Category: Scotland
Date: 10.05.2006
Printable version
Frontline Scotland has been given exclusive access to groundbreaking medical
research which is expected to shed new light on why so many Glaswegians are
condemned to premature deaths.
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The Great Health Divide (7.00pm, 91Èȱ¬ ONE Scotland, Wednesday 10 May) takes a close
look at a pioneering study by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health which will
prod and probe the health of more than 700 citizens over the next year.
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The gap in life expectancy between rich and poor in Glasgow is still widening -
there's now a 30 year difference between some areas of Glasgow.
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No-one knows why
this is happening - but this study hopes to reveal the secrets of why people from
deprived areas age faster and die younger than those from affluent areas.
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It goes far beyond the usual suspects of diet, smoking, drinking and lack of
exercise.
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The lives of their ancestors from several generations past may doom people in
poor areas to an early death.
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Their family history has meant that they have
developed heightened body defence mechanisms to help them combat infections.
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That wears the body out - predisposing them to diseases such as diabetes, heart
disease or cancer in later life.
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In this study experts from medical, social and psychological fields are working
together for the first time to discover how this, and other factors, affect life
expectancy.
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They hope they can begin to tackle the appalling health record of
those in Glasgow's poorest communities.
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Phil Hanlon, Professor of Public Health, says: "What we're doing here is
discovering something about the biology of poverty . the actual mechanism at the
molecular level of how adverse social circumstances create disease."
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Frontline Scotland will also look at the lives of two of the people who will
feature in the research.
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Patrick O'Neill has been spent all his 54 years living in Glasgow's East
End. He has angina and prostate problems. Males in the district where he lives
have a life expectancy of 63.6.
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His life and prospects are contrasted with those of Julia Finlayson who lives in
the affluent area of Bearsden where people can expect to live to be 81.
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