Long hours at the office have joined the list of factors that contribute to heart disease, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on April 4.
The study, conducted by British researchers, began in the early 1990s and examined 7,095 adults ages 39 to 62 to assess their risk of developing coronary heart disease. Out of the participants, about 10 percent reported working long hours, the article said.
After about 12 more years of following the participants, 29 of the participants died of heart disease and 163 suffered nonfatal heart attacks. Those that reported working 11 hours or more a day were at a 66 percent greater risk of having a heart attack than those that reported working seven to eight hours a day.
College students should be concerned by the results of the study but not necessarily for the reasons cited in the study, wrote Boston University Director of Student Health Services David McBride in an email.
The results are hardly surprising, McBride wrote.
“Working long hours and stress raise levels of stress hormones that have a detrimental effect on the body,” he wrote.
“College students should be concerned, though not necessarily because of heart disease in the long term,” McBride wrote. “Lack of sleep and stress are associated with fatigue, worse academic performance [sleep allows for memory consolidation], depression and anxiety. [There are] many immediate effects on the body.”
Some BU students found the results particularly relevant to college-aged people.
“I’ve only pulled one all-nighter, but I have friends who take Adderall and stay up for three days straight,” said Chelsea Bingham, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Then they can’t even talk to people because all their emotions are heightened. I feel like you’re only productive for a certain amount of time.”
Courtney Dampolo, another CAS junior, agreed with Bingham.
“I don’t pull all-nighters, but I have stayed up super late and only gotten about three hours of sleep. It’s really stressful,” Dampolo said. “It’s bad because college students may be getting into these habits of working late, and then carrying these same habits into the workforce where later on it becomes bad for their health.”
Jenna Los Banos, a freshman in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said he disagreed with the relevance of the study to college students.
“We do work 11 plus hours a day, but it’s not as big a deal because we’re less susceptible to heart disease,” she said. “Not all of our habits in college transfer over to our jobs after graduation. It all just depends on what job you have.”
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