HEALTHY REASONING: Lower Your Risk Of Stroke And Heart Disease By Working Less

By Allan Bucka Jones
PRIDE Health Columnist

With the ongoing advance in technology, it seems like we are always connected and expected to respond immediately to the significant deluge of information which comes to us daily. For many, vacations are not a complete lock-off from work anymore, because we remain connected and expected to participate.

We are now forced to take our work home with us, and many of us work longer than the usual 40 hours per week. It is not unusual for someone to say “my work is killing me”. Well, the result of a new study is confirming that too much work increases your risk of a stroke and heart disease, and may literally be killing you.

A study published two weeks ago, online, in the reputable journal, Lancet, analysed more than half a million men and women from around the world. It found that those who put in long hours at the office, were more likely to suffer a stroke than their colleagues who worked shorter hours. Even those who worked just over 40 hours per week saw a significant increase in stroke risk.

The researchers identified 528,908 people who were stroke-free when they joined the study.

Over the next seven years, 1,722 of them suffered a stroke. It was found that the more they worked, the greater the risk for a stroke.

Compared to people who worked 35 to 40 hours per week, those who logged 41 to 48 hours per week, were 10 percent more likely to suffer a stroke. Workers who put in 49 to 54 hours per week, were in greater danger, and their stroke risk was 27 percent higher than the group who worked 35 to 40 hours per week. Worst off were those who worked at least 55 hours per week and saw their stroke risk jump by 33 percent. This dose-response relationship between working hours and stroke risk was seen in both men and women.

The researchers also looked at 603,838 workers with no history of heart disease and tracked them for an average 8.5 years. During that time, 4,768 had a heart attack or another coronary event. Compared to those who worked 35 to 40 hours per week, those who put in at least 55 hours, were 13 percent more likely to have a heart-related health problem.

We are familiar with the risk factors that will increase our chances of getting a stroke or heart disease. Risk factors like high blood pressure (hypertension), too much salt in our diet, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, overweight, a big belly, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, smoking, stress, age, gender, family history, ethnicity, prior stroke or transient ischaemic attacks and atrial fibrillation.

These new findings in this study, highlights overworking as a new and significant risk factor. This underlines the need to live a balanced life of work, sprinkled with much leisure time. Now we are seeing some kind of logic behind a 40 hour work week being considered as a standard.

Remember, your health is in your hands. Constantly strive to reduce or minimize the risk factors for stroke and heart disease. 

Allan Bucka Jones is a Health Promoter and Broadcaster. He can be heard on “Allan Bucka Jones LIVE”, Sundays from 4 to 6pm on VIBE 105 FM Toronto, www.vibe1055.com, VIBE RADIO App, Rogers Digital Cable 945, Bell Fibe 973 or mobile app TuneIn Radio. You can contact Allan Bucka Jones at allan@jonesandjones.ca