Work stress doubles the risk of heart attack

According to a recent study, people who suffer from stressful demands at work, poor rewards and scant career opportunities are twice as likely to die from heart disease. Concern is increasing about the adverse effects that work stress may have on health, particularly the risk of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Work stress models focusing on aspects of the workplace, work organisation, and labour market conditions can explain deaths from cardiovascular disease. The study was carried out by the researchers at the Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland, to examine the association between work stress and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. They monitored the health of 812 employees (545 men, 267 women) of a company in a metal industry in Finland who were free from cardiovascular diseases at baseline. Biological risks were measured at 5 year and 10 year follow up for an average of 25 years. The team regularly recorded the volunteers blood pressure, levels of cholesterol and body fat, and participants filled out questionnaires about their stress and sense of reward in their job. After the figures were adjusted for age and sex, employees with high job strain, a combination of high demands at work and low levels of control over their jobs had 2.2 times more risk of dying of cardiovascular disease compared with counterparts with low job stress. High job strain and effort-reward imbalance (high demands, low security, few career opportunities) seem to increase the risk of cardiovascular mortality. This study adds to the fact that job strain and effort-reward imbalance were each associated with a doubling of the risk of cardiovascular death among employees who were free from cardiovascular diseases at baseline. Also highly stressed employees notably had higher levels of blood cholesterol and put on weight as years went by. The evidence from this study suggests that attention should be paid to the prevention of work stress.