Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia

Long Work Hours Up High Blood Pressure Risk

by Rajshri on Aug 29 2006 8:22 PM

The more number of hours a person works, the greater his chances for high blood pressure, a new study says Haiou Yang, PhD; Dean Baker, MD, MPH; and colleagues at the University of California, Irvine analyzed more than 24,000 people in a telephone survey conducted in 2001.

The study found that people who worked 40 hours a week are 14 percent more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than people who work under 39 hours a week. Those who work 41 to 50 hours a week have a 17 percent increased risk, while those who work 51 or more hours are 29 percent more likely to suffer high blood pressure.

'American workers now work longer hours than workers in any other industrial country in the world -- including Japan,' Baker said.

Researchers said that the type of job might also determine the risk. As compared to professionals, unskilled workers had a 50% higher risk and clerical workers a 23% higher risk of blood pressure problems. The researchers suggest that the government may need to intervene in this case, 'Nearly every country has some type of regulation regarding limiting working time for adults except the United States,' they wrote in the October issue of the journal Hypertension.

Source-Medindia
RAS


Advertisement