One of the famous proverbs states, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." In this case, a study suggests that longer work periods and less time for rest and relaxation place an individual at risk for stroke.
Researchers of University College London reported Wednesday in the Lancet that in a meta-analysis of 17 studies involving approximately 530,000 men and women from Europe, the United States and Australia, long work week increases such health risk.
Researchers said that people who are working between 41 to 48 hours had a 10 percent higher risk stroke than those working in the normal schedule of 35 to 40 hours a week even after controlling smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity, Washington Post has learned.
Those who are working 49 to 54 hours has a 27 percent higher risk, while those who are working 55 hours or more has a 33 percent higher risk.
Urban Janlert, a researcher from the Umea University in Sweden, said that prevention of stroke and cardiovascular disease is focusing more on diet, exercise and medicine. Studies like these are revelations that work conditions are also essential.
"Essentially, if long working hours present a danger to health, it should be possible to change them, which is not always the case with other work environmental factors," Janlert wrote in a commentary.
In a separate meta-analysis conducted by Mika Kivimaki, a professor of epidemiology, and her colleagues, they found out that those who work for more than 55 hours a week had 13 percent risk of a new diagnosis — hospitalization or death from heart disease.
On the other hand, Dr. Stephen L. Kopecky, a professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at the Mayo Clinic, said that the analysis did not fully account the cholesterol, family history and blood pressure effects. In the report of The New York Times, the doctor said it's possible that long work periods are not the sole culprit.
Nonetheless, experts said that these findings about stroke are important to both employees and employers.
They need to understand how long working hours and stress can take on a physical toll, and on the workforce, ABC News reported.
