Too Much Work, Stress, and Ironically Not Enough Work Could Give You a Stroke, Studies Show

Key Takeaways:

Working long hours increases stroke risk – More than 10 hours a day raises the risk by 29%, or 45% after a decade. Even a standard 41-48 hour workweek adds a 10% higher stroke risk.
Both overwork and underwork can be linked to stroke – Long hours may lead to stress and unhealthy lifestyles, while shorter workweeks (under 35 hours) may correlate with sedentary habits and other risk factors.
Managing stress and staying active can help – Regular exercise, stress management techniques, and workplace policies that promote work-life balance may reduce stroke risk.

A new study confirms that working more than 10 hours a day increases the risk of stroke. Research suggests that both grueling overtime and surprisingly short workweeks might tip the scales toward stroke risk—here’s what the evidence reveals.

According to a French study published in the magazine Stroke, working more than 10 hours a day, at least 50 days a year, increases the risk of stroke by 29%. The increase reaches 45% if the situation lasts longer than ten years. The study, conducted on 143,592 adults, adjusted for factors like age and smoking but couldn’t fully rule out lifestyle differences (e.g., diet or exercise habits) as contributors. It also relied on self-reported hours, which may vary in accuracy. This is particularly true for people under 50 and applies to both men and women. As early as 2015, The Lancet sounded the alarm with a meta-analysis of 528,908 people for stroke. It found that stroke risk rises with hours beyond 40 per week—e.g., 10% higher at 41-48 hours and 33% at >55 hours—compared to a 35-40-hour baseline. For those working less than 35 hours, any increased risk may stem from unrelated factors like sedentary lifestyles, not the hours themselves, though this wasn’t directly tested.

If you read these figures, there’s only one thing you want to do: drop the pen, computer mouse, or wrench and check your pulse to make sure all is well with your heart. Then you might aim to work between 35 and 40 hours per week to stay within the safer zone.

Types of Strokes

Strokes fall into two main categories. An ischemic stroke occurs when an artery to the brain becomes clogged, cutting off blood and glucose the brain needs to function—accounting for about 87% of cases. A hemorrhagic stroke, less common at 13%, results from bleeding in the brain after an artery ruptures under stress. Both can be devastating if not addressed quickly.

How to Know If You Are Having a Stroke?

One in 4 people experience a transient ischemic attack (TIA) before a full stroke. Though symptoms may vanish within minutes, treat it as an emergency—a stroke could follow hours or days later. Watch for these signs:

Loss of strength on one side of the body or face
Loss of sensitivity on one side of the body or face
Sudden difficulty talking
Sudden visual disturbances

How to Proceed?

Call 911 immediately—every minute counts! Lay the person in a safe position. Do not give them anything to drink, eat, or any medicine without a doctor’s advice. Stay calm and keep talking to them until help arrives.

The biggest danger that the number of hours worked poses is probably indirect: Too much work exposes you to the risk of neglecting factors that protect you from strokes, especially regular physical activity, a healthy diet, adequate sleep, and time to recharge your batteries. It is, therefore, possible that the increase in risk is not due to excessive or inadequate working hours alone, but to an indicator of poor living.

However, a harmful lifestyle is often associated with problems such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and excessive bad cholesterol. These factors are reflected more or less long-term in the heart and arteries, which become clogged more quickly. Under the pressure of intense activity and repeated stress, without enough time to recover, the neuro-cardiovascular system becomes tired and dysfunctional. Two major long-term consequences are possible: myocardial infarction and stroke.

Beyond lifestyle, work stress can directly strain the cardiovascular system. For example, one of the first warning signs that the heart is suffering is arrhythmia, often felt as palpitations. This shows the heart isn’t as synchronous as it should be, potentially leading to a clot that could migrate to the brain and cause a stroke. While the mechanisms linking stress and cardiac vulnerability are numerous, complex, and still partly unknown, excessive stress can also make blood hypercoagulable. Normally, a cocktail of enzymes and chemicals allows blood to clot for small wounds. But when hypercoagulable, it promotes dangerous clots, depending on where they travel. And to emphasize it again: The best remedy for these vascular and heart diseases is by far physical activity. Unfortunately, the more hours you spend at work, the less time you have to take care of yourself.

