Boston Globe Editorial - Eat your heart out, Yank
Boston Globe Editorial - Eat your heart out, Yank
Copyright by The Boston Globe
TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2006
Medical researchers recently set heads to shaking on both sides of the Atlantic with a study showing that white, middle-aged English people are much healthier than white, middle-aged Americans. The English have less cancer, less high blood pressure, less heart disease and stroke, and less diabetes. To make sure that the difference was not just the result of stiff-upper-lip Brits keeping quiet about what ails them, the researchers also examined biological data, which confirmed the disparity.
The results are so striking because there is no ready explanation for them. Yes, the English have a national health insurance system and America doesn't, but the gap is just as great between wealthy English people and their wealthy U.S. counterparts, nearly all of whom have insurance coverage. In both countries, health relates directly to wealth, but the richest third of Americans have as much heart disease and diabetes as the poorest third of the English. The study focused on persons aged 55 to 64 and included only non-Hispanic whites, to keep health problems related to race or ethnicity from skewing the findings.
The researchers looked at three lifestyle factors that affect health - smoking, heavy drinking and obesity - and found that both countries had roughly equal levels of smoking while more of the English were heavy drinkers and more Americans were obese. But even the higher obesity level in the United States, they said, could not account entirely for the differences in diabetes and heart disease.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has prompted considerable speculation about the roots of American bad health. One theory is that it reflects the fact that Americans on average have fewer vacation days than the English, contributing to an unhealthy level of stress. The average American gets 12 days of vacation a year; the average British person gets 23. Another theory is that Americans dependent on cars are less likely to get the daily exercise of walking than the English, who can get to more places by foot or by public transportation and foot.
When researchers discovered some years ago that the French, despite their rich diet, had lower levels of heart disease than other nationalities, much was made of the "French paradox." A popular explanation was that a heart-protective substance in red wine was their secret. So far, no one is suggesting that British staples like porridge or steak and kidney pie are just what the doctor ordered. Could it be drinking beer at cellar temperature and not refrigerated?
The U.S.-English health differences are, the researchers say, "fertile ground for additional exploration." Let the exploring begin, and let the fish and chips fall where they may.
- The Boston Globe
Copyright by The Boston Globe
TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2006
Medical researchers recently set heads to shaking on both sides of the Atlantic with a study showing that white, middle-aged English people are much healthier than white, middle-aged Americans. The English have less cancer, less high blood pressure, less heart disease and stroke, and less diabetes. To make sure that the difference was not just the result of stiff-upper-lip Brits keeping quiet about what ails them, the researchers also examined biological data, which confirmed the disparity.
The results are so striking because there is no ready explanation for them. Yes, the English have a national health insurance system and America doesn't, but the gap is just as great between wealthy English people and their wealthy U.S. counterparts, nearly all of whom have insurance coverage. In both countries, health relates directly to wealth, but the richest third of Americans have as much heart disease and diabetes as the poorest third of the English. The study focused on persons aged 55 to 64 and included only non-Hispanic whites, to keep health problems related to race or ethnicity from skewing the findings.
The researchers looked at three lifestyle factors that affect health - smoking, heavy drinking and obesity - and found that both countries had roughly equal levels of smoking while more of the English were heavy drinkers and more Americans were obese. But even the higher obesity level in the United States, they said, could not account entirely for the differences in diabetes and heart disease.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has prompted considerable speculation about the roots of American bad health. One theory is that it reflects the fact that Americans on average have fewer vacation days than the English, contributing to an unhealthy level of stress. The average American gets 12 days of vacation a year; the average British person gets 23. Another theory is that Americans dependent on cars are less likely to get the daily exercise of walking than the English, who can get to more places by foot or by public transportation and foot.
When researchers discovered some years ago that the French, despite their rich diet, had lower levels of heart disease than other nationalities, much was made of the "French paradox." A popular explanation was that a heart-protective substance in red wine was their secret. So far, no one is suggesting that British staples like porridge or steak and kidney pie are just what the doctor ordered. Could it be drinking beer at cellar temperature and not refrigerated?
The U.S.-English health differences are, the researchers say, "fertile ground for additional exploration." Let the exploring begin, and let the fish and chips fall where they may.
- The Boston Globe
posted by Carlos T Mock at 8:26 AM
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