Stress at work raises the risk of heart disease for women under 50, a study of more than 12,000 nurses suggests.

一项基于12000多名护士的研究显示，工作带来的压力会使低于50岁的女性患心脏病风险增加。

A heart attack deprives the heart of oxygen, causing permanent damage

Danish research in Occupational and Environmental Medicine concludes work pressure has a greater effect on young women than those in their 50s and 60s.

It suggests other risk factors may play a bigger role in the development of heart disease for older women.

The British Heart Foundation says people facing stress at work should try to tackle（处理，抓住） it in a positive way.

There is a lot of evidence indicating that stress at work raises the risk of heart disease in men, but there has been much less research examining the impact on women.

Risk profile

In this study, the researchers asked more than 12,000 female nurses aged¹ between 45 and 64 about pressure at work and tracked their health for 15 years up to 2008.

By then 580 nurses had been admitted to hospital with ischaemic heart disease, including 369 cases of angina（心绞痛，咽喉痛） and 138 heart attacks.

After accounting² for risk factors such as smoking and diabetes³（糖尿病） , the researchers found that those who described pressure at work as "much too high" were 35% more likely to have developed heart disease than those who were comfortable with the pressure.

But when they broke the results down by age, they found it was only the women aged 50 and under who were affected⁴ significantly.

The researchers from Glostrup University Hospital, in Denmark, say this could be down to a changing risk-profile in different age groups.

"It seems as if the effect of work pressure has a greater impact on younger women," they said.

"This is in agreement with findings from previous studies looking at age-specific effects in both men and women.

"The lower risk among the older nurses may be due to other risk factors that become relatively⁵ more important with increasing age."

'Worrying'

June Davison, a cardiac（心脏的） nurse with the British Heart Foundation, said people who were stressed at work should talk to colleagues or managers about how to manage the pressures.

"If you feel under pressure you should try and tackle it in a positive way and get active during work hours," she said.

"Using the stairs and walking some of the way to work could help act as a stress buster（阻止作用的人或物） and boost heart health too."

Josie Irwin, head of employment relations at the Royal College of Nursing, said the paper raised important concerns.

"Our latest employment survey found that 55% of nurses feel they are under too much pressure at work, making this research worrying reading," she said.

"We know that safe staffing levels（人员编制） are key to providing the best quality care for patients - this research also suggests under-staffing and excess pressure can have a damaging effect on nurses' health."