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Long working days are bad for the heart, say researchers

Working more than 11 hours a day increases your risk of heart disease by 67 per cent, compared with those working a standard 7-8 hours a day, a new study has revealed.

Researchers at University College London suggest that information on working hours could be useful to GPs when calculating a patient’s risk of heart disease, alongside other health measures such as blood pressure, diabetes and smoking habits.

The research, which was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) bases its findings on over 7,000 civil service employees whose health they have been tracking since 1985.

Professor Kivimäki, who led the research, said: “We have shown that working long days is associated with a remarkable increase in risk of heart disease.

“Considering that including a measurement of working hours in a GP interview is so simple and useful, our research presents a strong case that it should become standard practice.

“This new information should help improve decisions regarding medication for heart disease. It could also be a wake-up call for people who overwork themselves, especially if they already have other risk factors.”

Over the course of the study 192 participants suffered a heart attack.

People who worked 11 hours or more a day were 67% more likely to have a heart attack than those who worked shorter hours.

When the normal measures that doctors use to assess someone’s risk of heart disease were adjusted to take account of this finding, the resulting predictions were far more accurate - an improvement of around 5 per cent, which is equivalent to around 6,000 of the 125,000 people who suffer heart attacks in the UK each year.

Professor Stephen Holgate, chair of the MRC’s Population and Systems Medicine Board, said: “This study might make us think twice about the old adage ‘hard work won’t kill you’.

“It’s crucial that we invest in long term studies like the Whitehall II study, which has been running for over a quarter of a century, to test our preconceptions about what really is good or bad for our health.

“Tackling lifestyles that are detrimental to health is a key area for the MRC, and this research reminds us that it’s not just diet and exercise we need to think about.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .