Regularly staying late at the office significantly increases the risk of having a stroke or heart attack, researchers have found.

    Working just an hour extra each day pushes up stroke risk by 10 percent, according to a huge review of working patterns.

    And people who work an extra three hours a day - or 55 hours a week - are 33 percent more likely to have a stroke, the scientists found.

    The research, published in the Lancet medical journal, is based on health records of more than 500,000 people across Europe, the United States and Australia.

    Scientists led by University College London warned that people who work longer hours tend to do less exercise, sit at a computer for hours at a time, and drink more than people with a better work-life balance.

    Repeated stress may also be the cause for greater health problems, the scientists think.

    They looked at the combined result of 17 previous studies, in which 529,000 people were tracked over an average of seven years.

    They found that people working 41 to 48 hours a week were 10 percent more likely to suffer a stroke than those who worked a typical 35- to 40-hour week.

    People who worked 49 to 54 hours a week had a 27 percent increased chance of suffering a stroke.

    And those who worked 55 or more hours were 33 percent more likely to fall victim.

    The authors wrote, "Sudden death from overwork is often caused by stroke and is believed to result from a repetitive triggering of the stress response.

    "Behavioural mechanisms, such as physical inactivity, might also link long working hours and stroke; a hypothesis supported by evidence of an increased risk of incident stroke in individuals who sit for long periods at work."

    Tim Chico, consultant cardiologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said, "For many people, reducing their working hours would be difficult or impossible. Most of us could reduce the amount of time we spend sitting down, increase our physical activity and improve our diet while working and this might be more important the more time we spend at work."

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    中风

    zhòngfēng

    stroke

    a sudden loss of brain function caused by a blockage or rupture of a blood vessel to the brain

    假设

    jiǎshè

    hypothesis

    something taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation, an assumption

    加班或导致中风风险增加三分之一

    研究人员发现，经常在办公室里加班使患中风或心脏病的风险显著增加。

    一项针对工作模式的大型回顾总结性研究称，每天只加班一小时，中风的风险就会增加10%。

    科学家还发现，若每天加班三小时或每周工作55小时，中风几率将增加33%。

    这项研究发表在医学杂志《柳叶刀》上。该研究是基于超过50万人的健康记录进行的，这些人来自欧洲、美国和澳大利亚。

    英国伦敦大学学院牵头组织的科学家警告称，相比工作、生活较平衡的人，长时间工作的人往往缺乏运动，在电脑前一坐就是好几个小时，过量饮酒。

    科学家认为，重复性压力可能是造成严重健康问题的罪魁祸首。

    研究人员察看了之前17项研究的结果，这些研究追踪调查了52.9万人平均七年的时间。

    研究人员发现，与一般每周工作35-40小时的人相比，每周工作41-48小时的人患中风的几率会增加10%。

    每周工作49-54小时的人患中风的几率增加27%。

    而那些每周工作55小时或以上的人患中风的几率增加33%。研报的作者写道：“过度工作导致的猝死往往是由中风引起的，这据信是反复触发压力应激反应的结果。“

    “行为模式，比如体能活动不足，与长时间工作、中风可能也有联系。有证据表明工作时久坐不动的人突发中风的几率更高，支持了这一假设。”

    蒂姆·奇科是谢菲尔德教学医院的心脏科顾问医师，他说：“对于很多人来说，减少工作时间很难甚至是不可能的，但是大多数人可以减少坐着的时间，多锻炼，在工作时保证健康饮食，我们加班的时间越多，这些越重要。”