This may seem obvious to say, but stress can be detrimental to your body no matter the cause. Unemployment is certainly one such stressor and now those who are unemployed may have even more reason to stress out. A study led by Matthew Dupre at Duke University found that being unemployed may actually increase your risk of having a heart attack.
This study, looking at over 13,000 people aged 51 to 75, found that heart attack risk was 35 percent higher in the unemployed group during the first year of unemployment, and those that suffered from multiple job losses were at a greater risk of heart attack as compared to those who had only been fired from a single job. This risk increased from 22 percent with one job loss to 63 percent with four or more job losses. The increased risk attributable to being unemployed declined to insignificance after one year.
Linda George, a professor at Duke and an author of the study, claims that although the mechanisms for this association are not known, they do know that anytime we are not as in control of our lives as we d like to be, stress goes up. Associated with the increase in stress may be the tendency for other healthy habits to slide. Family dynamics may also play a role with increased conflict as a result of unemployment.
However, in the end, no matter what causes it, stress is the culprit, and according to cardiologist Gina Lundberg, Right now, many Americans have stressful jobs or no job at all and either way, it isn t good for their heart.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross notes the irony: We have read numerous studies attributing adverse health effects, especially heart-related, to job stress. Now we see that we need to add no-job stress to the litany of causes of premature heart disease as well.