People who have stressful, demanding jobs are more likely to suffer from an ischemic stroke, according to a review of several studies.
A team of researchers looked at 14 different European studies from 1985 through 2008. Each of the studies lasted an average of nine years and all together surveyed almost 200,000 people, reported Reuters.
The risk for ischemic stroke, which occurs when a blood clot blocks or plugs an artery leading to the brain, was about 24 percent higher for survey responders who admitted to having job-strain.
The risk wasn't heightened for other types of strokes, including a hemorrhagic stroke.
Other factors in the patient's medical history, including high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and family history of stroke, were not included in the reviewed studies.
"The classification is not so exact, and they don't discuss these different types of hemorrhagic stroke," lead author Eleonor I. Fransson, of the School of Health Sciences at Jonkoping University in Sweden told Reuters. "However, the association is plausible because stress might cause release of stress-related hormones, which in turn affect the metabolic, immunological and cardiovascular systems."
Strokes kill almost 130,000 Americans each year, 87 percent of which are ischemic strokes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
