TUESDAY, Sept. 19, 2023 (HealthDay News) — A job that’s demanding but lower than rewarding may take an enormous toll on a person’s heart health, a big latest study suggests.
The study, of nearly 6,500 white-collar employees, found that men who habitually felt stressed on the job had as much as double the danger of developing heart disease as their peers who were more content at work.
In some cases, that stress took the shape of “job strain,” which meant that employees felt pressure to perform but had little power over the right way to get their work done.
In other cases, the central problem was “effort-reward imbalance.” That’s when employees feel their diligence is just not winning adequate returns — whether through pay, promotion, recognition or a way of achievement.
Men who reported either form of job stress were about 50% more more likely to develop coronary heart disease over the subsequent 18 years, versus men who were happier on the job.
Then there have been the boys who cited each varieties of job stress: Their risk of heart disease was double that of their male counterparts who reported neither work issue.
There was no similar effect, nevertheless, seen amongst women.
Researchers said the findings don’t prove that job stress exacts a toll on men’s hearts, or that it doesn’t harm women.
But there are many reasons that stress at work — where adults spend so a lot of their waking hours — could contribute to heart disease.
For one, chronic stress can directly affect the cardiovascular system, said Mathilde Lavigne-Robichaud, the lead researcher.
“Job strain and effort-reward imbalance can directly affect your heart by triggering physical responses that include a rise in heart rate, higher blood pressure and narrowing of blood vessels in the center,” said Lavigne-Robichaud, a doctoral candidate at CHU de Quebec-University Laval Research Center in Quebec, Canada.
“This makes the center work harder and may result in problems with blood flow and heart rhythm, ultimately increasing the danger of heart disease,” she said.
Work stress may harm the center in less direct ways.
“It might probably interfere together with your ability to eat well, exercise usually and find time to calm down,” Lavigne-Robichaud said.
If it’s hard to have a healthy lifestyle, she added, that might only further any direct effects of stress on the cardiovascular system.
Dr. Eduardo Sanchez agreed that chronic stress can spell trouble for the cardiovascular system — and is possibly as harmful as obesity or secondhand smoke exposure.
Sanchez, chief medical officer for prevention on the American Heart Association, noted that the group takes workplace stress seriously. Several years ago, the AHA released guidance for employers seeking to start resiliency training, as a method to address employees’ stress.
The brand new study, Sanchez said, adds to a pile of evidence that workplaces can, and may, help promote good heart health.
The findings are based on nearly 6,500 white-collar employees in Quebec who were a part of a long-term health study. On the outset, in 2000, all were freed from heart disease and 45 years old, on average.
Over the subsequent 18 years, 571 men had a first-time coronary heart disease “event” — comparable to a heart attack or severe chest pain brought on by blocked heart arteries. Amongst women, 265 suffered an identical heart complication.
Overall, the researchers found, the danger of future heart disease rose in tandem with employees’ perceived job stress. That was after accounting for other aspects, comparable to education level, marital status, smoking and drinking habits, and health conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
The link was only seen amongst men, nevertheless.
Why is unclear. And the finding ought to be taken with a grain of salt, each Lavigne-Robichaud and Sanchez said.
They noted that girls typically develop heart disease later in life than men, and there have been half as many cases amongst female employees on this study. That might make it harder to see a transparent connection between work stress and girls’s heart trouble.
Lavigne-Robichaud said that the AHA and other organizations already encourage employers to have “comprehensive wellness programs” — which can include things like health screenings and nutritious food options.
“Our study suggests that incorporating interventions aimed toward reducing workplace stress into these programs could help prevent heart disease,” she said.
The findings were published Sept. 19 within the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
More information
The American Heart Association has advice on stress management.
SOURCES: Mathilde Lavigne-Robichaud, doctoral candidate, CHU de Quebec-University Laval Research Center, Quebec, Canada; Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH, chief medical officer for prevention, American Heart Association, Dallas; Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, Sept. 19, 2023, online