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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  The connection between a 55 hour work week and a stroke
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The connection between a 55 hour work week and a stroke

Eating tomatoes can trigger gout pain and oral contraceptives may provide long-term protection against endometrial cancerstudies and research for a healthier you

Working 55 hours or more a week can increase the chances of suffering a stroke by a third compared to a 35-40-hour work week. Photo: iStockPremium
Working 55 hours or more a week can increase the chances of suffering a stroke by a third compared to a 35-40-hour work week. Photo: iStock

Working long hours increases stroke risk

Working 55 hours or more a week can increase the chances of suffering a stroke by a third compared to a 35-40-hour work week, a large new study involving over 500,000 people has warned. Mika Kivimaki, Professor of Epidemiology at University College London, UK, and colleagues did a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual-level data, examining the effects of longer working hours on cardiovascular disease, up to 20 August 2014. Analysis of data from 25 studies involving 603,838 men and women from Europe, the US, and Australia who were followed for an average of 8.5 years, found a 13% increased risk of incidents of coronary heart disease (a new diagnosis, hospitalisation, or death) in people working 55 hours or more per week compared with those putting in a normal 35-40-hour week, even after taking into account risk factors including age, sex and socioeconomic status. Analysis of data from 17 studies involving 528,908 men and women who were followed up for an average of 7.2 years, found a 1.3 times higher risk of stroke in individuals working 55 hours or more a week compared with those working standard hours. The study was published in The Lancet journal. PTI Read more here.

Eating tomatoes can increase gout pain

Researchers noticed that a large number of gout sufferers believe tomatoes to be one of gout trigger foods. The researchers surveyed 2,051 New Zealanders with clinically-verified gout. Of these people, 71% reported having one or more food triggers. Tomatoes were listed as a trigger in 20% of these cases. Tomatoes were found to be the fourth most commonly mentioned trigger, after seafood, alcohol and red meat. After determining tomatoes are a commonly cited trigger food, the authors analysed data from 12,720 male and female members of three long-running US health studies. The results showed that tomato consumption is linked to higher levels of uric acid in the blood. Tomatoes can alter uric acid levels to a degree comparable to other commonly accepted gout trigger foods. Read more here.

Birth control pills may offer lasting endometrial cancer protection

Women who use oral contraceptives during their reproductive years may gain long-term protection against endometrial cancer, a review of previous research suggests. Researchers analyzed 36 studies including more than 140,000 women from around the world. They found that every five years of taking birth control pills was linked to a 24% reduction in the risk for endometrial cancer, even more than three decades after women stopped using the contraceptives. “Our results show clearly, for the first time, that the protective effect of the pill on endometrial cancer lasts for over 30 years," senior study author Valerie Beral of Oxford University in the UK said by email. Read more here.

Scientists find how obesity gene works, a clue to treatment

Scientists have finally figured out how the key gene tied to obesity makes people fat, a major discovery that could open the door to an entirely new approach to the problem beyond diet and exercise. The work solves a big mystery: Since 2007, researchers have known that a gene called FTO was related to obesity, but they didn’t know how, and could not tie it to appetite or other known factors. Now experiments reveal that a faulty version of the gene causes energy from food to be stored as fat rather than burned. Genetic tinkering in mice and on human cells in the lab suggests this can be reversed, giving hope that a drug or other treatment might be developed to do the same in people. The work was led by scientists at MIT and Harvard University and published online Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine. AP Read more here.

Compiled by Pooja Chaturvedi

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Published: 21 Aug 2015, 12:36 PM IST
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