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Recent research has claimed that women under the age of fifty who have stressful jobs are more likely to get heart disease than their older counterparts. Studies have previously found links between men who have high pressure jobs and heart disease but this is the first time it has been proven in women. The research was published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine and examined the impact that work pressure on had on 12,116 Danish nurses between the ages of 45 and 64 at the start of 1993.
The results
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It was found that after fifteen years, in 2008, 580 nurses had been admitted to hospital with various heart diseases which included 138 women which had suffered from a heart attack, 369 who had been diagnosed with angina and 73 which had other heart-related diseases. The age group of women that were affected significantly by heart disease was found to be women under the age of fifty. Women who claim that they are under extreme pressure at work have a 50% per cent increased risk of contracting heart disease, while those that claimed that the pressure was just ‘a little too high’ have a 25 per cent increased risk of suffering from heart disease. Lifestyle factors such as smoking were taken into account but even after this the risk for women under high work pressure was 35 per cent.
The effect of pressure
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A cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, June Davidson, has said that feeling stressed might lead to some bad habits which are unhealthy like smoking, eating junk food and consuming alcohol in order to feel better. She urges women to channel their stress in positive ways such as remaining active. One could exercise either by working out on equipment or by using the stairs or walking to work. This is a way to decrease stress and improve heart health as well.
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