During an international forum held earlier this month, researchers presented studies linking cardiovascular risks and disease to a global push for greater productivity. Experts warn of enormous health effects from work-related stress that cause cumulative damage and will become more apparent and costly over time. Among other research results, U.S. and Japanese workers who put in more than 50 hours a week had markedly higher rates of hypertension, a precursor to heart disease. However, researchers have a difficult time quantifying the risk and ruling out other causes.
See "Workers Put Their Hearts on the Line", Nancy Cleeland, Los Angeles Times, March 20, 2005