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Stressed at work? Look out for your heart

Welldressed troubled mature man with head in hands

The findings confirm that being under stress at work could increase the risk of developing heart disease (Source: Jesper Elgaard/iStockphoto)

Work overload People who have highly demanding jobs and little freedom to make decisions are 23 per cent more likely to have a heart attack compared with their less stressed out colleagues, according to research.


A study of nearly 200,000 people from seven European countries found around 3.4 per cent of heart attacks can be attributed to job strain - a significant proportion, but far less than the 36 per cent attributable to smoking and 12 per cent put down to lack of exercise.



"Our findings indicate that job strain is associated with a small, but consistent, increased risk of experiencing a first CHD event such as a heart attack," says Mika Kivimaki from University College London, who led the research.

Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, says the findings confirm that being under stress at work and being unable to change the situation could increase the risk of developing heart disease.

But he notes they also showed the negative effects of workplace strain are much smaller than the damage caused by smoking or lack of exercise.


