Only the overworked die young

Follow me at @JohnRossMD Billy Joel was on to something. As the singer-songwriter suggested in “Movin’ Out,” working too hard really can give you a “heart attack-ack-ack…” And, as a recent study has also shown, stroke may be an even bigger problem than heart attack in people who are overworked. For the study, researchers from University College London compiled data on the relationship between working hours and heart attack risk in over 600,000 workers, as well as similar data on stroke risk in over 500,000 workers. They adjusted their data to compensate for individual workers’ differences due to health behaviors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity, and also adjusted for the presence of other cardiac risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. They found that those who worked more than 55 hours per week had a 13% greater risk of a heart attack, and were 33% more likely to suffer a stroke, compared with those who worked 35-40 hours per week. The elevated risk of heart attack with longer work hours was only seen in workers with low socioeconomic status. The heart attack risk in high wage workers who worked long hours was similar to that of high wage workers who had normal work hours. Stroke risk was higher in all those who worked long hours, regardless of their socioeconomic status. The reasons why overwork and cardiovascular risk are linked are not entirely clear. Hormonal factors, such as elevated le...
Source: New Harvard Health Information - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Behavioral Health Heart Health Hypertension and Stroke Prevention Stress overworked Source Type: news