Long Working Hours is associated with Higher Stroke Risk: Study

Are you a workaholic? Watch out! You could be helping yourself go up your career ladder, but not with your health. A new meta-analysis discovered that working for more than 55 hours/week, may lead to an increased risk of stroke and coronary heart disease, as published in The Lancet journal.

To investigate, Mika Kivimaki, a professor of epidemiology at UCL and team looked separately at stroke and heart disease. For coronary heart disease they analyzed data from 25 studies involving more than 600,000 of both men and women from Europe, Australia and the US who were implemented for an average of 8.5 years. Researchers discovered that individuals working for 55 hours or more were at 13% increased risk for coronary heart disease.

As for stroke they analyzed data from 17 studies enrolling about 530,000 men and women who were implemented for an average of about 7.2 years. The data revealed 1.3 times increased risk of stroke in individuals working for 55 hours/week or more as compared with those who were working at a standard 35 to 40 hours a week.

Prof. Kivim?ki hopes the new findings will help health care professionals take a more active role when advising overworked patients. He further said

"Health care professionals should advise patients who work long hours that such working pattern is associated with an increased health risk and that management of vascular risk factors are particularly important for them, that is: keeping blood pressure, lipid levels and blood glucose within the normal range, adequate physical activity, eating and drinking healthfully, avoiding overweight and avoiding excessive stress."

Reference: The Lancet

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