High Stressful Jobs Cause High Blood Pressure

A new research has scientifically proved what modern society has been suspecting since many years ago: stressful life events and especially high stressful jobs are harmful for our health, as they increase blood pressure and lead to cardiovascular disease.

The study was conducted by experts at Laval University, in Quebec City, Quebec and their report was published in the American Journal of Public Health. "We found that cumulative exposure to job strain resulted in significant increases in systolic blood pressure among male white-collar workers, especially those with low levels of social support at work," stated Dr. Chantal Guimont, leader of the study.


The researchers investigated the impact of stressful jobs upon 6,719 white collar workers in Quebec City. They were both men and women with ages ranging from 18 to 65.

Volunteers were asked to fill in a questionnaire on the level of their physical activity, smoking history and other factors that could favor cardiovascular disease. They were also supposed to complete fields related to their family history in cardiac and heart disease and a field in which they thoroughly described their work and their social life.

After a period of 7 years and 6 months, researchers investigated the medical data of the participants in the study. They found that men with highly stressful working places had a two points higher blood pressure than men that have not been exposed to strenuous working. The same two point difference was observed among sedentary men. In a nutshell, findings showed that most exposed to stressful jobs men are 33% more likely to develop high blood disease.

There were also the men who reported at the beginning of the study that they had stressful jobs, but later during the study informed the researchers that they do not experience high levels of job strain any more. The most interesting finding of the study was that these particular participants were found to be about 40% more likely to develop high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease as compared to those who have been non-strenuously working all the time.

Differences between women with highly stressful jobs and women with jobs that do not require strenuous effort are similar to those between men, but not as striking.

"These results suggest that primary interventions aimed at reducing job strain may have significant effects on blood pressure," the team concluded.