In France, there are 150,000 strokes each year: in practice, this corresponds to 1 stroke every 4 minutes. In the event of a stroke, it is urgent: it is essential to act during the first three hours in order to avoid often irreversible damage. Thus, one in five stroke victims dies in the following month; three quarters of the survivors have definitive sequelae; a third becomes dependent; a quarter suffers from depression.
According to a new study coordinated by the American Heart Association, in collaboration with Osaka University (in Japan), a period of unemployment could significantly increase the risk of suffering a stroke. The work was carried out for 15 years in Japan on 21,902 men and 19,826 women aged 40 to 59 years: during the observation period, 1,433 volunteers (973 men and 460 women) suffered a stroke and 406 died from it. .
Losing your job = insecurity
Results ? Scientists have found that people with a spell of unemployment between the ages of 40 and 59 were more likely than others to have a stroke, be it hemorrhagic (80% of cases) or ischemic (20 % of cases). This link was more obvious in men than in women; on the other hand, the researchers failed to differentiate between periods of unemployment linked to a resignation or a layoff.
“Between 40 and 59 years, the loss of a job is often experienced as a loss of security, explain the researchers, whose work has been published in the specialized journal Stroke. It causes stress, it promotes hypertension, so it increases the risk of stroke. “
The scientists nevertheless add a nuance to their discovery: “the philosophy of work in Japan is very particular: these results may not apply to our Western societies because the cultural references are different. “
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