Beware! Your work could be killing you

Accepting a job in today’s world, especially corporate ones, means compromising on health. With poor nutritional status, lack of physical activity and increasing levels of stress, early onset of heart disease has become a common phenomenon among employees. The workplace does serve as a mediator or a catalyst that increases the risk of heart disease. Here’s how your work is damaging your heart.

Working in shifts:  If you think accepting a job that requires you to work in shifts is a good decision to save time, you’re wrong. Shift work could instead reduce your lifespan by increasing your risk of suffering from lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes and sleep disorders that increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Rotating shift employees like doctors, nurses and those working in BPOs not only report higher job stress but also show clinical signs of progression towards heart disease. A study by Wong IS and colleagues[1] showed that people who worked in shifts had increased levels of biomarkers usually found in those suffering from heart disease. They exhibit high levels of daily cortisol and a reduced function of endothelial cells lining the blood vessels.

Having a desk job: A typical 9am to 6pm job, involving hours in front of the computer screen apart from a few hours in the conference room and the rest of the time answering calls, is a perfect set up for heart disease. Desk jobs make people lethargic and ruin dietary habits in numerous ways.

Nature of work: It’s not only corporate employees who should be worried about their heart health. The more stressful your job is, the greater is your risk of suffering from health problems. According to findings from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those working in the wholesale trade were identified with a greater risk of heart disease, while people working in finance and insurance sector had the lowest rate of heart disease.

Long working hours: Lack of time management at work is one of the main reason people end up spending a few extra hours at work. But workaholics too cannot escape the ill-effects of overtime on the heart. A recent study by researchers at Seoul National University found that those who worked for 61 to 70 hours a week had a 42% increased chance of developing the disease. Further the risk increases with the increase in the number of hours. Working long hours increases levels of stress, resulting in irritability, exhaustion and depression.

Poor work culture:Today, there’s a growing trend of mixing meetings with luncheons, smoking to deal with work stress and celebrating success at work with parties. This has led to an increase in poor lifestyle habits like smoking, drinking alcohol and eating junk food. Unfortunately, those few employees who are health conscious also fall prey to the effects of unhealthy work culture that influences their habits. A study in China[2] showed that passive smoking at workplace increased the risk factor for coronary heart disease in non-smoking employees.

Poor workplace wellness:If you work in an organisation that does not are for health of its employees, you’ll end up eating unhealthy food served in the office canteen and feel tired at the end of the day due to lack of any recreational activities. Prolonged unhealthy food choices and physical inactivity can easily increase your cholesterol levels and lead to heart disease.  

Strained relationships with colleagues: Whether your boss targets you every time for not meeting the deadlines or your colleagues are involved in so called ‘workplace politics,’ stressed relationships have the worst impact on heart health. You lose your interest in your job and start losing focus. Spending quality time with family members can be stress-busting and relaxing but stressed workplace relationship can be counter-productive, indirectly affecting your behaviour at home and giving you sleepless nights.
source : http://www.thehealthsite.com/diseases-conditions/7-things-at-work-bad-for-your-heart/