High-altitude living may lower risk of heart disease, stroke

LONDON: People living in high altitude areas are less likely to develop Metabolic Syndrome, a condition that may increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes or stroke, a new study has found.

Metabolic Syndrome is the combination of high blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol levels, as well as excess body fat around the waist, which contributes to serious health problems.

“We found that those people living between 457 to 2297 metres, had a lower risk of developing Metabolic Syndrome than those living at sea level (0 to 121 metres),” said Amaya Lopez-pascual, from the University of Navarra in Spain.

“Unfortunately, Metabolic Syndrome is very common and increasing worldwide. Our research will help us to understand what factors contribute to its development,” she said.

This new research is the first to assess the link between living at high altitudes and the risk to initially healthy people developing all the criteria that make up the Metabolic Syndrome.

While the reported increase in the Metabolic Syndrome is principally blamed on higher obesity rates, smoking and increasingly inactive lifestyles, less is known about the effect our environment may have on us.

Previous studies have suggested that people living at higher altitudes, where the body has to work harder to get the oxygen it needs, have noticeably fewer problems linked to the Metabolic Syndrome. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.