Stressful Job? Your Cardiovascular Health May Be at Risk

Some of us like our jobs. Some of us don't mind our jobs, and then some of us simply hate our jobs. Regardless, we trudge through the day because that's how we make wages to live.

Well, for those of us that loathe stepping into the office, a new study shows that our cardiovascular health may be at risk. In fact, lipids and lipoproteins in our blood may even cause long-term weight gain.

Experts have been saying for many years that emotional stress is linked to the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease as a result of unhealthy habits, including smoking, an unsuitable diet or leading a sedentary lifestyle, among other factors.

A study conducted by the Sociedad de Prevencion de Ibermutuamur, in collaboration with experts from the Virgen de la Victoria Hospital (Malaga) and the Santiago de Compostela University, analyses the relationship between job stress and different parameters associated with how fatty acids are metabolised in the body.

Spanish researchers have studied how job stress affects cardiovascular health. The results, published in the 'Scandinavian Journal of Public Health', link this situation to dyslipidemia, a disorder that alters the levels of lipids and lipoproteins in the blood.

Researchers conducted on a sample population of more than 90,000 workers undergoing medical check-ups.

"The workers who stated that they had experienced difficulties in dealing with their job during the previous twelve months (8.7% of the sample) had a higher risk of suffering from dyslipidemia," Carlos Catalina, clinical psychologist and an expert in work-related stress, told SINC.

Dyslipidemia is a lipoproteins' metabolic disorder that can manifest itself in an increase in total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) and triglyceride levels, in addition to a drop in high-density lipoproteins (HDLs).

The findings for the study were recently published recently in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health.