From Your Health Journal…..”As I have said before, Everyday Health is one of my favorite web sites on the net for quality health articles. I have been honored to be mentioned in a few of their articles, and always try to send my visitors to their site – like I am today with a great article about high blood pressure. When it comes to high blood pressure, blame may lie beyond stress and the salt shaker: Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have found that those earning the lowest wages have a higher risk of hypertension than workers earning the highest wages. For years, we have always learned to reduce stress and the salt, but you cannot reduce your job – so those earning less money have to stay with their jobs, as there is no place else for them to go! Please visit the Everyday Health web site (link provided below) to read the complete story.”

From the article…..

When it comes to high blood pressure, blame may lie beyond stress and the salt shaker: Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have found that those earning the lowest wages have a higher risk of hypertension than workers earning the highest wages.

The correlation between low wages and hypertension was especially strong for women, and for men and women between the ages of 25 to 44, according to a press release.

The researchers were surprised that low wages were such a strong risk factor for these two populations, especially since hypertension is more typically linked with being older and male.

“Our outcome shows that women and younger employees working at the lowest pay scales should be screened regularly for hypertension as well,” said J. Paul Leigh, PhD, lead author of the study.

The research team used data from 5,651 households with working adults between 25 and 65 years of age that included information on wages, employment, and health, including hypertension. The team looked at heads of household and their spouses for three time periods: 1999 to 2001, 2001 to 2003, and 2003 to 2005.

Wages were calculated as annual income from all sources divided by work hours, and ranged from about $2.38 to $77 per hour in 1999. Hypertension was self-reported by respondents.

According to the data analysis, doubling the wage level was associated with a 16 percent decrease in the risk of a hypertension diagnosis. Doubling the wage level also reduced the risk of hypertension by 1.2 percent over two years and 0.6 percent for one year.

But the risk decrease was most apparent in women and younger workers. Doubling the wages of workers between 25 and 44 years old was associated with a 25 percent to 30 percent decrease in the risk of hypertension. Doubling the wages of women was associated with a 30 percent to 35 percent decrease in hypertension risk.

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