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Work Stress and Metabolic Syndrome

It would make sense at first glance that workplace stress leads to heart disease--no surprise, right? But the latest research shows chronic stress at work can also leads to diabetes--and that--raises eyebrows. “Deadlines, they ask you questions all the time, is this done yet, is that done yet,” cries Esteban Chavez. Do you ever feel like work just wants to make you scream?!

"There are times you feel like you can’t take it anymore it’s like arrrghhhh," Celeste, another stressed worker, calmly states. And if you have that “Arrrrrgh” feeling all the time, that can end up causing some very real problems down the line.

New research in the latest British Medical Journal shows people who suffer from chronic stress at work have an increased risk of developing a condition known as metabolic syndrome—it includes obesity, abnormal cholesterol numbers, namely a high triglyceride and low HDL or good cholesterol, and high blood pressure. That syndrome itself can lead to cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Herbert Insel, cardiologist with Executive Health Exam, International, says, "We’re focusing on high blood pressure we’re focusing on high cholesterol; we’re focusing on these entities. But anyone who focuses on these entities and leaves stress out is doing a injustice to the patient, because stress can do everything that all the factors can do and then some."

 Compared to those with no reported work stress, men who held stressful jobs for over 14 years were almost twice as likely to develop metabolic syndrome. Women were more than five times more likely if they were chronically stressed. Previous research shows people under short-term but intense pressure to meet deadlines run a six times higher risk of having a heart attack within the next 24 hours.

"So stress is not some benign esoteric entity. It actually has direct physiological effects on the body. They have direct action on the lining of the blood vessels. In doing so they can create a situation in the body that increases inflammatory responses that increases the tendency to clot, a whole host of other factors that lead to cardiovascular problems," says Dr. Insel.

 That includes vessel spasms and clumping of the sticky cells, the platelets. It may be that stress can alter adrenal function. It can cause the release of cortisol from the adrenals, which then can interfere with insulin action, leading to diabetes or pre-diabetes. It can also affect liver function. Stress may simply lead people to eat more and gain weight, leading to metabolic syndrome.

 "The highest risk of having a heart attack is on a Monday morning. Just the thought of going back to work on a Monday morning is enough to be the highest time of causing stress," Dr. Insel states. So the answer? According to Celeste, it’s, "Listen to music, all the good stuff, enjoy life. Try to forget about work, not to think about it." Ignorance is bliss, at least this time.

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