Heart disease and diabetes linked to stress in the office
· Researchers study 10,000 civil servants for 14 years
· Women five times more likely to have risk factors
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Friday January 20, 2006
People who suffer from chronic stress caused by their job are more likely to develop heart disease and diabetes, according to research. It has long been suggested that stress can damage your health, but scientific evidence has been hard to come by. However, researchers writing in this week's British Medical Journal say they have evidence "for the biological plausibility of the link".
Their study looked at the stress levels reported by more than 10,000 civil servants, aged 35 to 55, in 20 government departments in London. The participants in the 14-year study also answered questions on their health and had two physical examinations. The researchers found that those who most often reported stress were most likely to have a set of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, which include abdominal obesity, raised cholesterol and high blood pressure, known as metabolic syndrome.
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