A vast study of 65,364 Indians has revealed that people with a consistently high socioeconomic position are more prone to heart disease than the consistently poor.
The cardiac conditions among the sustained rich in India ranged from a higher likelihood of congestive heart failure, heart attack, abnormal heart rhythm, heart diseases and composite cardiovascular disease. For the study, scientist from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and the Harvard T.H. The study sampled both rural and urban residents, men and women, and several religious and caste groups, and documented information on health, social, and economic indicators. The understanding of how life-course social mobility is associated with heart disease and risk factors is crucial in tackling India’s health, added the paper . Several mechanisms may possibly contribute to the malaise, lead author Imnameren Longkumer, Narotam Sekhsaria Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health India Research Center and senior author S.V.
In fact, those with sustained life-course socioeconomic advantage had nearly twice (1.8 times) the odds of heart failure and 1.7 times the chances of a heart attack than those who experienced sustained socioeconomic disadvantage, found the study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, studied Indians aged 45 and older, looking into their childhood too.
Subramanian, professor of population health and geography at Harvard University said.
Another study published earlier this year in Global Heart Journal reflected on the catastrophic financial impact of heart disease among India’s poor, who find themselves riddled in debt: the cost of treating heart failure patients with a single hospitalisation averaged ₹1.19 lakh.
