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Study of Whitehall civil servants explains how stress at work is linked to heart disease

31 January 2008

New research has produced strong evidence of how work stress is linked to the biological mechanisms involved in the onset of heart disease. Published in Europe’s leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal, this research is the first large-scale study to look at the cardiovascular mechanisms of work stress in the population and provides the strongest evidence yet of the way it can lead to coronary heart disease, either directly, by activating stress pathways controlled by the interaction between the nervous system, the endocrine glands and their hormones (neuroendocrine mechanisms), or indirectly via its association with unhealthy lifestyles.

From the paper
Work stress and coronary heart disease: what are the mechanisms?
Tarani Chandola, Annie Britton, Eric Brunner, Harry Hemingway, Marek Malik, Meena Kumari, Ellena Badrick, Mika Kivimaki and Michael Marmot

Published in European Heart Journal, Advanced Access, January 23rd 2008

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