High stress jobs increase risk of cardiovascular disease

• Washington: A new study by Belgian researchers has shown that workers with high job stress have elevated levels of one laboratory marker of inflammation.
• Published in the recent issue of Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the study add to recent evidence that increased inflammation could be the pathway by which high stress leads to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
• The researchers led by Els Clays of Ghent University used a questionnaire to assess three components of perceived occupational stress-psychological job stress, job control, and social support at work-in a group of 892 male workers without cardiovascular disease.
• They then compared indicators of job stress with levels of certain laboratory markers of inflammation and infection, and found that job control was related to one key indicator of inflammation: plasma fibrinogen.
• Workers who felt they had little control over their jobs had increased levels of fibrinogen, a blood-clotting factor that has previously been linked to myocardial infarction (heart attack) and other cardiovascular disease events.
• The relationship between job control and fibrinogen remained significant after statistical adjustment for other factors, including age, occupation, and smoking.
• Stress was unrelated to the other markers of inflammation measured: C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A.
• Previous studies have linked high stress to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, which cannot be explained by traditional risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol.
• Inflammatory markers such as fibrinogen and C-reactive protein have been identified as potentially important indicators of cardiovascular disease risk.
• The relationships between stress and markers of infection were less clear.
• Surprisingly, levels of antibodies against the common virus cytomegalovirus (a member of the herpes family) were lower in men reporting higher levels of social support, which reduces job stress.