If you work in a demanding job with little control over your workload, please watch out.
According to a new study, you are more likely to die of job stress even if you maintain a healthy lifestyle with exercise, controlled weight and blood pressure, and don’t smoke.
Job stress can kill and it is now scientifically proven. Our jobs were already pretty demanding but the way Covid-19 has struck the economy we all face the threat of losing our job if we underperform. ( To read more about covid and how to avoid it, see our blog about how to build your immunity ( https://www.prolongevity.co.uk/blog/coronavirus?rq=covid) Unfortunately, this is further adding to our already strained and hectic work lives
According to a study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal, men working in demanding jobs with little control over their workload are more likely to die early even if they maintain a healthy lifestyle with exercise, controlled weight and blood pressure, and no smoking.
The findings showed that men who experience job strain — having high work demands and low control over them — had a 68% greater risk of premature death.
After the tragic news of John Hay’s death being announced this week (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-54933410) we wanted to explore how his job could have played a part in his unexpected passing, and consider whether the ProLongevity service could have helped him live a longer and healthier life.
His wife and co-founder released a statement saying ‘he died doing the job he loved’ but putting your work before your health isn’t a way to live. John Hays famously took on more than 2,000 former Thomas Cook employees when that company went bust in October last year, but can you imagine the stress that came along with such a task?
Working late can impact relationships, social lives and, of course, sleep which can all lead to the development of life threatening diseases like heart disease and cancer. If you are an entrepreneur and you want to be very successful, please go to bed!
For many entrepreneurs, sleep is a luxury that few can afford. As an entrepreneur, your business sees you working round the clock; your typical day starts at 4:00 am and before you get home and go to bed, it is almost midnight. (to read more about the long term effects of work related sleep loss, see our blog ( https://www.prolongevity.co.uk/blog/work-habits-that-are-slowly-killing-us?rq=sleep) Many business savvy individuals are of the opinion that sleep is for the lazy. They prefer to spend more time working than sleeping. This goes on for a very long time, and suddenly you experience burnout, which threatens everything you ever worked for, and most especially your beloved business. In the end, you might find yourself asking “was it worth it”?
The answer is NO!
Another example of an incredibly successful man who seemed completely healthy on the outside but was “on fire” on the inside is former President, Bill Clinton.
He had a long history of hidden heart disease problems – a classic TOFI scenario (Thin Outside Fat Inside). On the outside he was the picture of masculine health but inside he was on fire. This only came to light serendipitously when we took a Coronary Artery Calcium test. Despite external appearances to the contrary he was at extremely high risk of a heart attack or stroke. So, over 15 years ago he had a quadruple bypass. During his presidency, Clinton was continuously ridiculed by the press for his inability to resist fatty fast food. Plus, Clinton was known for his rigorous schedule — “20 hours a day for 20 years,” according to sources close to the former president, so both diet and stress came together to cause major heart problems which changed his life forever.
While its true that people who exercise regularly do tend to be healthier than the general population, with lower rates of diabetes and heart disease, they too need a healthy diet and sufficient amount sleep. Or as leading cardiologist and health campaigner Prof Aseem Malhotra puts it “You can’t out run a bad diet” (In case you missed it, Aseem was a recent guest on the ProLongevity podcast ( www.prolongevity.co.uk/collaborations/dr-aseem-malhotra?rq=aseem )
Entrepreneurs that sleep well are less prone to developing cardiovascular disease, obesity and even certain cancers. With thoughts of the pandemic in mind, we all need to be aware that the health of the immune system is very sleep-dependent. So its imperative that to become successful, you get plenty of high quality sleep and thus ensure that you live long and reap the fruits of your labour.
To read more about the importance of sleep can have on your mental and physical health, read our latest blog ‘Sleep loss hijacks the brain’s activity’ ( www.prolongevity.co.uk/blog/loss-of-sleep?rq=sleep )