• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Lower Income Means Higher Heart Disease

Posted on: Saturday, 23 September 2006, 21:00 CDT

Low-income U.S. adults are more likely to have very high levels of C-reactive protein, or CRP, a risk factor for heart disease, a study found.

Among adults with income levels at or below the poverty line, 15.7 percent had very high levels of CRP, compared to only 9.1 percent of those in families above the poverty line, according to the study published in Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

We have long known that poor people have worse health, said Eileen Crimmins, corresponding author and professor in the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.

This paper provides evidence that people living at or near the poverty line are almost twice as likely to have very high CRP, which poses risks for long-term, chronic conditions like heart disease and cognitive loss. This may be one of the explanations for why poor people age faster.

CRP is produced as part of the immune response to inflammation. In healthy individuals, CRP levels return to normal after infection or injury subsides, however, some people have chronically elevated levels of CRP. Recent studies have shown high levels of CRP to be a useful predictor of heart disease, says Crimmins.

Source: United Press International

More News in this Category