Working 55 hours or more per week is linked to a one-third greater risk of stroke compared with a 35-40 hour work week, according to research published yesterday.
Based on a review of 17 studies covering 528,908 men and women followed for an average of 7.2 years, the increased stroke risk remained once smoking, alcohol consumption and level of physical activity were taken into account.
The study, published in The Lancet, found that compared with people who logged a standard week, those working between 41 and 48 hours had a 10 percent higher risk, while for those working 49 to 54 hours, the risk jumped by 27 percent.
Working 55 hours or more a week increased the risk of having a stroke by 33 percent, the study showed.
The long work week also increased the risk of developing coronary heart disease by 13 percent, even after taking into account risk factors including age, sex, and socioeconomic status, the study showed.
In looking at the link between long hours in the work place and heart disease, University College London professor of epidemiology Mika Kivimaki and colleagues analyzed data from 25 studies involving 603,838 men and women from Europe, the US and Australia who were followed for an average of 8.5 years.
The underlying causes of stroke and heart disease are complex, involving a mix of genetic and environmental factors.
However, the research suggests that physical inactivity, high alcohol consumption and repetitive stress all enhance risk.
“The pooling of all available studies on this topic allowed us to investigate the association between working hours and cardiovascular disease risk with greater precision than has previously been possible,” Kivimaki said in a statement. “Health professionals should be aware that working long hours is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke, and perhaps also coronary heart disease.”
Experts not involved in the study said the findings are important, and pointed to differences across nations in the average length of the work week.
“Long working hours are not a negligible occurrence,” Urban Janlert from Umea University in Sweden wrote in a commentary, also in The Lancet. “Although some countries have legislation for working hours, it is not always implemented.”
Among developed countries, Janlert said Turkey has the highest proportion of individuals working more than 50 hours a week (43 percent), and the Netherlands the lowest (less than 1 percent).
“This study highlights to doctors that they need to pay particular attention to cardiovascular risk factors when they advise people who work long hours,” British Heart Foundation associate medical director Mike Knapton said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique