Long working hours and heart disease

Working longer hours is said to increase your risk of the deadly disease by 13%

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on London General Practice

Working beyond your hours takes time away from social lives, and it can lead to additional stress. While it’s widely accepted that stress is bad for our health, one GP claims that those who work more hours could be at greater risk of a deadly disease.

Heart disease refers to several conditions where the supply of blood to the heart becomes disrupted. According to the British Heart Foundation heart and circulatory diseases are the cause of one-in-four total deaths in the UK. Common causes of heart disease include smoking, alcohol, being overweight, high cholesterol, and also stress.

Dr Angela Rai, a London GP, has spoken on the link between working hours and our hearts. “Studies have shown that working long hours increases our risk of having abnormal heart rhythm, such as atrial fibrillation and, therefore, a stroke,” she said. “The risk is 1.4 times higher if 55 hours or more a week is worked compared to those who work 35 to 40 hours. Long hours lead to an abnormality of the autonomic nervous system which controls involuntary actions of the being.”

The risk of heart disease rises by around 13%, and the risk of stroke by 33%, with working long hours. The study referenced by Dr Rai analysed the health of 85,494 workers with an average age of 43. Their working hours were assessed and then, 10 years later, their health was examined again.

The research concluded that, ‘Individuals who worked long hours were more likely to develop atrial fibrillation than those working standard hours. We showed that employees working long hours were 40% more likely to develop this cardiac arrhythmia than those working standard hours.

‘As this association appeared to be independent of known risk factors for atrial fibrillation, further research is needed to determine mechanisms underlying the link between long working hours and atrial fibrillation.’