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Job stress raises blood pressure

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Job stress raises blood pressure

Researchers have confirmed that chronic job stress can raise blood pressure, and that high job demands, tight deadlines and low support in the workplace appeared to be triggers, particularly in men. The Canadian team at Laval University, Quebec, followed 6,719 white collar workers over more than seven years. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major risk factor for a number of serious medical illnesses, including stroke and heart attacks. If a person has hypertension, reducing blood pressure by 5mmHg can reduce their risk of having a heart attack by about 20 per cent. The findings mirror those of a TUC-backed report published three years ago (Risks 118). Dr Chantal Guimont and colleagues who carried out the latest study, to be published in the August 2006 edition of the American Journal of Public Health, acknowledge that other factors may have contributed to the high blood pressure found in the white collar workers that they studied. However, they believe job stress is important and may chronically activate the nervous and cardiovascular system. Dr Guimont said: 'Our study supports the hypothesis that job strain, particularly in workers with low social support at work, may contribute to increased blood pressure.' Similar findings have been reported in Whitehall civil servants in the UK.

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