Stress at work may lead to heart disease and diabetes

Stress at work may lead to heart disease and diabetes

Jan 24 (HealthCentersOnline) - New research appears to confirm the link between stress at work and increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The research also showed that individuals at lower employment grades have a greater risk of developing these conditions.

Stress is the body's reaction to changes in one's life that often produce tension or strain. Previous research has suggested that stress may have very negative effects, such as raising blood pressure and increasing the risk of heart disease. Basic stress management techniques include getting enough sleep and exercising regularly.

A recent study by British researchers is confirming the idea that stress at work can take a toll on the body. It also provides new insight into the biological processes that may link work stress with heart disease and diabetes.

The study looked at data acquired during a large-scale evaluation of 10,308 British civil servants (both men and women) aged 35-55 (the Whitehall II study). As part of the original study, each participant was evaluated for work stress four times over an average duration of 14 years. The study took into account unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, poor diet, heavy drinking and lack of exercise.

The researchers used the information from this earlier study to determine that individuals with chronic work stress (defined by three or more work stress exposures) were more than twice as likely to develop metabolic syndrome than those without any work stress. They also found that participants from lower employment grades were more likely to develop metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a set of metabolic risk factors for a heart attack, which include central obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. Some people have a cluster of these, increasing their risk of heart attack by 4 to 20 times.

Some researchers speculate that prolonged exposure to work stress has the ability to affect the human nervous system. Others believe that chronic stress has the ability to reduce biological resilience and disrupt the natural physiologic balance of the body.

The study was published in a recent online issue of the British Medical Journal.