(Michael Precker/ American Heart Association) — Too many times, the realization comes too late.
“When people have a major medical event like a heart attack or stroke, they retrospectively go back and say, ‘Oh, I was really stressed, maybe that’s why this happened to me,'” said Dr. Ian Kronish, associate director of the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York. “But they don’t think beforehand that they’d better take care of that stress for their health.”
There are many causes of stress, but experts say one leading factor has increased significantly in recent years: work-related burnout.
“Burnout is real, and we’re seeing a lot of it these days,” said Dr. Tené Lewis, associate professor of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. “People are overwhelmed on all fronts. And we know it’s bad for your heart, your blood pressure and your brain.” (…)