According to a recent report released by Yale University researchers, for those who are older than 50 and lose their jobs, chances of having a heart attack or stroke double. The researchers indicated that the primary reason is stress, as job loss late in people’s careers do not only cause economic problems, it also can trigger significant health consequences.
The researchers looked at 4,301 people between the ages of 51 to 61. All of them were working in 1992. Over a 10-year period, out of the 582 individuals who lost their jobs, 23 had heart attacks and 13 had strokes. In all cases, the job loss was involuntary.
Other health risk factors such diabetes, smoking, overweight, and hypertension were taken into account by the researchers.
Many experts say that ageism compounds the stress. A person over the age of 50 finds it extremely hard to find another job of similar standing because of his/her age. Worry about risks to their pensions is another stress factoras pensions are not always transferable.
Not all health experts are in agreement that stress is a cause of heart attack and stroke.