If stressed, especially related to work, then there is a possibility of peripheral artery disease. This was disclosed in a new study published recently in the Journal of the American Heart Foundation.
Peripheral Artery Disease is a cardiovascular disease. It occurs when cholesterol or other fatty substances build up in the blood vessels away from heart, usually the legs and blocks blood flow. If untreated, this increases the likelihood of heart disease and stroke.
Study co-author Katriina Heikkilä (senior researcher at Karolinska Institute, Sweden) said that their findings throw light on work related stress and peripheral artery disease. Several; studies have related work related stress to many other forms of atherosclerotic disease. But no study has yet related it to peripheral artery disease, the researcher said.
For the study, they evaluated data of more than 1.39 lakh adults. Of these, 36.4 percent were men. The data was from 11 separate studies conducted between 1985 and 2008. The age of the persons whose data were analysed fell between 39 to 49 years. They also did not have any prior history of peripheral artery disease. It was found that nearly one fourth of participants with no previous history for peripheral artery disease reported work-related stress.
The study also showed that the risk was higher in men, especially with high socioeconomic position and smokers.
