Work stress leads to heart disease and diabetesJanuary 20, 2006Chronic stress at work and the metabolic syndrome: Prospective study BMJ online first Stress at work is an important risk factor for the development of heart disease and diabetes, finds a study published online by the BMJ today. Stress at work has been linked with heart disease, but the biological processes were unclear. This study provides new evidence for the biological plausibility of the link between work stress and heart disease. Researchers examined the association between work stress and the metabolic syndrome (a cluster of factors that increases the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes) in 10,308 British civil servants aged between 35 and 55, over a 14 year period. Work stress was measured on four occasions between 1985 and 1999. Components of the metabolic syndrome, such as obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol levels, were measured between 1997 and 1999. Social position and health damaging behaviours, such as smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, and lack of exercise, were also recorded. A dose-response relation was found between exposure to job stress and the metabolic syndrome, even after adjusting for other risk factors. For example, men with chronic work stress were nearly twice as likely to develop the syndrome than those with no exposure to work stress. Women with chronic work stress were also more likely to have the syndrome, but they formed a small group. Both men and women from lower employment grades were more likely to have the syndrome, confirming previous reports that the syndrome has a social gradient. The association between the metabolic syndrome and exposure to health damaging behaviours was stronger among men than women. Poor diet (no fruit and vegetable consumption), smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity were all associated with higher odds of the syndrome. Despite some study limitations, a dose-response relation exists between exposure to work stress and the metabolic syndrome, even after other risk factors are taken into account, say the authors. One possible explanation is that prolonged exposure to work stress may affect the nervous system. Alternatively, chronic stress may reduce biological resilience and thus disturb the body's physiological balance (homoeostasis). This study provides evidence for the biological plausibility of psychosocial stress mechanisms linking stressors from everyday life with heart disease, they conclude. BMJ-British Medical Journal |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Related Stress Current Events and Stress News Articles Pathogen protection and virulence: Dark side of fungal membrane protein revealed Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and Montana State University have discovered a fungal protein that plays a key role in causing disease in plants and animals and which also shields the pathogen from oxidative stress. Babies with an accent In the first days of their lives, French infants already cry in a different way to German babies. Psychiatric impact of torture could be amplified by head injury Depression and other emotional symptoms in survivors of torture and other traumatic experiences may be exacerbated by the effects of head injuries, according to a study from the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT), based in the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Department of Psychiatry. Nitrogen loss threatens desert plant life, study shows As the climate gets warmer, arid soils lose nitrogen as gas, reports a new Cornell study. That could lead to deserts with even less plant life than they sustain today, say the researchers. Deep creep means milder, more frequent earthquakes along Southern California's San Jacinto fault With an average of four mini-earthquakes per day, Southern California's San Jacinto fault constantly adjusts to make it a less likely candidate for a major earthquake than its quiet neighbor to the east, the Southern San Andreas fault, according to an article in the journal Nature Geoscience. Young tennis players who play only 1 sport are more prone to injuries Gifted young athletes are under increasing pressure to play only one sport year round. Key player identified in cascade that leads to hypertension-related kidney damage A key player in a cascade that likely begins with stress and leads to high blood pressure and kidney damage has been identified by researchers who say the finding may lead to better ways to control both. Researchers explore new ways to prevent spinal cord damage using a vitamin B3 precursor Substances naturally produced by the human body may one day help prevent paralysis following a spinal cord injury, according to researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College. A recent $2.5 million grant from the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Research Board will fund their research investigating this possibility. Researcher: 'Optical biopsy' for breast cancer increasingly accurate But women may not have to endure the medical costs, stress and potential complications that accompany such invasive biopsies forever. A University of Florida biomedical engineering researcher is making progress on an "optical biopsy" that has the potential to determine whether growths are cancerous without ever puncturing the skin. Use of cannabinoids (marijuana) could help post-traumatic stress disorder patients Use of cannabinoids (marijuana) could assist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder patients. This is exposed in a new study carried out at the Learning and Memory Lab in the University of Haifa's Department of Psychology. More Stress Current Events and Stress News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||