Heart risk rising in younger Canadians

TORONTO, July 21 (UPI) -- Cardiovascular disease is declining in Canada overall, but it is increasing in adults under age 50 of lower socioeconomic status, researchers said.

The researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Center at Toronto General Hospital studied national trends in heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and smoking prevalence from 1994-2005.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found the prevalence of heart disease and diabetes is rising fastest among Canadians of lower socioeconomic status. However, the prevalence of hypertension and obesity is increasing in nearly all Canadians, but is rising fastest in those with higher incomes.

"Our results indicate that young people are increasingly bearing the burden of cardiovascular risk factors," Dr. Douglas Lee, a cardiologist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, said in a statement. "Earlier onset of cardiovascular disease means potentially longer and more intense treatment over their lifetime."

"These trends are quite different from the United States where some risk factors such as hypertension are declining," Lee said.