BMJ  2004;328 (3 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7430.0

Prolonged starvation results in more cardiovascular disease

Prolonged starvation results, three to six decades later, in raised blood pressure and higher mortality from heart disease and stroke. Sparén and colleagues (p 11) followed up nearly 4000 men from St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) from 1975 to 1999; a third had lived through the siege of the city during the second world war. They found that a higher proportion of those who had starved for a long time had cardiovascular diseases and increased mortality, particularly if they were aged 9 to15 at the time of the siege. Wars and starvation continue, and severe starvation, accompanied by stress and trauma, may increase cardiovascular disease, especially if it occurs during puberty.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Long term mortality after severe starvation during the siege of Leningrad: prospective cohort study

Pär Sparén, Denny Vågerö, Dmitri B Shestov, Svetlana Plavinskaja, Nina Parfenova, Valeri Hoptiar, Dominique Paturot, and Maria Rosaria Galanti
BMJ 2004 328: 11. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]