A nine-year-old boy died after being rushed to hospital on Saturday. Photo: Adobe Stock
Heart disease in SA may be on the rise… thanks to our poor economy
If you feel like South Africa’s bleak economic situation is giving you chest pains, it might be worth actually getting yourself checked for heart disease.
A nine-year-old boy died after being rushed to hospital on Saturday. Photo: Adobe Stock
The poor performance of the South African economy is killing the employment market, killing our growth prospects and even killing our international presence. So it perhaps makes sense that we, as people, will be next on the hit-list. According to a recently-published research paper, an increase in heart disease and economic strife are inextricably linked.
A study conducted by Harvard University found that nations with poor performing economies are more likely to suffer from heart-related illnesses, which puts SA firmly in the red zone.
Bad for business, bad for our health
Nicole Jennings is a spokesperson for Pharma Dynamics, the largest provider of heart medication in the country. She explains that all developing countries with a dodgy economic performance can see heart disease rates rise by up to 137%. But how exactly does that happen?
“In the last 30 years, cardiovascular rates increased by 120% for women and 137% for men in developing countries where economic growth has typically been poor. In SA, the high burden of heart disease is a consequence of an increase in prevalent risk factors (poor diet, lifestyle choices) and a lack of access to medical intervention.”
“Research also reveals that people who are disadvantaged throughout their life are more likely to smoke or be obese. When people don’t know where their next pay cheque or food is going to come from, they often eat high-density foods that offer little nutritional value, but that are calorie-rich and affordable. Cheaper foods contain a lot of salt and refined sugar that are bad for your heart.”
Nicole Jennings
If heart disease doesn’t finish us off, then load shedding could
Meanwhile, a smaller revelation has been asserted here in South Africa. Customer experience specialists “Nlighten” have conducted a country-wide study, which confirms that some of our biggest industries are now having to reconsider the whole structure of their business models due to intermittent power cuts:
“Retailers and the hospitality industry report a direct impact on trade when loadshedding hits. Ongoing power cuts are driving some companies to re-evaluate the entire ecosystem of their business, and while this can be stressful and costly, it can also open doors to new ways of doing things that can better serve the end-user.”
Nlighten
