Kathmandu: Hypertension or high blood pressure, is a risk factor for many health conditions, including heart conditions. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 1.28 billion adults between the ages of 30 and 79 years have hypertension, and nearly two-thirds of them live in low- and middle-income countries.
Older age, genetics, being overweight, lack of physical activity, high salt intake, and excessive alcohol consumption are some of the factors that known to increase blood pressure. However, a recent study has found that social, political, and economic factors can also affect an individual’s blood pressure.
A study conducted by Poshan Dahal, who is pursuing a PhD in Medical Sociology at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, USA, found that social and economic factors such as economic crises can also negatively impact people’s blood pressure.
Dahal’s research found that adults entering the job market during the 2007-2008 financial crisis in the US showed significantly higher blood pressure compared to adults in other age groups. The study also noted that the effect of the economic crisis was not uniform across different age groups, with younger adults experiencing a more significant increase in blood pressure than older adults following the global economic recession.
Dahal told us that this finding can explain the increasing prevalence of hypertension in countries that have seen recent economic and political changes, indicating the significance of the findings in under blood pressure in other countries as well. Dahal prensented these findings in a conference in Ohio, USA.
These new findings from this study provide a deeper understanding of hypertension, a condition previously thought to have no such direct causal link with social and economic changes.
While the impact of economic crises on psychological well-being and other physical conditions was known, its effect on blood pressure was not fully understood until now.
This new knowledge can aid in finding more effective ways to mitigate the impact of political and economic factors on hypertension and inform the treatment or management of hypertension.
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