Unemployment can kill!

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MORE information is coming out about the hidden costs of unemployment in terms of poor health and premature death.

One American professor estimates that for an increase in unemployment of one million over a period of five years there could be 50,000 additional deaths and 60,000 more cases of mental illness, not to mention other ailments such as ulcers.

His research also shows that unemployment will kill more people in Scotland where poverty is worse and unemployment has been higher for longer, leaving the average Scot with worse health than. the average English person.

But how does unemployment kill? Results from research into the causes of coronary heart disease (CHD) were analysed recently in New Scientist.

Traditionally: bodily factors such as high blood pressure, cigarette smoking and high levels of cholesterol in the blood. have been considered when looking at a person's risk of heart disease.

However, these only explain about half the new cases of heart disease each year. So now, psychological and social factors are being considered as well. Experiments in which healthy arimals are exposed to unavoidable stresses such as overcrowding or repeated electric shocks show that the heart muscle becomes damaged.

A final burst of anger, excitement, joy or fear can then cause the already damaged heart muscles to go into fibrillation-instead of beating strongly to pump the blood around the body the heart just flutters ineffectually. This is what happens in a human heart attack.

Another finding in animal experiments is that in animals with artificially caused CHD. putting them in an unpleasant environment can cause upset to the heart's natural rhythm--this is called arrhythmia, and can develop into fibrillation, i.e. a heart attack.

This is similar to the way that many other human heart attacks happen. Remove the unpleasant environment and • the arrhythmia disappears.

So, stressful situations can damage the heart in the first place and then serve to hasten a heart attack.

How does this happen? One way is through the release of adrenalin into the blood stream. Adrenalin prepares the body for 'fight or flight' , sending blood to the muscles and mobilising extra sources of energy. mainly fat.

This is turned into fatty acids (not as bad as it sounds!) and then build up to produce energy.

In a 'natural environment there wouldn't be a lot of adrenalin in the blood all the time. But in modern society people are otten excited, angry for hours, days, time.

In these conditions adrenalin can damage the heart muscle. Worse, the excitement, anger, stress does not lead to activityyou can't thump the boss or run around screaming if you want your job or to stay out of hospital.

The fatty acids just circulate in the blood and aren't used up for energy.

This can cause arrhythmia and and blockage of coronary arteries. So it is regular situations of conflict and arousal that can kill people through CHD.

That just about sums up working class life, with low pay. bad conditions, boring unpleasant work, excessive overtime and poor housing.

These stresses. may be worse for women, coping as well with the demands of

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Socialist Organiser, Thursday 19 Vovember 1981 Page 11