Low-Level Jobs Increase Cardiac Risk
(Thursday June 16th, 2005)

The reason: Such a setting makes your heart beat faster and reduces its ability to respond to challenges, a new British study contends. Previous studies have found a higher incidence of heart disease among low-level workers, said Eric Brunner, an assistant professor of epidemiology at University College, London, and a member of the research team.

"This report is about mechanism," he said. "There is evidence now that socioeconomic status is related to heart rate and heart variability."

The researchers had an ideal group to study -- 2,197 men in the British civil service, where all workers are meticulously graded by salary. Lower heart rate variability -- a lessened response to outside stimuli -- and faster heart rates were consistently found among the men with lower positions and less job control.

The heart rate of men in low-level positions averaged 3.2 more beats per minute than men in top-level positions, a statistically significant difference, the researchers reported.

The 20-year study also found that a higher heart rate and lower heart variability were closely associated with the incidence of metabolic syndrome, a combination of factors that increases the risk of heart disease.

That association persisted when the researchers accounted for factors such as smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise, the researchers reported in the June 7 issue of Circulation.

The study suggests that the autonomic nervous system, which controls such subconscious functions as heartbeat, somehow responds to environmental factors, the researchers noted. To read more, click here.

Source: Eric Brunner, assistant professor, epidemiology, University College London, England; Rita Redberg, M.D., professor, medicine, University of California, San Francisco; June 7, 2005,

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has more on the hazards of job stress.