With clear links between professional activity and health (especially cardiovascular), the type of work and number of hours worked should now be part of the elements discussed during a medical examination, alongside smoking, physical activity, or nutrition. The challenge is not only individual but involves society as a whole. Workplace policies, like France’s 2017 “right to disconnect” law or Japan’s caps on overtime, could reduce stroke risk population-wide.

Simple Things You Can Do in the Office to Avoid Stroke

Pay attention to behavior that seems to compensate for excessive stress: snacks, excessive consumption of fatty products, sugar, energy drinks, soft drinks, alcohol, tobacco, etc.
Limit how long you stay seated by getting up regularly—e.g., take a few steps or stretch at least once an hour.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible.
Watch for signs of stress and its effects (sleep disorders, irritability, etc.).
Make time for regular physical activity! A fast walk is a good start: aim to work the cardiovascular system (increased heart rate, sweating) for at least 30 minutes daily.
Depending on your needs, make room for a power nap at noon.
Set aside 10-15 minutes daily for a brisk walk or stretching—studies link 30 minutes of moderate activity to a 20% lower stroke risk (Kivimäki et al., 2015). Alternatively, try 5 minutes of deep breathing twice a week to ease stress, a known trigger for cardiovascular strain.

FAQs: Work Hours and Stroke Risk

How many hours is too much work for stroke risk?
Over 10 hours daily for 50 days a year raises risk by 29%, or 45% after 10 years; even 41-48 hours weekly adds 10%.

Can working too little really increase stroke risk?
Possibly, under 35 hours might signal sedentary habits or other issues, but studies lack direct proof.

What’s the safest workweek length?
A 35-40-hour week is the baseline with the lowest stroke risk, per research.

How can I lower my risk if I work long hours?
Move hourly, walk 30 minutes daily, and nap if needed—activity cuts risk.

Are these findings certain?
No, self-reported data and correlation (not causation) leave room for doubt.

Final Thoughts: Questioning the Evidence

While the studies from Stroke and The Lancet paint a compelling picture, they’re not bulletproof. The French study’s reliance on self-reported hours raises red flags. Memory isn’t always reliable, and people might exaggerate or downplay their workloads. Could the 29% or 45% risk hikes reflect skewed data rather than reality? And the Lancet meta-analysis, though massive, pools diverse groups: office workers, factory hands, and execs whose jobs differ wildly in stress and physical demands. Are long hours the real culprit, or just a proxy for high-pressure roles? Neither study proves causation; they show correlation, leaving room for confounders like personality traits (e.g., workaholics might already be stress-prone) or socioeconomic status (e.g., low-hour workers might face poverty-related health risks). Psychological effects could also muddy the waters as chronic stress or burnout from long hours might amplify stroke risk through anxiety or depression, which both studies suggest as possible pathways but don’t fully explore. The <35-hour link, too, feels shaky—without direct evidence, it’s a leap to blame short weeks over, say, unemployment or chronic illness. These gaps don’t debunk the findings, but they remind us: take the stats with a grain of salt and dig deeper into what’s driving your own risk.

References

Fadel, M., Sembajwe, G., Gagliardi, D., Pico, F., Li, J., Ozguler, A., … & Descatha, A. (2019). Association between reported long working hours and history of stroke in the CONSTANCES cohort. Stroke, 50(7), 1477-1484. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.119.025454

Kivimäki, M., Jokela, M., Nyberg, S. T., Singh-Manoux, A., Fransson, E. I., Alfredsson, L., … & Theorell, T. (2015). Long working hours and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis of published and unpublished data for 603,838 individuals. The Lancet, 386(10005), 1739-1746. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60295-1

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