Careful Not to Overwork Yourself!

     The old saying goes “too much of anything is a bad thing”, and that can even be applied to the amount of work we do. Within the last decade, especially between 2010 and 2016, the average working time in many countries has significantly increased. Researchers have found that working longer hours is linked to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. The number of deaths caused by heart disease and stroke due to long work hours increased by about 42% and 19%, respectively, between the years 2000 and 2016.

     Most deaths recorded were individuals aged 60 to 79 years old who had worked over 55 hours a week between the ages of 45 and 74 years old. 72% of these deaths occurred with males. Overworking oneself has also been associated with other possible detriments to health aside from heart disease and stroke.

     There are two ways in which overwork related health problems arise: stress and behavioral stress responses. Through stress, the release of stress hormones may cause harm to various processes in the body, such as those involved in regulating the cardiovascular system. In the case of behavioral stress responses, an overworked individual may use tobacco or alcohol, overeat, be physically inactive, and suffer from poor sleep.

     On its own, suffering from poor sleep is able to harm one’s health and is an emergent health hazard. Sleep deprivation has been associated with an increased risk of heart disease, colorectal cancer, and type 2 diabetes.

     As the detriments of overwork culture are revealed through research, overwork culture can be moved away from in favor of efficiency as well as a longer lifespan and healthspan.

By: Henry Velasquez, Longevity Analyst

B.S. in Biotechnology

Work Cited:

Links:

https://www.lifespan.io/news/overwork-linked-to-heart-disease-and-stroke/

https://europepmc.org/article/med/34011457

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021002208

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20669438/

Citations:

1. Mazin, A. (2021, May 25). Overwork Linked to Heart Disease and Stroke. Lifespan.io. https://www.lifespan.io/news/overwork-linked-to-heart-disease-and-stroke/.
2. Pega, F., Náfrádi, B., Momen, N. C., Ujita, Y., Streicher, K. N., Prüss-Üstün, A. M., Descatha, A., Driscoll, T., Fischer, F. M., Godderis, L., Kiiver, H. M., Li, J., Hanson, L. L. M., Rugulies, R., Sørensen, K., & Woodruff, T. J. (2021, May 17). Global, regional, and national burdens of ischemic heart disease and stroke attributable to exposure to long working hours for 194 countries, 2000–2016: A systematic analysis from the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury. Environment International. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021002208.
3. Sparks, K., Cooper, C., Fried, Y., & Shirom, A. (2011, August 17). The effects of hours of work on health: A meta‐analytic review. British Psychological Society. https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1997.tb00656.x.
4. BM;, C. H. R. A. (2006). Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20669438/.

Photo:  https://www.ntaskmanager.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Overworking-effects-and-solutions.png