Study Says Poverty and Chronic Inflammation Together Triples Cancer Death Risk

According to new US research, the combined effects of poverty and chronic inflammation could more than triple the chance of cancer mortality and more than double the risk of heart disease death over a 15-year period.

Individually, poverty has been shown to increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, mental illness, and hypertension in addition to increasing mortality and reducing life expectancy. Furthermore, a proven risk factor for disease and death is chronic inflammation brought on by lifestyle choices like eating poorly or not exercising, as well as exposure to pollutants in the environment and autoimmune diseases like arthritis.

Combines effects of poverty and chronic inflammation

But according to University of Florida researchers, they have demonstrated for the first time that poverty and chronic inflammation together may have a considerably worse combined impact on health and life expectancy than either one alone would.

“We found that participants with either inflammation or poverty alone each had about a 50 per cent increased risk in all-cause mortality. In contrast, individuals with both inflammation and poverty had a 127 per cent increased heart disease mortality risk and a 196 per cent increased cancer mortality risk,” said Frank A. Orlando, an associate professor at the University of Florida and second author of the study published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine.

The researchers also discovered that, rather than only acting in a “additive” way, the risk factors—poverty and chronic inflammation—interacted to increase the risk of mortality in a “synergistic” or interactive way.

“If the effects of inflammation and poverty on mortality were additive, you’d expect a 100 per cent increase in mortality for people where both apply. But since the observed 127 per cent and 196 per cent increases are much greater than 100 per cent, we conclude that the combined effect of inflammation and poverty on mortality is synergistic,” said Orlando.

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Deets on the study conducted

In order to conduct the study, the researchers examined data from persons 40 years of age and older who were enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2002 and tracked down until December 31, 2019. They computed mortality rates during a 15-year period following enrollment by combining the NHANES data with entries from the National Death Index.

The study emphasized the importance of regularly screening socially disadvantaged individuals, who are already considered a medically vulnerable population, for chronic inflammation. Lead author Arch Mainous III, a professor in the department of health services research, management, and policy at the University of Florida, suggests that routine screenings can help reduce preventable deaths within this group.

“We need to translate the basic science on chronic inflammation to the doctor’s office through the creation of screening guidelines so physicians can identify chronic inflammation in their patients and work to treat the underlying causes,” said Mainous.

“It is time to move beyond documenting the health problems that inflammation can cause, to trying to fix these problems,” said Mainous.