Effects of Stress On the Development and Progression of Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disorders are the leading cause of morbidity and death and account for more than half of all globally (Gheisari et al.,2018). Although there has been a decline in chronic heart disease mortality in the past decade, the prevalence and incidence of chronic illness are still more prevalent (Pignatelli et al.,2018). Therefore, cardiovascular illnesses are a significant public health concern and an economic problem for both the healthcare system and society (Stoney et al.,2018). The adverse working environment is the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases (Stoney et al.,2018). It results in unhealthy working conditions due to the physical workload, lengthy working hours, noise, shift work, and social job features, including the occupation position (Gheisari et al.,2018). There is a high correlation between heart diseases and work stress.

       A study involving approximately 600,000 men and women from a total of 27 cohort studies in the USA, Europe, and Japan found that work stressors usually occur from job strain and extensive working hours to be linked to reasonably increased risk of occurrence stroke and coronary heart illness (Stoney et al.,2018). Stress results in the stimulation of neuroendocrine retorts to the stressor or unhealthy behaviors such as lack of physical activity, too much alcohol intake and smoking (Pignatelli et al.,2018). Work stress is also derived from a demanding employer, annoying coworkers, rebellious students, angry customers, hazardous condition, long transforms and the ever ending workload. Work stress often contributes to strained interaction with supervisors and peers, resulting in the combined feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, which generates heightened sensitivities to all form of criticism, depression, paranoia affecting one's health.

Literature review

Most adults spend almost half of their day at the workplace; hence, the workplace is an essential setting that promotes workers’ health and wellbeing. Although there exist numerous national and international bodies that ensure and safeguard the health and wellbeing of employees (Pignatelli et al.,2018). The physical, chemical and biological hazards in the work environment are the primary cause of the workers’ psychosocial stress (Stoney et al.,2018). The psychosocial demand and the low individual control results in physiological strain, thus increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Kivimäki & Steptoe (2018) concluded that long working hours can significantly be related to the increased risk of stroke across various socioeconomic groups, men, women and either young and adults. Stoney et al. (2018) contends that the general relative risk of stroke in association with long working hours was 95%

Atherosclerosis that results from the clotting of arterial walls and the growth of plaques is a common cause of cardiovascular illness (Stoney et al.,2018). A study that measured the effects of the carotid intima-media wideness (IMT) in cohort groups carried out non-invasively through the usage of external ultrasound. In young grownups, job stress was cross-sectional linked with increased IMT, mostly in men (Kivimäki & Steptoe, 2018). Another survey that focused on middle-aged adults established a reliable link between workplace stress and carotid IMT in both men and women (Dar et al.,2019). Further work stress most possibly induces biological changes hence indirectly affecting a person lifestyle factors. For instance, workers suffering job strain are likely to be more physically inactive than individuals free from job stress; thus, there is an uncertain relation of work stressors with increased smoking intensity and high alcohol consumption (Dar et al.,2019).

Dar et al. (2019) asserts that the lack of support in the workplace is a significant source of psychosocial stress at the workstation. According to him, work rewards, including income, honor, and career opportunities, shield the undesirable effect of the psychological and physical burden of energies. Thus lack of work rewards are likely to create an imbalance and hence causing illness. Kivimäki & Steptoe (2018) asserts that stress leads to increased oxygen requirement in the body, which tremor the heart blood vessels causing an electrical uncertainty in the heart’s transmission system. Therefore, chronic stress has proved to increase the heartbeat and blood flow, stimulating the heart to work harder to support the blood flow required for overall bodily functions. (Dar et al.,2019). Therefore, stress leads to increased blood pressure, posing a high risk for anxiety and heart attack.

Stress usually results in cardiovascular illness risks due to smoking, obesity, and lack of physical activity involvement. Chronic stress is usually linked with high cardiovascular events. In 2016, a report released by the World Health Organization concerning policy and research effects of life course viewpoints on CVD recommended the general strategies for reducing stress in the adult setting, such as the workplace, which is valuable in decreasing CVD risk. Dar et al. (2019) contends that an individual suffers from the first or recurring CVD condition, there is a high probability of declined workability, thus resulting in retirement. This implies that patients with CVD are at an increased chance of losing their work capability permanently, thus exiting from the job market with disability allowance.

