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Students More Prone to Heart Disease Than Those in 1980s Part-Time Jobs May Be Factor

Posted on: Monday, 26 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

YOUNG people today are more at risk of heart problems than they were in the 1980s, new research has found. This raises concerns that the trend of decline in heart disease deaths may be reversed in future.

In the first study of its kind, researchers at Queen's University Belfast examined the resting heart rates of students aged between 16- 24, from the past 50 years, using records.

A higher rate can suggest that an individual is more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease in later life.

The average rate among first-year students declined from 1949 up until the late 1980s, but has been rising since then. The only group in which heart rate remained low and stable was that of the students who took the most physical exercise.

Health experts said the study showed that young people need to be "more active", but students have claimed the part-time jobs they need to do to earn money now that there are no grants leaves them little time to exercise.

Co-author Amanda Black, a research assistant in the department of epidemiology and public health at Queen's University Belfast, said: "The recent upward trend may suggest that stable trends in cardiovascular disease risk may not be maintained in the future."

The research, due to be published in the journal Heart, shows that in the 1950s the average rate for male students was 78.4 heartbeats per minute. This declined until the late 1980s to a figure of 68.9, but by 2004 it had risen again to 74.1.

Among women, the rate was 78.9 at the beginning of the period studied. It had dropped to 68.5 two decades ago, but by last year it was 77 beats per minute.

The overall results were not affected by whether there were more smokers or overweight students in a particular year.

But the heart rate in male students who reported the most physical exercise remained stable and lower than that of the other male students. A similar effect was seen in the most active female students, although to a slightly lesser degree.

Black said that while the research had not examined the factors which may have influenced the change in heart rate over the years, the beneficial effects of physical activity had been proved in other studies.

She added that diet could also have potentially played a role, as it was known to be a risk factor for heart disease.

Kirsteen Cruickshanks, a teaching assistant at Dundee University's Institute of Sport and Exercise, said young people now were likely to be doing less exercise than two decades ago.

"There has been evidence to show that participation in sport has dropped off since the 1980s, " she said. "There is also a really big drop-off from people leaving school and going to university.

"A lot of what they are trying to do now is to encourage young people to become more active in the age group of 17-25: that is a worrying place to be at the moment."

Premature deaths from coronary heart disease have fallen by 38% in Scotland since 1995. The death rate north of the border is still one of the highest in the world, however.

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) explained that resting heart rate was a good indicator of heart health and fitness.

"People who exercise regularly have lower resting heart rates and help protect their hearts against coronary heart disease, " he said.

"The results of this study add to concern that today's youngsters do less exercise than in the past and therefore may be placing themselves at increased risk of heart disease in later life.

"If it is true, this threatens to reverse current improvements in premature heart disease deaths. The results highlight how important it is to get today's young people to be more active."

But according to 22-year-old Jennifer Murdoch, who has just completed a psychology degree at Edinburgh University, hardup students are now using the time they may once have set aside for leisure activities, such as exercise, to work.

Murdoch, the vice-president of societies and activities at the Students' Association, said:

"With the increased cost of living, tuition fees and the student loan problem, a lot of students are forced into parttime or full- time work, which means they just don't have time to go to the gym or look after themselves, even having the time to cook properly.

"I had a part-time job the whole way through university and I did find it very difficult to juggle my studies and work.

The last thing you want to do after you have written an essay and then have to go and work a shift in a bar, is go to the gym.

"In terms of making exercise part of everyday life, I think people are a lot busier than they used to be. Back in the days of student grants people had a lot more time to themselves."

judith. duffy@sundayherald. com

NEED TO KNOW

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the leading causes of death in Scotland, claiming more than 11,000 lives every year.

The country's poor record on CHD has been attributed to high rates of smoking, poverty and poor diet.

Around half a million Scots are estimated to be living with heart disease today.

NEED TO KNOW MORE?

www. bhf. org. uk

Source: Sunday Herald

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