Stroke, heart attack: more and more risk factors in working women – Why Doctor?

Stress, sleep disturbances, fatigue… More and more women are suffering from problems associated with heart attacks and strokes, according to a new study presented at the European Stroke Organization (ESO) conference. This trend coincides with the increase in the number of women working full time.

An alarming finding

To arrive at this alarming finding, the researchers compared the health data of 22,000 men and women, assessed in 2007, 2012 and 2017. Overall, for both sexes, the number of people reporting stress at work is increased from 59% in 2012 to 66% in 2017, and those feeling a sense of fatigue and weariness increased from 23% to 29% (to 33% in women and 26% in men). Over the same period, the number of people reporting sleep disorders increased from 24% to 29%, with severe sleep onset disorders also increasing more strongly in women (8%) than in men (5%). ).

The study also found that traditional risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease remained stable over the same period, with 27% of those surveyed suffering from hypertension, 18% from high cholesterol and 5% from diabetes.

“Non-traditional risk factors”

“Our study found that men were more likely to smoke and be obese than women, but women reported a greater increase in non-traditional risk factors for heart attacks and strokes, such as stress at work, sleep disturbances and feelings of fatigue “, comment the authors of the research. “These results highlight the fact that gender differences exist for certain risk factors for cardiovascular disease.”