Research Method

The research uses a systematic review of the effects of work stress on cardiovascular illness development by gathering and analyzing all-important publications with a predefined approach. The analysis considers various databases encompassing MEDLINE to effectively identify articles published in scholarly journals and other recent studies and comprise those research based on the stress models. All research dealing with stress, either on mental anxiety, work stress, demand, rewards, occupational stress in controlling hypertension, and cardiovascular illness, were considered (Pignatelli et al.,2018). The research also undertook a self-reports and expert-based assessment on individuals from the workplaces.

The criteria for selecting diseases were cardiovascular disease, heart failure, stroke, and coronary heart diseases. Arteriosclerosis and blood pressure were used as the metric variables in the study. The search produced about 1,769 research’s for the period between 2015 and March 2020, amid which 26 were ultimately chosen based on the above inclusion criteria. No randomized controlled study covering this topic was found. Twenty cohorts were designated in the selected 26 journals. Amid 26 studies involved in these studies, the study used the exposure model, outcome, and gender-stratified results. There was a statistically substantial relationship between cardiovascular disease and psychosocial stress in 14 out of 26 publications in the research.

Discussion

The included studies provided different information regarding the risk to psychosocial burden. Psychosocial factors that act as stressors in everyday work are complex, and each exposure model addressed various features of a work condition. The parts highlighted on the exposure models and analyzed on all the 26 studies indicated another stressor such as bullying at the workplace or uncertainty concerning some of the responsibilities and noise that causes the augmented experience of stress and anxieties (Pignatelli et al.,2018). Work stress was found to affect the prognosis of cardiovascular diseases.

Findings

The research provided substantial evidence on the relationship between psychosocial stress and cardiovascular diseases resulting from unhealthy ageing and increased morbidity and death rates. The association was contingent on the stress model used, and the people and the subgroups studied (Dar et al.,2019. All research founded on the effort-reward disparity model, and nearly half of the studies illustrated that job strain had a significant impact on work stress and cardiovascular disease development. The exposure model found priority one of the most substantial causes of cardiovascular diseases, although it was only used in three studies. Therefore, the stress model proposed the most significant evidence on the relationship between cardiovascular diseases and stress.

Summary and recommendation

The study provides substantial evidence on the association of the workplace’s psychosocial factors as the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases. However, the study proposes that due to the constant change in the workplace, the relative significance of stress as the only factor will also change as new stress factors are developing and thus need to be studied in the exposure models re-counting psychosocial load. The study found a high association of intense work with increased event coronary heart disease. Therefore, the study proposed more detailed models to be conducted on diverse issues linked with the experience of stress such as conflicts, leadership, job clarity and job insecurity as an essential factor in the workplace that are important to include in future studies. The study recommends individuals to employ various measures to manage stress work stress to manage the challenging work circumstances and administrative changes in the work environment to minimize the effects of work risk factors that results to cardiovascular illnesses.

References

Dar, T., Radfar, A., Abohashem, S., Pitman, R. K., Tawakol, A., & Osborne, M. T. (2019). Psychosocial stress and cardiovascular disease. Current treatment options in cardiovascular medicine, 21(5), 1-17.

Gheisari, Z., Beiranvand, R., Karimi, A., Ghalavandi, S., Soleymani, A., Madmoli, M., & Bavarsad, A. H. (2018). Relationship between Occupational Stress and Cardiovascular Risk Factors Determination: A Case-control Study. Journal of Research in Medical and Dental Science, 6(3), 287-293.

Kivimäki, M., & Steptoe, A. (2018). Effects of stress on the development and progression of cardiovascular disease. Nature Reviews Cardiology, 15(4), 215.

Pignatelli, P., Menichelli, D., Pastori, D., & Violi, F. (2018). Oxidative stress and cardiovascular disease: new insights. Kardiol Pol, 76(4), 713-722.

Stoney, C. M., Kaufmann, P. G., & Czajkowski, S. M. (2018). Cardiovascular disease: Psychological, social, and behavioral influences: Introduction to the special issue. American Psychologist, 73(8), 949.