Job Stress Might Trigger Heart Problems
Risk doubles for workers under chronic strain

(HealthDay News) -- For people who've had a heart attack, working in a chronically stressful environment apparently makes a repeat attack much more likely.

A Canadian study provided "very solid scientific evidence" on how job stress can contribute to heart trouble, Dr. Paul J. Rosch, president of The American Institute of Stress , told HealthDay .

The study followed 972 women, ages 35 to 59, who returned to work after a heart attack. They were interviewed an average of six weeks later and were followed for an average of almost six years.

Women were considered to have job stress when they were faced with high psychological demands but had little control over work-related decisions.

During the follow-up period, 82 of the study participants were diagnosed with unstable angina (chest pain), 111 had nonfatal heart attacks, and 13 died of a heart attack.

Job stress, the researchers concluded, doubled the odds of heart problems.

However, the study found no link between the social support received by the workers and their cardiac health. "The most powerful buffer we know against stress is strong social support," Rosch said. But in this particular study, "it did not have an effect, which is sort of counterintuitive."

The findings left people with "many more questions than answers," Rosch told HealthDay . People who feel that job stress is affecting their health could try changing jobs, he said, but "you never know whether you're going from the frying pan into the fire."

Study leader Dr. Corine Aboa-Eboule, a psychology professor at the Universite Laval in Quebec , said that further research is needed to develop the most effective ways of reducing job stress.

Another study, published in the same issues of the Journal of the American Medical Association , concluded that stress contributes to illnesses such as depression, cardiovascular disease and HIV/AIDS. Its authors had reviewed scientific literature on the relationship between stress and disease.

They suggested that behavioral changes might be one mechanism that explains the link between stress and disease. People under stress sleep poorly, eat badly, don't exercise and don't comply with medical instructions, the researchers wrote. They also said that stress might have adverse effects on the body's immune and inflammatory systems.

On the Web

To learn more about workplace stress, visit the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Paul J. Rosch, M.D., president, American Institute of Stress, Yonkers, N.Y.; Oct. 10, 2007, Journal of the American Medical Association
Author: Robert Preidt
Publication Date: Oct. 31, 2008
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