Stress at work raises heart disease risk in women

High pressure jobs like nursing put young women at a higher risk of heart disease and younger women appear to be more vulnerable, suggests a new study.

In industrialised countries, cardiovascular disease (CVD), including ischaemic heart disease (IHD), is the leading cause of death and affects as many women as men. During the last decades, several studies have examined the impact of work-related psychosocial factors on ischaemic heart disease. But previous research has largely focused on men. To investigate the effect of work pressure and job influence on the development of IHD in women, researchers from Denmark followed 12,116 nurses, aged between 45 and 64 years for 15 years. The participants were asked to fill a comprehensive self-administered questionnaire on health and lifestyle, including occupational status and working conditions.

During a 15 years follow-up, 580 participants were hospitalised with heart disease. It was found that those who said that their work pressures were a little too high were 25 percent more likely to develop heart disease in comparison to those who said that their work pressures were manageable and appropriate. Those who felt that their work stress was much too  high were 35 percent more likely to have heart disease after other risk factors like smoking and lifestyle were taken into account.

The above findings support already existing evidence suggesting harmful effects of excessive psychological demands at work on cardiac health but this study is among the very few that demonstrates this effect in women.