Hypertensive women with highly active jobs have a nearly three times higher risk of ischemic heart disease.
Hypertensive women with highly active jobs have a nearly three times higher risk of ischemic heart disease than women with normal blood pressure and moderately active jobs, revealed a research published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. "Previous research has shown that men and women with physically demanding jobs have an increased risk of heart disease. Lifting and carrying cause a rise in blood pressure and may put people with hypertension at particular risk of a cardiovascular event. We wanted to investigate whether women with hypertension and physically demanding jobs have an especially high risk of heart disease," said lead author Karen Allese, University of Southern Denmark.
‘Women with hypertension and physically demanding jobs have a higher risk of heart disease, than women with normal blood pressure and moderately active jobs.’
The study included 12,093 female nurses from the 1993 Danish Nurse Cohort Study. Data on hypertension and physical activity at work were collected using a questionnaire. Physical activity at work was classified as sedentary, moderate (mainly standing and walking but not physically exerting), and high (standing or walking with some lifting or carrying; and heavy or fast and physically exerting). Nurses with hypertension and high physical activity at work were compared to nurses with normal blood pressure and moderate physical activity at work. The latter was deemed the most healthy combination as both high physical activity at work and long periods of sitting increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
During the 15 year follow up period, 580 nurses developed ischemic heart disease. Nearly 12% reported having hypertension. Physical activity at work was reported as high in 46.3% of the nurses, moderate in 34.4% and sedentary in 19.3%.
The researchers found that hypertensive nurses with high physical activity at work had a nearly three times higher risk of ischemic heart disease than nurses with normal blood pressure and moderate physical activity at work (hazard ratio 2.87, 95% confidence interval 2.12-3.87).
Nurses with normal blood pressure and high physical activity at work had a small increased risk of heart disease (about 20%) but this was not statistically significant after adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes and smoking.
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Allese said, "This implies that there is an additive interaction between hypertension and high physical activity at work. The two risk factors appear to work together, resulting in an even greater incidence of heart disease. It means hypertensive women with physically demanding work may be especially at risk of heart disease. To our knowledge, this has not been shown before among women."
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"For nurses, physically demanding jobs may involve high force demands during patient handling, or standing and walking all day with no time for breaks. Our results may also apply to other occupations that require lifting or carrying heavy loads and standing or walking for many hours, but this needs to be confirmed in other studies," said Allese.
She concluded, "We need more information on which aspects of physically demanding work are harmful. Until then we cannot make specific recommendations on how much lifting, and for how many hours, is safe for women with hypertension. If our findings are replicated in other studies there would be grounds for occupational health counseling for women with hypertension to ensure that the physical aspects of their jobs do not increase their risk of heart disease."
Source-Eurekalert