Working Long Hours Could Be the Death of You

If you regularly work long hours you may be significantly increasing your risk of developing heart disease according to a new study. The findings were published in the April 2011 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

For the study, researchers with Britain’s Medical Research Council followed over 7,000 British workers for 11 years. All of the study participants worked full time and had no history of heart disease at the start of the study.

The researchers collected data on heart risk factors such as age, blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and diabetes and then compared those factors to the amount of hours the participants worked.

The researchers found that participants who worked 11 hours or more a day had a 67% increase in heart disease risk compared to those who worked the standard 8 hour day.

This study does not show that working long hours in and of itself leads to heart disease but it does show that people working longer hours should ensure they are not sacrificing healthy habits because of the long hours.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the world with over 17 million deaths attributed to cardiovascular complications such as strokes and heart attacks. This study shows that people who work long hours should be particularly careful to eat healthy diets, get exercise and keep an eye on their cholesterol and blood pressure levels.