A stressful job can bring on more than a headache. The strain has been linked to doubling the risk of dying from heart disease, researchers say.

Demanding jobs with little control over daily duties can cause stress, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease – the leading cause of death in Canada.

Low salaries, poor job security and few career opportunities can compound job-related stress in healthy people.

Researchers at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health followed 812 healthy male and female workers at a Finnish company in the metal industry.

They used questionnaires, interviews and doctors' exams to gather data on the stress, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and weight of the workers.

Those who had high job strain or felt little reward from their hard work were twice as likely to die of a heart attack or stroke, the researchers found.

Dr. Beth Abramson

"The workplace environment affects us for 40 plus hours per week," said psychologist Rob Nolan of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

"If that is a stressful environment this study certainly underscores that it's going to not interfere with just your quality of life but your actual survival."

People who suffered from job stress had two factors in common. Over 10 years, they were more likely to become overweight and develop high cholesterol, which dramatically increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Cardiologist Dr. Beth Abramson of the heart foundation said the study shows how we deal with stress is more important than the stress itself.

"If you're under stress at work, you might say forget it," said Abramson. "I'm going to eat fast foods, fried foods. I'm not going to take the time to exercise. Those are all very unhealthy behaviours for one's heart."

The study's authors said doctors should add lowering work stress to their traditional list of advice: stop smoking, cut down on drinking, eat less fat, and engage in physical activity.

The findings should prompt more employers to help their workers to cope, the researchers said.

"I think the challenge here is even for middle-sized or even small-sized organizations to find a valid and reliable way to assess stress in the workplace and then to have some kind of stress reduction or preventive programs in place," said Nolan.

The study appears in Friday's issue of the British Medical Journal.