Women have long struggled to be equal to men but now they have achieved this in a way that they would rather not. A study has now revealed that women in high stress jobs are more likely to develop the risk of heart diseases and stroke.

This is as compared to women who have less job strain. Past studies have been aimed at investigating the impact of stress on men but women now comprise one half of the work force and are often in high-stress jobs. The study sampled 17,415 women participants who were on average, 57 years old and healthy.

The women had also worked either fulltime or part time when the study commenced in 1999. The study, whose results were presented at an American Heart Association Conference in Chicago, involved a long-running trial looking at the prevention of cancer and heart disease. Researchers placed the women in four groups on the basis of stress the women had reported in filled-in surveys and then checked up on their progress a decade later.

The study took place in Brigham and Women’s Hospital and was led by Dr. Michelle Albert, a cardiologist. It emerged that the women in high-stress jobs had a greater risk of up to 40% to develop heart attacks, strokes or clogged arteries. The primary issues that seemed to worry the women included higher blood pressure, cholesterol and body weight.

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