2023-10-05 12:37:47
Working hard, receiving little or no reward, is bad for your heart, literally. Stress in the office, if not adequately rewarded, can have the same negative effects as obesity on heart health. That is, it can double (49%) the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. The Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology (Gise) is shining the spotlight on an often overlooked risk factor for the heart, on the occasion of the 44th national congress underway in Milan.
In fact, the scientific society relaunches a Canadian study from Laval University in Quebec, recently published in the journal ‘Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes’, adding that in Italy the problem also concerns the category of doctors, especially those who have to provide availability and urgency, just like interventional cardiologists. In the new study – we read in a note – the researchers involved almost 6,500 white collar workers (3,118 men and 3,347 women) with an average age of 45 years, who had no previous history of heart disease. They were followed for almost 20 years, from 2000 to 2018, and subjected to questions about their work and health. In this way, work tension and the imbalance between effort and reward were measured. The results found that men who reported experiencing work stress or an imbalance between effort and reward had a 49 percent greater risk of heart disease than those who did not report the same work conditions.
“We have known for some time that a stressful job and little reward can have a negative impact on heart health, but only as single risk factors – explains Giovanni Esposito, president of Gise and director of the Uoc of Cardiology, Hemodynamics and Utic of the hospital. Federico II University of Naples -. However, the new study has highlighted for the first time the enormous impact of the combination of these two factors, i.e. hard work and low reward. The results therefore highlight the urgent need to proactively address the conditions stressful workplaces, to create healthier environments for the benefit of employees and employers”.
Cardiovascular diseases – the note recalls – represent the leading cause of death in the world, with approximately 17 million deaths every year. In Italy they are responsible for 35% of all deaths, exceeding 230 thousand cases per year. “Scientific evidence suggests that there are two main ways in which stress can damage the heart – adds Francesco Saia, president-elect of Gise and interventional cardiologist at the Irccs University Hospital of Bologna, Policlinico Sant’Orsola -. The first involves the system sympathetic and concerns the control of blood pressure and narrowing of blood vessels.The other way includes the activation of the bone marrow and the release of inflammatory cells, which in turn leads to atherosclerotic inflammation and the onset of plaques and thrombi But what hurts is not a single stressful event, but prolonged periods of stress in combination with other risk factors”
In practice, the dangerous combination of “stressful work and little reward” appears to have a similar impact on the heart as obesity. Women’s heart health, however, appears to be unaffected by these factors, although Canadian researchers believe more research is needed. “The imbalance between effort and reward occurs when employees invest a lot in their work but receive rewards, such as salaries, recognition or job security, that are insufficient or inequitable compared to the effort,” explains Esposito. Given the significant amount of time people spend at work, understanding the relationship between work stressors and cardiovascular health is critical to public health and workforce well-being.”
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