Is Your Job Affecting Your Heart Health?

It may not come as a surprise to those toiling away in toxic office environments. Research has confirmed that job-related stress — too much work, not enough compensation, little control over tasks — is associated with a higher risk of atrial fibrillation, the most common form of arrhythmia.

The latest research, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, adds to the growing body of medical literature that connects work-stress situations to poor cardiovascular outcomes, particularly for men. It also underscores the importance of managing the inevitable stressors that crop up even in the best jobs.

The medical community has long known that chronic stress can wreak havoc on the body, says Jeffrey Goldberger, M.D., a cardiologist and leader of the Afib team at the University of Miami Health System. To understand why, you need to know a little about the autonomic nervous system, which controls our heartbeat and other involuntary bodily functions, including digestion, respiratory rate, and even our pupils’ response to light.

Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, part of the autonomic nervous system, in helpful — and adverse — ways.

For example, stress alerts our “fight-or-flight” response in an immediate and dangerous situation. It gets the heart to beat faster, pump more blood to our muscles and organs, and release adrenaline and cortisol, hormones that help our body react. Acute stress situations can also help us perform better on a test or on the playing field. Our resting state is governed predominantly by the parasympathetic nervous system which slows the heart down. In other words, in the autonomic nervous system “both reactions are yin and yang,” says Dr. Goldberger.

Chronic stress turns out to be too much of a good thing over a prolonged period. It can lead to high blood pressure and a high heart rate, which, in turn can result in cardiovascular issues.

Of course, it’s not just our heart that gets a beating when we’re chronically stressed.

“Stress has a downstream effect on other parts of the body,” including inflammatory response, digestive problems, headaches, insomnia, and mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression.

In a recent study, researchers examined white-collar workers in Canada, focusing on how different psychosocial factors affect the risk of developing an irregular heartbeat. They did this by looking at the medical records over 18 years of about 6,000 workers in white-collar jobs in Canada.

The analysis found that stress on the job was linked to an 83% higher risk of developing AFib.

Researchers defined stressful jobs as ones with tight deadlines, high demands, heavy workloads and little control by employees in how to execute their job duties.

In jobs with an effort-reward imbalance — that is,  jobs where employees believed their performance was not matched with the appropriate compensation, recognition, and job security — employees had a 44% greater risk of developing AFib. When you combine both situations, workers faced a 97% higher risk of developing AFib. (Those figures apply to men, primarily white males, in jobs that qualify as managerial or professional). Interestingly, researchers found the numbers inconclusive for women, though there was no clear explanation for the difference.

Trying to isolate a single cause for the common heart condition can be problematic.

“AFib is multifactorial. Many other things can influence the risk,” says Dr. Goldberger. In short, work stress likely affects people who are already more susceptible to heart problems. (In fact, more than one-third of the 6,000 men and women studied in Canada had been diagnosed with coronary heart disease or heart failure before they experienced AFib symptoms.)

Regardless of other risk threats, controlling or leveling the chance of developing AFib is still essential to good cardiovascular health. Knowing that certain job-related psychosocial factors raise the risk of heart arrhythmia issues allows patients, their physicians, and their employers to develop preventive strategies for a condition that affects about 5% of the adult U.S. population.

Previously, it was estimated that 3 to 6 million people suffered from AFib in the U.S. Now, an analysis published in 2024 concluded it is closer to 10.5 million.  

According to the American Heart Association, that figure is expected to increase to more than 12 million people by 2030.

Eliminating all stress is impossible, of course, but it is one lifestyle element that can be reduced, says Dr. Goldberger.

Everyone has to find their own stress-buster.
– Dr. Jeffrey Goldberger

“There are a lot of therapies that help you reduce it.” These include:

• meditation
• deep breathing exercises
• progressive muscle relaxation
• certain exercise disciplines, such as tai chi and yoga

In addition, an individual can work on modifying other lifestyle factors that adversely affect cardiovascular health. UHealth offers a holistic approach to addressing risk factors that lead to AFib. Team members work with patients on losing weight, establishing an exercise regimen, controlling diabetes, and lowering blood pressure through The Atrial Fibrillation Risk Factor Modification Program.

“Working on those modifiable risk factors can have significant impact,” Dr. Goldberger says. “I always tell my patients, ‘90% of your [heart] health is dependent on you. The other 10% is me.”

Ana Veciana-Suarez is a regular contributor to the University of Miami Health System. She is an acclaimed author and journalist who has worked at The Miami Herald, The Miami News, and The Palm Beach Post.

Tags: afib management, Atrial fibrillation risk factors, Dr. Jeffrey Goldberger, job stress, Stress management techniques