Money Matters, Simplified.
Working for long hours might give you heart attack--study
by Jaspreet Virk - April 5, 2011 - comments
Researchers found that those who worked for 11 hours had 67 percent more risk of suffering from heart disease compared to those who worked for 7 to 8 hours per day.
If you have been working overtime to impress your boss, stop here, as a new study has found that spending extra hours at work is bad for heart.
The research findings published in the journal 'Annals of Internal Medicine,' states that people who work for 11 hours or more a day are at a high risk of suffering from coronary heart disease in the long run.
As more and more people are working overtime, the data on long working hours could be useful to health care professionals assessing patient's risk of heart disease.
The other risk factors for heart attack include high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, smoking habit, and diabetes.
Researchers also found that those who worked for 11 hours had 67 percent more risk of suffering from heart disease compared to those who worked for 7 to 8 hours per day.
7095 adults studied
To determine whether long working hours increase the risk of cardiovascular problems, Mika Kivimaki, lead researcher and professor of social epidemiology at University College London, and colleagues conducted a study on 7,095 employed adults in the age group 39 to 62 years.
About 10 percent of them reported working for long hours.
The participants' medical examinations were performed in 1991 and 1993, and they were followed until 2004 for coronary heart disease.
The researchers also studied data on other heart risk factors like smoking habits, blood pressure, and cholesterol status.
Findings
Over a period of time, 192 study subjects suffered from heart attack.
Researchers also found that those who worked for 11 hours had 67 percent more risk of suffering from heart disease compared to those who worked for 7 to 8 hours per day.
"This new information should help improve decisions regarding medication for heart disease. It could also be a wake-up call for people who overwork themselves, especially if they already have other risk factors,” stated Kivimak.
As people who work for long hours usually end up eating fast food and are not very active, so eating habits and inactive lifestyle may be other factors increasing the risk.
Considering this, Kivimak has suggested that those who work for long hours should take healthy diets, exercise regularly and sufficiently and “keep their blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood (sugar) within healthy limits.”