Study Links Long Work Hours to Increased Risk of Stroke

Study Links Long Work Hours to Increased Risk of Stroke

How many hours do you clock in at work in a typical week? According to a recent Gallup survey, the average American workweek has increased to roughly 49 hours. While those extra hours may provide some additional overtime pay, it could be taking a toll on your health, potentially even increasing your risk of stroke.

Researchers from the University College London and Umeå University in Sweden found that people who work long workweeks tend to have a greater risk of stroke. For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than two dozen separate studies, covering more than half a million men women throughout several countries over the course of eight-and-a-half years. While similar studies have linked long workweeks to various health problems (including heart disease), this was one of the first meta-analysis conducted on the topic.

So, what did researchers find? After analyzing the data, they determined that people who worked 55 hours or more had a 13% higher risk of developing coronary heart disease and a 33% higher risk of developing stroke. What's even more alarming, however, is that people who worked just 41-48 hours (which is now the norm), had a 10% higher risk of stroke when compared to people who worked 40 or fewer hours.

"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 is 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," said Urban Janlert, one of the study's co-authors.

How can long workweeks have such as detrimental impact on a person's health? It's unclear what exactly is causing the uptick in stroke rates among people who work long workweeks. One theory, however, is that long workweeks triggers a slow but gradual buildup of stress levels, which in turn has a negative impact on a person's heart health. When you are stressed, your muscles become tense, your blood pressure rises, and your body produces an abundance of stress hormones like cortisol.

Regardless of what's causing it, workers should heed the warning issued by researchers and cut back on those long workweeks.

This study was published in the journal Lancet.

Aug 26th 2015

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