Women who have known harassment have a higher risk of heart disease, shows the study: NPR
A large and new study shows that women victims of harassment are at a significantly higher risk of heart disease.
Ari Shapiro, host:
Heart disease is the main cause of death for women in the United States, and many of risk factors, such as smoking or high blood pressure, are well known. But new research today shows that there is something else to consider. Women who have experienced physical threats, especially tracking, have a risk of 41% higher of cardiovascular disease. Katia Riddle reports of NPR.
Katia Riddle, byline: being hunted is obviously incredibly frightening and stressful, but it is often considered in terms of psychological experience. This research connects this psychological stress to the decline in physical health. Rebecca Lawn is one of the researchers who worked on this study, which was published by the Harvard Th Chan School of Public Health.
Rebecca Lawn: We knew that violence is not good for health, but it is always something that is not commonly taken into account in health care.
Riddle: Data comes from a study of more than 66,000 nursing women. The researchers followed their health over a period of 20 years.
Lawn: There are so many types of violence that women experience and harassment is particularly sub-studied.
Riddle: The risk was particularly high for women who had obtained a ban order. This can be a severe harassment indicator. For residents of this group, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease was 70% higher than the others. Liz Tobin-Tyler is a professor at Brown University who studies public health and women. It was not involved in the study. She says that this research has practical implications for the whole field of health care.
Liz Tobin-Tyler: As a researcher who pays a lot of attention to violence against women and the effect of violence against women on their health, it is essential that health care providers are aware of the links here.
Riddle: The study was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health. Tobin-Tyler says she is worried that longitudinal studies that examine risk factors for women are in danger under the Trump administration. They recently canceled funding for both NIH and for various research efforts which are specifically focused on women’s health.
Tobin-Tyler: Now, if we do not study these things, we will really lose in terms of understanding a range of women’s health problems, including, as this study pointed out, cardiovascular disease.
Riddle: The study may concern women, she says, but it is relevant for each member of the company.
Katia Riddle, NPR News.
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