Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Long Days Are Bad for the Heart

For those of you deep in your workaholic addiction, there is now more proof that working too much is bad for your heart. A new study points out that those working 10 plus hours a day are more likely to suffer serious heart problems, including heart attacks, than those who work 7 hours or less.

In an article about the study on Yahoo! Health, it states that the hours alone don’t cause heart problems but that long hours are linked to a lifestyle that can be “associated with work-related stress, which interferes with metabolic processes, as well as "sickness presenteeism," whereby employees continue working when they are ill.”

What really stirs me up, and not in a good way, is when people who are ill, stress induced or not, continue to show up for work and put themselves, their families and their companies at a disadvantage. What kind of a world have we created in that we enable each other, and teach our children that our health comes last?  Everytime you or someone you love goes to work sick, they might as well show up wearing a shirt that says, “I’m a martyr and I don’t think my health is important”. What stirs me up even more, are adults who are surprised by children who exhibit the same behavior with schools and activities and struggle with learning how to take care of their own health, and putting their needs first.

As millions of children watch sick and stressed out parents continue to go to work and neglect self care, I fear for the workforce of  tomorrow and shudder to think what they might teach their children.

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