Working guys with greater earnings are most likely to develop high blood pressure, reports a research study provided at the 84th Annual Scientific Fulfilling of the Japanese Circulation Society (JCS 2020).

JCS 2020 occurs online from 27 July to 2 August in conjunction with the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology Congress 2020 (APSC 2020). Joint clinical sessions are being held by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and JCS as part of the ESC International Activities program.

Men with higher incomes need to improve their lifestyles to prevent high blood pressure, said study author Dr. Shingo Yanagiya of the Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan. Steps include eating healthily, exercising, and controlling weight. Alcohol should be kept to moderate levels and binge drinking avoided.

More than one billion people have hypertension worldwide. Around 30-45% of adults are impacted, rising to more than 60% of individuals over 60 years of age. High blood pressure is the leading international reason for sudden death, representing almost 10 million deaths in 2015. Of those, 4.9 million were due to ischaemic heart problem and 3.5 million were due to stroke.

Japan alone has more than 10 million people with hypertension, and the number continues to rise. Dr. Yanagiya stated: High blood pressure is a lifestyle-related disease. As a physician seeing these patients I wanted to know if risk varies with socioeconomic class, to help us focus our prevention efforts.

This analysis of the J-HOPE3 research study examined the relationship between household earnings and high blood pressure in Japanese workers. A total of 4,314 staff (3,153 males and 1,161 women) with daytime tasks and normal blood pressure were enrolled in 2012 from 12 work environments.

Employees were divided into four groups according to annual household earnings: 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 examined the association in between income and establishing high blood pressure over a two-year period.

Compared to men in the most affordable earnings classification, men in the highest earnings group were almost two times as likely to develop hypertension. Male in the 5 to 7.9 million and 8 to 9.9 million groups had a 50% higher danger of establishing hypertension compared to males with the lowest earnings, although the favorable association did not reach statistical significance in the 8 to 9.9 million group.

The findings consistent no matter age, and were independent of standard blood pressure, worksite, profession, number of relatives, and smoking cigarettes. The relationships were somewhat deteriorated after representing alcohol intake and body mass index (BMI; kg/m2), both of which were higher for men in the greater earnings groups.

In women, there was no considerable link between income and blood pressure. Nevertheless, females with higher family income tended to have a lower danger of developing hypertension.

Some previous Japanese surveys have reported that higher household 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 household incomes were more likely to be obese and drink alcohol every day. Both behaviours are major risk factors for hypertension.

He concluded: Men with high-paying daytime jobs are at particular risk of high blood pressure. This applies to men of all ages, who can greatly decrease their chance of a heart attack or stroke by improving their health behaviours.

Dr. Yusuke Yoshikawa, public relations coordinator for JCS 2020, said: Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors of cardiovascular disease in Japan, because the average daily salt intake in Japan (approx. 10 g/day) is much higher than desired. As the current guidelines2 strongly recommend healthy lifestyle to control high blood pressure, this study suggests a potential key to successful intervention for those who are at risk of heart disease and stroke.

Professor Michel Komajda, a Past President of the ESC and course director of the ESC programme at JCS 2020, said: The 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 top submitters of abstracts to ESC Congress.

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Rich men are more likely to have high blood pressure - Drew Reports News