Science

Will you have a high tech heart attack?

Science - Health

by Davey Winder

Sunday, 30 November 2008

If you work in the high tech industry you are, according to a new study, 50 percent more likely to develop a problem such as coronary artery disease within a decade than if you work in other sectors.

The fact that I spend much of my working life doing nothing more strenuous than sitting on my ass and hitting the keyboard does, of course, mean that like most IT nerds I am not in contention for a Mr Health and Fitness award.

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However, just because I have a sedentary occupation does not preclude me from taking exercise when away from the office environment, and hopefully extending my life span as a result.

Which is why I was quite surprised to read a story concerning a recent study that suggests that half the workers in high tech industries are heart attacks waiting to happen.

The research was carried out by the Taiwan Society of Lipids and Atherosclerosis, who sound a happy bunch, and revealed that three times as many of those taking part who worked in high tech had something called hyperlipidemia than the general public.

Hyperlipidemia is a high level of lipids in the blood. Couple this with more than 50 percent being overweight, and some 24 percent obese, and the heart attack risk becomes clear.

Especially when you consider that those studied were found to be more likely to have high levels of bad cholesterol and low levels of good cholesterol.

Some 60 percent of high tech workers studied, aged between 40 and 49, were found to have a ratio of total cholesterol to good cholesterol of more than five to one, thought to be an indicator of cardiovascular disease risk.

Throw in long hours, high stress levels, poor diets and having to deal with bad bosses and it is little wonder the IT sector is shrinking in size. Maybe we should all become free range IT workers instead?

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