Female high-fliers with stressful jobs could face an increased risk of heart disease, researchers have warned.
Previous studies have largely focused on men, but new findings show that young women are also at grave risk of heart attacks.
The latest study examined the impact of work pressure and heart disease risk among 12,116 nurses and tracked them for 15 years.
By 2008, 580 women had been admitted to hospital with heart disease, of whom 138 had suffered a heart attack, 369 had angina and 73 had another type of heart disease, the Daily Mail reports.
The study, published in the journal Occupational And Environmental Medicine, found that those who described their work pressure as ‘much too high’ were 50% more likely to suffer heart disease than women who said their job was manageable.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
The Danish researchers also found that women whose work pressures were a ‘little too high’ were 25% more likely to suffer heart disease.
June Davison, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, warned: ‘Feeling under pressure at work means stressed employees may pick up some unhealthy bad habits and add to their risk of developing heart problems.
