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By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter by Ed Edelson
healthday Reporter Tue Nov 24, 11:48 pm ET
MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Men who bottle up their anger over unfair
treatment at work could be hurting their hearts, a new Swedish study indicates.
Men who consistently failed to express their resentment over conflicts with a
fellow worker or supervisor were more than twice as likely to have a heart
attack or die of heart disease as those who vented their anger, claims a report
in the Nov. 24 online edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community
Health.
In fact, ignoring an ongoing work-related conflict was associated with a
tripled risk of heart attack or coronary death, the study of almost 2,800
Swedish working men found.
"It is not good just to walk away after having such a conflict or to swallow
one's feelings," said study co-author Constanze Leineweber, a psychologist at
Stockholm University's Stress Research Institute.
The study did not specify good ways of coping with work-related stress -- "We
just looked at the bad side of coping," Leineweber explained.
The study doesn't advocate being belligerent at work, Leineweber cautioned.
"Shouting out, and so on, is not proper coping," she said.
But venting one's anger outside of the workplace didn't seem to take a
cardiovascular toll, at least. "Getting into a bad temper at home" was not
associated with an increased risk of heart attack or cardiac death, the study
authors found.
The findings echo those from a study published last year in the journal
Occupational and Environmental Medicine. That study, also from Sweden and
involving more than 3,100 men, found that having an overbearing or incompetent
boss boosted workers' odds for angina, heart attack and death.
Leineweber stressed that what is true for men might not be true for female
workers. While the study included more than 2,000 women, too few of them had
heart attacks or died of heart disease to allow conclusions to be drawn.
"Earlier studies have indicated that women use different coping strategies than
men," Leinewaber said. "So for women, strategies such as going away and not
saying anything might not be good."
Women in general appear to handle stressful situations better than men, noted
Dr. Bruce S. Rabin, director of the Healthy Lifestyle Program at the University
of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
"Social interaction, having people to talk to, is extremely important," Rabin
said. "If you keep things to yourself, you have high levels of stress hormones.
Women are more comfortable in social interactions than men. They talk more,
while men tend to keep within themselves."
A study, conducted by the Swedish researchers in 2005, found that women did not
have the same levels of cardiovascular risk factors as men, Rabin noted.
There is no one key to handling on-the-job stress, because the level of stress
depends on an individual's environment, at work and in the home, he said.
"Work environment is important," Rabin said. "You need interaction between
people so that everybody feels they can express their opinions about their
work. You shouldn't come to work with a feeling that no one cares."
"And when you go home, it is very important to share your feelings with
whomever you are sharing with," Rabin added. "Also, you should understand that
children learn from the behavior of parents. You can have a meaningful effect
on the long-term health of children by being good role models. The message is
that the environment you culture can affect not only your health but also the
health of those who are important to you."
More information
There's more on on-the-job stress at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.