Overtime is bad for the heart

Overtime at work has a negative effect on the heart: According to research, the risk of heart attack increases by 60 percent. Too much work makes you sick.

(12.05.2010) In today's society overtime is a "good sound" in the working environment. Orders have to be completed in a timely manner and supervisors are increasingly pushing for overtime work. But an unhealthy relationship between work and compensatory free time can have fatal health effects. A British team of scientists has investigated the relationship between overtime and heart disease. In a long-term study, the researchers observed around 6,000 employees of British authorities. The results are frightening.

In the research results of the English scientists Mika Kivimäki and Marianna Virtanen, a direct connection between overtime and heart disease could be established. The employees, who often and regularly worked overtime, noticed a high risk of heart disease. It was found that employees who work 11 to 12 hours a day have a 60 percent increased risk of having a heart attack. The increase in the risk rate was also independent of other risk factors such as sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet or smoking. However, the results are limited to employees who hardly move physically while working. Examinations for employees who physically move during working hours are still missing. However, the study findings also failed to clarify whether limiting overtime actually reduces the risk of suffering from a heart attack.

But of economic interest should also be the other results. Thus, apparently employees were spared the increased risk of heart attack, which had a great deal of freedom due to their position or the working environment. The findings are consistent with other studies that have established a link between freedom of choice, overtime, and depression. (Sb)

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