DEADLINES:  If you dread your deadlines and feel crushed under competition and stress, be aware that working under short-term time constraints can trigger a heart attack, according to a study of 1400 heart attack survivors in Stockholm, Sweden. An intense deadline can increase your risk six-fold – especially within the first twenty-four hours afterward. And, if you routinely toil under driven conditions, and have other risk factors for myocardial infarction (MI – its technical name), “The increase in risk over a year could become significant,” according to senior researcher Jette Möller, PhD.

What other factors? The Lancet, a British journal, recently published the results of a 52-country, 30,000 participant, case-control study of MI. Worldwide, six risk and three protective factors contribute to 90% of all heart attacks:

Risk

Protective

Work issues fall under psychosocial factors, and “A six-fold increase is significant,” says John P. Reilly, M.D, an interventional cardiologist at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans. “Intense work pressure, like snow shoveling, can cause the same type of physiological reactions that predispose some people to heart attack – especially when they perceive that their workload stress affects them in a very negative way.” an interventional cardiologist at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans. “Intense work pressure, like snow shoveling, can cause the same type of physiological reactions that predispose some people to heart attack – especially when they perceive that their workload stress affects them in a very negative way.”

If you have a job that includes high demands, competition, and conflict, Dr. Reilly recommends stress reduction techniques like yoga, meditation, and cognitive changes – “seeing the glass as half-full rather than half-empty.” Watching your cholesterol and weight, exercising, and eating your fruits and veggies are also important.

DRIVING:  

If you spend a lot of time cooped up in your car, speeding up and slowing down in traffic, you may be driving your cardiovascular system crazy. A new study of North Carolina state troopers reports that toxic bits from eroding roads, particles from the wear and tear of car parts, and contaminants from fuel combustion all infiltrate deeply into the lungs.

Benzene, carbon monoxide, copper, sulphur, aldehydes, titanium, aluminum, silicon, iron, chromium… cough, cough. Your cells and proteins are inflamed, your clotting pathways close up, your red blood cells rise, and your heart rhythm goes awry ... and you're at risk for cardiac disease, blood clots, and more.

So, what's a day-long driver to do?

Per Michael Riediker, D.Sc. of Occupational Health Sciences, leader of this study with co-investigators from the U.S. EPA, UNC Chapel Hill, East Carolina U (Brody Cardiology) and NC Highway Patrol:

DO

DON’T