Wealthier men more likely to develop high BP

Working men with higher incomes are more likely to develop high blood pressure, reports a study. “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.”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 lifestylerelated 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 JHOPE3 study examined the relationship between household income and high blood pressure in Japanese employees. A total of 4,314 staff (3,153 men and 1,161 women) with daytime jobs and normal blood pressure were enrolled in 2012 from 12 workplaces.

Workers were divided into four groups according to 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 income and developing high blood pressure over a two-year period.

Compared to men in the lowest income category, men in the highest income group were nearly 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 8 to 9.9 million groups.