Source: studyfinds.org<\/p>\n
QUEBEC, Canada \u2014\u00a0Countless workspaces and offices tend to idealize and promote the notion that you\u2019re not\u00a0really\u00a0a good employee unless you put in that extra effort at work. Your workday is supposed to end at five? Well, chances are your manager or CEO would really appreciate it if you stayed until six once or twice per week. While all those extra hours may be helping your employer\u2019s bottom line, a new study finds that spending long hours on the job can be detrimental to one\u2019s blood pressure.<\/p>\n
According to the research team, in comparison to those who work a more\u00a0traditional 35 hours\u00a0or less per week, office workers who are on the job for 49 hours or more each week are 70% more likely to develop a hidden type of high blood pressure called\u00a0masked hypertension.\u00a0This form of high blood pressure is especially hard to diagnose and treat because it usually doesn\u2019t appear on traditional\u00a0blood pressure\u00a0tests taken during visits to the doctor.<\/p>\n
On top of all that, employees spending\u00a0excessive hours\u00a0at the office (49+) were also found to be at a greater risk of developing more regular, sustained high blood pressure (66%). Even those who didn\u2019t quite reach 49 hours per week at the office (41-48 hours), were still putting themselves at a greater risk of developing high blood pressure in comparison to workers who clocked out at 35 hours each week; a 54% greater risk of developing masked hypertension and a 42% higher risk of more sustained high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
To come to their conclusions, a team of Canadian researchers gathered over 3,500 office workers from three public institutions in Quebec. Even after accounting for other factors, such as level of job intensity, age, sex, BMI, and education level, the study\u2019s findings still held up.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth masked and sustained high blood pressure are linked to higher cardiovascular disease risk,\u201d comments lead study author Xavier Trudel, an assistant professor in the social and preventive medicine department at Laval University in Quebec, in an American Heart Association\u00a0release.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe observed associations accounted for job strain, a\u00a0work stressor\u00a0defined as a combination of high work demands and low decision-making authority. However, other related stressors might have an impact,\u201d Trudel continues. \u201cFuture research could examine whether family responsibilities \u2013 such as a worker\u2019s number of children, household duties and childcare role \u2013 might interact with work circumstances to explain high blood pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The research aspect of the study lasted for five years, and included three separate portions of testing. During years one, three, and five, each participating office worker was provided\u00a0with a wearable monitor\u00a0to record their blood pressure three different times over the course of one morning. Then, for the rest of that same day, the device continued to take blood pressure measurements every 15 minutes. The researchers considered average hypertension readings at or above 140\/90 mmHg during resting periods, and readings at or above 135\/85 while working, as high.<\/p>\n
Overall, the readings revealed that 19% of participating workers were dealing with sustained high blood pressure, and a significant portion of that group were already currently on a form of\u00a0blood pressure medication. Additionally, more than 13% of the employees had masked hypertension and were not receiving any type of blood pressure treatment. The findings were \u201cabout the same\u201d for men and women.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to note that the study \u201cdid not include blue-collar workers (employees who are paid by the hour and perform manual labor work in positions such agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, maintenance or hospitality service), therefore, these findings may not reflect the impact on blood pressure of shift-work or positions with higher physical demands.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, thanks to the study\u2019s large participant group, long time period, and extensive accounting of outside factors, the research team are confident in their findings when it\u00a0comes to office workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople should be aware that long work hours might affect their heart health, and if they\u2019re working long hours, they should ask their doctors about checking their blood pressure over time with a wearable monitor,\u201d Trudel concludes. \u201cMasked hypertension can affect someone for a long period of time and is associated, in the long term, with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. We have previously shown that over five years, about 1 out of 5 people with masked hypertension never showed high blood pressure in a clinical setting, potentially delaying diagnosis and treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[298,521,53,2642],"class_list":["post-3708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heart-care","tag-high-blood-pressure","tag-hypertension","tag-treatment","tag-workaholics"],"yoast_head":"\n