Stress at work puts younger women at higher risk for heart disease

CLEVELAND - It's well-known that high-stress jobs can have an impact on men's heart health, but now a new study shows women under 50 working in stressful jobs are at an elevated risk as well.

[Click the video player to see a local cardiologist and nurses react to the study]

The director of the Heart and Vascular Center at MetroHealth Medical Center, Dr. David Rosenblum, said he was not surprised by the findings because of the findings already published which look at men.

The Danish study looked at more than 12,000 nurses and tracked them for 15 years.

The study showed women who said their work pressures were a little too high were 25 percent more likely to suffer from heart disease than those who said their stress levels at work were manageable.

The risk was almost 50 percent higher for nurses who said their stress level at work was much too high.

The findings are published in Occupational Environmental Medicine.