Office overtime stresses the heart
September 26th, 2010
DC Correspondent
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/office-overtime-stresses-heart-325
An international study has shown that that those who worked 10 or 11-hour days were up to 60 per cent more likely to suffer heart disease or die younger than those who worked shorter hours.
The study, published in the European Heart Journal, also found that the risk of heart disease increased in workers who had trouble sleeping or did not have sufficient time to wind down after work.
'Employees who work overtime may also be likely to be reluctant to be absent and work while ill,' the study highlights.
On World Heart Day, with the theme 'wellness at the workplace' this year, cardiologists admit that all is not well.
"While we receive a mix of people with heart ailments, we see plenty of heart-attack cases in people working in the IT sector. The worst part is that they are all young men, just crossing 30," laments Dr
B. Madan Mohan, the consultant cardiologist at Fortis Malar hospital here.
Work stress is an important factor in triggering heart attacks, as it disturbs the biological rhythm of the body, he points out.
"When young professionals keep late working hours and lose sleep over office problems, the blood pressure goes up, leading to cholesterol clots, or blocks in the heart vessels," Dr Madan Mohan explains.
"The final event, the rupture of vulnerable plaque leading to heart attack can occur due to any mental or physical stress .Heart attacks are more common on Mondays which means that going to work after resting on Saturday and Sunday is stressful," adds Dr R. Alagesan, emeritus professor of cardiology at the Tamil Nadu DR MGR Medical University here.
"So, working long hours, working against deadlines to finish assignments, and, importantly, the time difference between United States of America, European countries and India play important roles in contributing to work stress," Dr Alagesan lists.
Even as doctors insist that early diagnosis and periodic testing is the key to fighting the epidemic of cardiovascular disease among the young in this country, the stress of knowing about one's heart problem may only worsen the situation, experts point out.
"Knowing that one has heart disease definitely increases his anxiety and stress. It is most important at the time of heart attack for the patient to remain calm, as the stress due to heart attack, coupled with emotional stress, can increase the heart rate and blood pressure and sometimes even trigger life-threatening arrhythmia. We try to alleviate this by sedating the patient," explained Dr Alagesan.
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