Work more than 11 hours a day? Your increased risk of a heart attack is ... (with video)
The national conversation has begun on the problem of overwork, and even what I call "binge working." There's a lot of horribles we all already know about overwork -- it hurts relationships, it impairs judgment, and it even (ironically) hurts productivity. Add to that list that it increases your liklihood of having a heart attack. A lot.
NBC Nightly News reporter Tom Costello did the television version of the story I wrote recently, but offers some new, alarming research about the connection between working 11-hour days and heart disease. I'm proud to be part of this important dialog. Click play below to watch the piece.
And it you are really interested in this topic, check out the Familes and Work Institute, a non-profit that studies workplace trends. I spoke recently with Ken Matos, the organization's head of research, and asked him about several recent high-profiles deaths of employees who worked 24 hours or more. He said out that a few binge working deaths certainly don't make a trend, but he cautions that they are "a canary in a coal mine." More widespread consequences, he said, will be reduced life spans and other health impacts for workers who no longer take breaks, even on nights and weekends.
"While dropping over dead at one’s desk is likely to be a rare event, experiencing negative health consequences and reduced lifespans, as a result of decades intense work lives with little opportunity for regular recovery, is a more likely possibility," Matos said.
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