher family income is associated with more undesirable lifestyles in men, but not in women,” said Dr. Yanagiya. “Our study supports this: Men, but not women, with higher family incomes were more likely to be obese and drink alcohol every day. Both behaviors are the main risk factors for hypertension. “
He concluded: “Men with well-paid daytime jobs are at particular risk of high blood pressure. This applies to men of all ages, who can greatly decrease their chances of having a heart attack or stroke by improving their health behaviors. “
Dr. Yusuke Yoshikawa, JCS 2020 Public Relations Coordinator, said: “Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Japan, because the average daily intake of salt in Japan (about 10g / day) is much greater than desired. As current guidelines2 strongly recommend a healthy lifestyle for managing high blood pressure, this study suggests a potential key to successful intervention for those at risk for heart disease and stroke. “
Professor Michel Komajda, former ESC President and Course Director for the ESC program at JCS 2020, said: “ESC is delighted to be part of JCS 2020 in Kyoto. We value our special partnership with JCS and the high quality of Japanese research. Japan is among the leading presenters of abstracts to the ESC Congress. “
Reference: “2018 ESC / ESH Guidelines for the Management of High Blood Pressure: The Working Group for the Management of High Blood Pressure of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Society of Hypertension (ESH)” by Bryan Williams, Giuseppe Mancia, Wilko Spiering, Enrico Agabiti Rosei, Michel Azizi, Michel Burnier, Denis L Clement, Antonio Coca, Giovanni de Simone, Anna Dominiczak, Thomas Kahan, Felix Mahfoud, Josep Redon, Luis Ruilope, Alberto Zanchetti, Mary Kerins, Sverre E Kjeldsen, Reinhold Kreutz, Stephane Laurent, Gregory YH Lip, Richard McManus, Krzysztof Narkiewicz, Frank Ruschitzka, Roland E Schmieder, Evgeny Shlyakhto, Costas Tsioufis, Victor Aboyans, Ileana Desormais and ESC Scientific Document Group, August 25, 2018 European Heart Journal.
DOI: 10.1093 / eurheartj / ehy339
