There is bad news for the thousands of Irish people who have seen their wages decrease in recent years as a result of pay cuts and austerity budgets. A new study has, for the first time, linked low wages to an increased risk of high blood pressure.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can cause silent damage to the blood vessels and heart, as there are few symptoms and the only way you can find out you have it is by having it measured by a doctor. If left untreated, the damage progresses over time can cause a range of problems, including atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), stroke and heart failure.

US scientists looked at over 5,600 heads of households and their spouses over three different time periods - 1999-2001, 2001-2003 and 2003-2005. All of the household heads were working adults, aged between 25 and 65.

The study found that people on the lowest wages had a higher risk of developing hypertension than people on the highest wages. This link was especially strong among women and those aged between 25 and 44.

"We were surprised that low wages were such a strong risk factor for two populations not typically associated with hypertension, which is more often linked with being older and male," explained lead study author, Prof J. Paul Leigh, of UC Davis in California.

He said that as a result of this, ‘women and younger employees at the lowest pay scales should be screened regularly for hypertension'.

Prof Leigh also explained that while there is a known link between hypertension and lower socioeconomic status, the specific reason for this has been unclear. While other studies have focused on issues such as education, occupation and job strain, this is the first to focus on wages.

Meanwhile the study also found that increasing wages lowered the risk of hypertension. For example, doubling the wages of women was associated with a 30-35% reduced risk of a hypertension diagnosis, while doubling the wages of younger employees reduced the risk by up to 30%.

Prof Leigh called for more research in this area and insisted that if the results are the same, ‘we could have identified a way to help reduce the costs and personal impact of a major health crisis'.

Details of these findings are published in the European Journal of Public Health.