Long working hours ‘linked to stroke risk’

Working long hours is linked to an increased risk of stroke, researchers say.

Long hours were defined in the French study as more than 10 hours on at least 50 days per year.

People who did long hours for more than a decade were at the greatest risk of stroke, they suggest.

But the UK’s Stroke Association said there were lots of things people could do to counteract the effects of long hours, like exercising and eating well.

The researchers, from Angers University and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, looked at data on age, smoking and working hours from a population study of more than 143,000 adults.

Just under a third worked long hours, with 10% working long hours for 10 years or more.

Overall, 1,224 had had a stroke.

‘Work more efficiently’

Writing in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke, the researchers say people working long hours had a 29% greater risk of stroke, and those doing so for 10 years or more had a 45% greater risk.

Part-time workers and those who suffered strokes before working long hours were excluded from the study. Read more

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