Workplace stress link to higher heart risk

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Workplace stress link to higher heart risk

By Sam Lister, Health Corrrespondent

A STRESSFUL professional life heightens the chances of developing

heart disease and diabetes, according to a long-term study of civil

servants.

Research into work stress and the " metabolic syndrome " — which

includes factors such as obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol —

has found evidence of a direct link between stress exposure and ill-

health.

The 14-year study of more than 10,000 civil servants, aged between

35 and 55 when the research began, showed that men who experienced a

lot of stress were twice as likely to suffer from the syndrome as

those not exposed to stress. A smaller study of female workers

suggested that high stress carried five times the risk.

Scientists from University College London carried out tests on the

participants on four occasions between 1985 and 1999, including an

analysis of components of the metabolic syndrome. Social position

and patterns of behaviour that might affect health, such as smoking,

heavy alcohol consumption and lack of exercise, were also recorded.

The research, published in the British Medical Journal, showed

a " dose-response " relationship between job stress and the metabolic

syndrome: the more stress that a person experienced, the higher his

chances of suffering syndrome symptoms leading to heart disease and

type 2 diabetes. The trend held even after adjusting for other risk

factors.

Both men and women from lower employment grades were more likely

than those above them to have the syndrome, confirming the

established trend that obesity, high blood pressure and other

factors linked to heart disease and late-onset diabetes are linked

to social status.

Overall, fewer women were found to experience chronic stress at

work. The association between the metabolic syndrome and exposure to

health-damaging behaviour was stronger among men than women.

A diet without fruit and vegetables, smoking, heavy alcohol

consumption and physical inactivity were all associated with higher

odds of the syndrome.

Known as the Whitehall study, the research was based on tests on

civil servants from 20 London departments. The authors, led by

Tarani Chandola, of UCL's Department of Epidemiology and Public

Health, said that, though the study had some limitations, a clear

link had been found.

" A dose-response association exists between exposure to work stress

and the metabolic syndrome, " they conclude. " Employees with chronic

work stress have more than double the odds of the syndrome than

those without work stress, after other risk factors are taken into

account.

" The study provides evidence for the biological plausibility of

psychosocial stress mechanisms linking stressors from everyday life

with heart disease. "

One possible explanation is that prolonged exposure to work stress

may affect the nervous system, they said. Alternatively, chronic

stress may reduce biological resilience and thus disturb the body's

physiological balance.