Working overtime increases heart risk, a study finds

[Judi Lynn]

Source: BBC News

Page last updated at 23:58 GMT, Tuesday, 11 May 2010 00:58 UK
Working overtime increases heart risk, a study finds

People who regularly put in overtime and work 10 or 11-hour days increase their heart disease risk by nearly two-thirds, research suggests.

The findings come from a study of 6,000 British civil servants, published online in the European Heart Journal.

After accounting for known heart risk factors such as smoking, doctors found those who worked three to four hours of overtime a day ran a 60% higher risk.

Experts said the findings highlighted the importance of work-life balance.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8674372.stm

[barbtries]

1. i'm killing myself

:(

in a couple ways apparently. i thought it was just the smoking.

[kirby]

2. Quit smoking...

The smoking itself increases your risk from anywhere between 200-400%.

[AlphaCentauri]

3. Uniquely American

BUSH: You work three jobs?

MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.

BUSH: Uniquely American, isn’t it? I mean, that is fantastic that you’re doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)

MS. MORNIN: Not much. Not much.

BUSH: Well, hopefully, this will help you get you sleep to know that when we talk about Social Security, nothing changes.

MS. MORNIN: Okay, thank you.

BUSH: That’s great.

[Warpy]

4. Why do you think so many of our ancestors died in their 50s?

It was simple overwork.

The first places that need to take this study to heart are hospitals. Nursing is a tough job but those 12 hour shifts that are now standard are absolutely brutal.

[Igel]

5. Correlation.

They point at possible mechanisms for how additional work is connected to heart risk.

In some possible connections, the overtime is a completely dependent variable. In others, it's likely to caused by the overtime or something that's closely connected to overtime. Thing is, without knowing if overtime is a cause or an effect the study just points out a nifty correlation. Utterly unactionable.

[Abq_Sarah]

6. I wonder how much of that has to do

With people working more hours away from home and eating crappy take out food. My average work day is about 12 hours but I have a kitchen in the office. When I worked OT prior to owning my own business, I'd often grab whatever was available to eat and it was usually pretty junky.

[DBoon]

7. think of the savings in pension payouts by overworking your employees!

yes, I am in a cynical mood

[bemildred]

8. Too much stress and not enough rest is bad for you.

Certainly work can be stressful and un-restful.

[whatwasthequestion]

9. I don't know

but, I think there are worse stressors, like wondering if I'm going to be on the Bosses lay-off list if I'm not working as much or more than everyone around me.