The impact of economics on health

An economic crisis like that experienced in 2008, has an effect on the wallets of all: some win, many lose.

However, beyond the trade balances of countries and the personal finances of the world's citizens, what effect it may have a situation like this in health?

According to a team of Japanese researchers, led by Koji Wada, Kitasato University, those who are in managerial and professional positions may pay a heavy price in the middle of an economic crisis: they can find an earlier death.

Sure, that happens only if the same has happened in Japan, as revealed by their study, published in the British Medical Journal .

The Japanese have a long life expectancy at birth, for example, Japanese women hold the best life expectancy at birth across the planet. That good health may be due in part to the diet of the Japanese, the fact that every citizen has access to health services and that after the economic crisis experienced after World War II, the country experienced economic growth process accelerated.

However, this growth ran up against a wall in the 90's and began to fall, a situation worsened by the Asian economic crisis of 1998. In those years, for the first time since the war, the Japanese economy began to show decline.

What effect did the economic blow on the health of Japanese men? To answer that question, researchers studied mortality rates in men between 30 and 59 years, from 1980 to 2005.

Specifically, they analyzed the mortality rates of the five leading causes of death among the Japanese, who cited in order, are: cancer, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, accidents and suicides.

Between 1980 and 2005, there was a steady decrease in mortality rates of the four leading causes of death in the entire population, except in men with managerial and professional jobs; in them, since 1990 began to increase rather .

As for suicides, its incidence has grown rapidly since the late 90's, with a higher incidence among managers and professionals.

Scientists, after analyzing the deaths between 1980 and 2005, found that those with management and professional jobs were 1.7 times more likely to die before 60 years of age, those in work in the field of sales, religious services, agriculture, transportation, utilities, security or production.

According to Wada, high levels of stress, poor lifestyle (neglecting the exercise, good nutrition and enough sleep) and neglect in health by not visiting the doctor, are possibly responsible for the increase in deaths among Japanese executives.

While Japanese culture is different from the Western, the lesson of that country should not be missed: more work pressure there, it is important to strike a balance and not let go of health.