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Long Working Hours May Raise Heart Disease Risk.
| The danger was sharply higher for those who work 46 hours a week or more. |
| Working long hours may raise your risk of heart disease, a new study suggests. |
| Researchers analyzed data from more than 1,900 people in a long-term study of work. They found that 43 percent had been diagnosed with a problem related to cardiovascular disease (CVD), such as angina, coronary artery disease, heart failure, heart attack, high blood pressure or stroke. Among full-time employees, the risk rose 1 percent for each additional hour worked per week over 10 years or more. |
| Starting at 46 hours, additional work hours increased the risk of heart disease even more. Compared to those who averaged 45 hours a week for 10 years or more, the risk of heart disease was 16 percent higher among those who worked 55 hours a week and 35 percent higher among those who worked 60 hours a week. The findings did not apply to part-time workers, according to the study in the March issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. |
| The researchers also did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between long hours at work and increased heart disease risk. |
| "This study provides specific evidence on long work hours and an increase [in] the risk of CVD, thereby providing a foundation for CVD prevention efforts focused on work schedule practices, which may reduce the risk of CVD for millions of working people," study said in a journal news release. |