Workplace stress now linked to heart attacks and strokes

For the first time, scientists have linked stress with heart attacks and strokes giving more reason for employers to manage the mental health of staff.

A study of nearly 300 patients, monitored for an average of 3.7 years, has finally managed to link psychological stress with physical health.

Activity in the area of the brain associated with stress - the amygdalar - has been found to lead to increased bone marrow activity, arterial inflammation and therefore a risk of cardiovascular disease events.

The lead author of the study, Dr Ahmed Tawakol of Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts General Hospital, says: “Our results provide a unique insight into how stress may lead to cardiovascular disease. This raises the possibility that reducing stress could produce benefits that extend beyond an improved sense of psychological wellbeing.

“Eventually, chronic stress could be treated as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is routinely screened for and effectively managed like other major cardiovascular disease risk factors.”

Therefore, it seems employers should be taking workplace stress even more seriously than ever before – doing whatever they can to reduce stress levels and therefore health risks.

Speaking to HR Grapevine previously, Julie Chakraverty, Founder of Rungway, shed light on how to help those suffering from stress, first identifying the different types.

She explains: “Stress means different things to different people, and we all have different tolerances for it. It can be caused by a looming deadline or performance review, or more unforeseen issues such as sudden redundancies or management changes. It can also be intensified by what’s going on in the rest of your life, which can lower your ability to keep things in perspective or deal with conflict.”