Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/EQ7EgP1MNSM It’s an old saw, but a French study just published in the journal Stroke puts yet another black mark next to the concept of overwork.  Working long hours, defined as 10 hours a day for at least 50 days a year will increase your risk of stroke by 29%.  If you consistently work long hours for 10 or more years, your risk of a stroke rises to 45%. You’re probably saying, “I’ll bet those statistics are for old people.”  You’d be wrong.  The study tabulated data from nearly 144,000 people aged 18 to 69 years, and the risk of stroke for those working the long hours over a 10 year period was greater if the individual was under the age of 50.   The risks were lower among farmers, business owners, professionals, and managers suggesting that the stress of having less control over your work life may well be a key factor.  We should all take these results to heart and play as hard as we work. Marc Fadel, Grace Sembajwe, Diana Gagliardi, Fernando Pico, Jian Li, Anna Ozguler, Johannes