In Greece, austerity has caused more than just tear gas usage to rise. Heart attacks have spiked in the republic, in line with the economic crisis in the Eurozone, a new study shows. Studying 22,093 patients admitted to Kalamata’s General Hospital, researchers noted a distinct spike when comparing pre-crisis and crisis periods, especially amongst women. Pre-crisis (January 2004-December 2007) Kalamata recorded 841 heart attacks, compared to 1,084 between January 2008 and December 2011, an overall increase of 29%. In women, heart attacks rose by 39.2%, with acute myocardial infarctions spiking by 51%.
Dr Emannouil Makaris, presenting his findings at a research talk at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting, noted the particularly high increase in women was likely to be down to joblessness, and economic and domestic burdens: “Greek women have a higher unemployment rate than men, they are responsible for child care, and they also work outside the home – a formula for stress. Unemployment is a stressful event and stress is connected with heart disease, but other issues also come with financial difficulties. In these times a lot of people do not have money to buy medications or go to their primary care doctor. The cost to society is high.” Throughout the crisis, unemployment rates for women in Greece have been far higher than for men of similar ages. Amongst economically active women, the unemployment rate currently stands at 29.3%, whereas for Greek men, the figure is 24.3%.
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