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Returning to work involves a stressful shift from
leisure | |
The stress of returning to work on a Monday morning
can trigger a dangerous increase in blood pressure, according to a study.
The Tokyo Women's Medical University study shows blood pressure
readings are higher than at any other time of the week.
It may explain why deaths from heart attacks and strokes tend to peak
on a Monday morning.
There are 20% more heart attacks on Mondays than on any other day.
Heart disease is Britain's biggest killer. Around 270,000 people suffer
a heart attack every year and nearly one in three die before they even
reach hospital.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, affects one in five
people in the UK and is a major risk factor for heart disease. The higher
it climbs, the greater the force exerted by blood on the walls of the
arteries when the heart beats.
To see how it changed over the course of a week, researchers from Tokyo
Women's Medical University in Japan, fitted 175 men and women with a
device that would measure their blood pressure round-the-clock.
A week later the recruits returned the devices so that researchers
could assess how blood pressure had changed.
The results, published in the American Journal of Hypertension, showed
a surge in readings in those getting ready to go back to work on a Monday
morning.
Volunteers who stayed asleep did not experience an increase, which
suggests work-related stress is most likely to blame.
"Most people are free of the mental and physical burdens of work on a
Sunday and experience a more stressful change from weekend leisure
activities to work activities on Mondays," said Dr Murakami, who led the
research.
"There was a distinct peak on Mondays in this study."
Professor Keith Fox, from the cardiovascular research unit at
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, told reporters an early morning rise in blood
pressure is probably a normal part of the body's 24-hour rhythm and
unlikely to be a problem for healthy people.
But he said: "If somebody already has cardiovascular disease then it
might just tip them over the edge and trigger a heart
attack.
(BBC) |
一项研究表明，周一早上重返工作时的压力可以导致血压升高到危险的程度。
东京女子医科大学的研究表明，周一的血压读数比一周当中的任何其他时段都要高。
这也许可以解释为什么由心脏病发作和中风引起的死亡率总会在周一早上达到顶峰。
周一，心脏病的发病率比平时高出20%。
心脏病是英国人的最大杀手，每年约有27万人心脏病发作，并有近1/3的人在送抵医院之前就停止了呼吸。
每5个英国人中就有1个患有高血压，高血压是心脏病发作的主要诱因。血压升得越高，心脏跳动时血液对动脉壁施加的压力就越大。
为了观察血压在一周内不同时段的变化状况，日本东京女子医科大学的研究者们给175名男女受试者配带了可以全天候测量血压的仪器。
一周后，受试者把仪器送回来，研究者们就可以观测血压的变化状况了。
该研究结果发表在《美国高血压杂志》上，结果显示，周一早上准备返回工作的人们的血压读数急速升高。
（周一早上）继续睡觉的志愿者们的血压没有上升，这说明工作的压力是“罪魁祸首”。
主持这项研究的村上医生说：“很多人在星期天卸下了工作带来的精神和身体上的负担，但是从周末的休闲活动转换到周一的工作状态时，他们面临的压力更大。”
“研究显示，每到周一，（血压）就会出现一个明显的高峰。”
爱丁堡皇家医院心血管研究组的基思·福克斯教授告诉记者，血压在清晨升高可能是人体24小时律动的一种正常现象，对于健康的人来说这不是什么问题。
但他说：“如果有的人本来就有心血管疾病，那这就可能把他们逼到临界点，导致心脏病发作。”
（中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2005-02-16 09:38