Work Stress is a Heart Attack Risk

A new medical research study finds your job could raise chances of a heart attack by nearly a quarter, though Reuters reports they’re not a leading cause. What that stress leads you to do, however, might be…

A study of nearly 200,000 people from seven European countries found around 3.4 percent of heart attacks can be attributed to job strain – a significant proportion, but far less than the 36 percent attributable to smoking and 12 percent put down to lack of exercise.

So skipping out on stress-relieving exercise or smoking to let off some steam makes the problem far worse. But those with “highly demanding jobs and little freedom to make decisions” are, based on stress alone, 23 percent more likely to have a heart attack than others with lower stress levels.

The study looked at people with no history of heart disease. It was published in The Lancet journal‘s print and online versions, but access to the PDF of the full article costs $31.50.