HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE WARNING

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Just three months after the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation warned that high blood pressure among Canadians is rising at an epidemic rate, new research suggest that hypertension is also becoming the nation's newest workplace health concern.
  Increased risk of hypertension joins a growing list of health risks associated with overwork, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, says the report which appeared in the Hypertension Journal of the American Heart Association.
  A survey of more than 24,000 California workers aged 18 to 64 found that the more hours people worked, the more likely they were to report that they had high blood pressure.
  Results from the survey support data found by studies in Japan. Japanese researchers became interested in links between work hours and health effects following an increase in cases of "Karoshi," or "sudden death from overwork."
 The study does not, however, conclude that working long hours actually causes high blood pressure. It is careful to note that other socioeconomic factors may be in play:
* People who tend to work too many hours may not take very good care of themselves in the first place;
* They may be poorer;
* or they may have ambition or drive that puts them at greater risk.
In addition, the differences reported were not large.
  According to the survey, people working 40 hours a week reported a 14% higher incidence of high blood pressure than those working 11 to 19 hours a week. Those working 41 to 50 hours had a 17%t higher risk, however, and people working more than 51 hours a week had a 29-per-cent increased risk.
 If the study is correct, it may mean that working more than 50 hours a week may be as much a threat to your blood pressure as smoking or being overweight.
That's one reason doctors think there should be more research on this link between working hours and blood pressure.
 Dr. Sheldon Tobe of the Heart and Stroke Foundation said that longer work hours might cause people to adopt less healthy habits.
 "Maybe they don't take their medications, maybe they are not exercising, maybe their diet is suffering, maybe they drink more alcohol, or smoke more as a result of that stress," he said.
 In May this year, Canada's leading heart specialists at the University of Ottawa warned that High blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke, heart attack and heart failure. They said Canada is headed toward an epidemic of high blood pressure, and making doctors accountable for how well they manage their patients' hypertension can help stem the tide.
  Already, doctors at the Heart Institute are seeing teenagers with high blood pressure, something unheard-of only a few years ago, mostly because of obesity and high salt intake, said Leenen.
The release of the hypertension guidelines came with a warning that the health care system and patients need to work together more effectively. In the last decade, the rate of self-reported hypertension among Canadians 35 years and over has jumped from 14 to 22%. The World Health Organization predicts that over the next 20 years there will be a 60 %  increase in the number of adults with hypertension.
Like smoking, high blood pressure is a public health issue that needs community and individual strategies, said Leenen. "Everything that happens in society, we see here (at the clinic) 10 or 20 years later.''
 The recommendations say doctors need to ensure their patients are getting the correct amount of medication to optimize blood pressure levels and to increase medication if they aren't reaching those levels, said Leenen, who is the spokesman for the recommendations.
 "Patients often don't want to take another pill. It's up to the doctors to explain the importance.''
Canadians working more
 I n Canada, trends show we're working longer hours. In 1991, one in 10 people surveyed worked 50 hours or more. A decade later, it's one in four. And that may be increasing as people are linked to their jobs with cell phones and Blackberrys.
  Most people can't quit their jobs to minimize the risk of high blood pressure. So doctors say we have to learn to manage the everyday stress of longer hours, for the sake of our health.
  The study did not have sufficient data to weigh the impact of unpaid hours of work in the home, however, which has been cited as an increased risk factor for many women. It is not uncommon for women with full-time jobs to work a "second shift" of housework and childcare when they get home.
Similar studies in Japan have led the government to provide guidance to employers on overtime, suggesting that employees should not work more than 45 hours of overtime per month. The government threatened to intervene when overtime goes over 100 hours per month. WSN