According to the study, overwork can lead to an increased risk of heart failure or stroke in middle-aged people. Young and healthy people do not belong to the risk group.
More than 55 Hours a Week Can Affect Heart Health
The study involved more than 85,000 middle-aged men and women from the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Sweden. Mike Kivimaki’s research team from University College London divided the participants into groups according to the number of hours worked per week and then compared them.
The results showed that people working more than 40 hours a week have a higher risk of irregular heartbeat.
None of the participants were initially diagnosed with fibrillation, but after ten years it appeared in 1,061 subjects who worked up to 55 hours a week. The higher number of worked hours led to an increase in the risk of fibrillation of up to 40% in ten years.
“The findings show that long working hours are associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia. This may be one of the mechanisms explaining the previously observed risk of stroke among those who work long hours,” told Kivimaki.
Young and Healthy People Can Work More Hours without Harm Risk
The researchers found that in nine out of ten cases, cardiac arrhythmias occurred in people who had not previously been diagnosed or diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.
“This suggests that the increased risk is likely to reflect the impact of long working hours,” Kivimaki added.
Experts also specified that young, healthy people do not have to worry about long working hours. The risk is greater for those who smoke, have high blood pressure or diabetes.
However, the authors of the study admit that the studies have their limitations. For example, researchers monitored working hours only at the beginning, not over the years. There is also a lack of more accurate information on the employment of participants or work shifts.
Source: https://www.medicaldaily.com/working-more-55-hours-week-could-affect-heart-health-420331, featured image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
