Thousands of people could die from heart attacks if the crisis at Northern Rock is repeated at other banks, it was claimed today.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge said the stress brought on by a global banking crisis could kill thousands of people around the world, with elderly people most at risk.
High-income countries such as the UK and US could see a 6.4% surge in deaths from heart disease, while low-income countries could experience a 26% rise in mortality rates.
In Britain, between 1,280 and 5,130 people could die if "a significant proportion of banks" failed in a similar way to Northern Rock.
The report, called Can a bank crisis break your heart?, said: "In 2004/2005, there were 50,544 male deaths due to heart disease in the UK.
"If a severe banking crisis were to hit, our results suggest that it would cause anywhere from 1,280 to 5,130 additional heart disease deaths.
"To put this effect in perspective, this is more than 10 times the number of British troops who have died in Iraq."
The team, which was led by social epidemiologist David Stuckler, examined data from the World Health Organisation and the World Bank from between 1960 and 2002, in what is claimed to be the first study into the relationship between a banking crisis and mortality.
They looked at male death rates per 100,000 people from the World Health Organisation's global mortality database, comparing the results with the occurrence of banking crises recorded by the World Bank during the same period.
Models were used to control variables such as economic stability at the time, and the differing degrees to which individual countries monitor death rates from heart disease.
The results showed "bank system crises are associated with short-term increases in heart disease mortality rates", and that "this effect may be significantly more pronounced in low-income countries where they occur more frequently".
Increased vulnerability
Older people were most vulnerable to sudden death brought on by stress, because as well as being more likely to suffer risk factors such as hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, they were most likely to feel threatened when their savings were at risk, the researchers said.
This was outlined by the experience of Northern Rock, where many of those people pictured queuing outside bank branches last autumn were elderly customers. The bank was nationalised last week.
"Our findings show that financial crises aren't just about money - they also impact on people's health," said David Stuckler.
"This report shows that containing hysteria and preventing widespread panic is important not only to stop these incidents leading to a systemic bank crisis, but also to prevent potentially thousands of heart disease deaths."
The research said the Bank of England's action to rescue Northern Rock "may have helped contribute to a healthier population".
"Whatever one might think of the Bank of England's U-turn, it probably has spared the United Kingdom from a full-scale bank crisis that would have been borne out not only in economic terms but quite possibly in human lives."
Cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation June Davison said: "Intense emotional stress has long been associated with triggering heart attacks in those people with existing coronary heart disease.
"However, we still need to further understand the mechanisms of how this may happen.
"Feeling very stressed can also lead to unhealthy behaviours such as smoking, eating a poor diet, drinking too much alcohol and not getting enough exercise - adding to the risk of developing heart problems."