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At-Work Stress Reduction Helps the Heart Employees' health may improve, without loss of productivity (HealthDay News) -- Less stress on the job might mean healthier hearts for employees. According to a study published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association , a one-year workplace stress reduction program resulted in lower arterial blood pressure and positive changes in workers' electrocardiograms (EKG). Additionally, those who participated in stress reduction also said they felt less tired and less stressed. "And, we were able to achieve these results in a working environment, without impinging on productivity," Dr. Massimo Pagani, the lead author of the study and a professor of medicine at the University of Milan , said in a prepared statement. Pagani and his colleagues recruited 91 employees of DuPont in Italy after the company announced that it would be downsizing the workforce by 10 percent -- an event that's considered a significant stressor. The average age of the study participants was 40, all were office workers, and 59 were men. Most were of average weight, with a body mass index of 24. All said they were experiencing workplace stress. The researchers compared this group to a control group of 79 healthy volunteers who didn't work for DuPont and said they had no workplace stress. At the start of the study, the stressed workers had higher stress and tiredness scores than the control group. Workers from the stressed group also said they had more stress-related symptoms, such as problems sleeping, heart palpitations or digestive difficulties. There were also physiological differences in electrocardiogram readings, with the stressed workers showing more heart rhythm abnormalities. "This is typical of the stressed individual -- they are facing psychological pressure, but they don't want to hear about psychologists, because they are having real, clinical symptoms," Pagani said. Other symptoms of stress include anxiety, back pain, depression, fatigue, headaches, high blood pressure, stiff neck, shortness of breath and unintended weight changes, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. Stressed workers were offered the opportunity to participate in stress reduction -- either through stress management sessions or through passive stress reduction, such as being given articles on reducing stress. After a year, those in the stress management sessions had lower arterial blood pressure and more positive changes in their EKGs than those in the passive group, according to Pagani. "Our study provides a potential model for the assessment of work-related stress at an individual level and suggests that stress management programs can be implemented at the worksite," he said. "These programs can reduce stress symptom levels, revert stress-related autonomic nervous system dysregulation, and lower resting arterial pressure." On the Web To learn more about workplace stress, visit the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. SOURCES: HealthDay News ; American Heart Association, news release, Jan. 8, 2007; American Academy of Family Physicians ( www.familydoctor.org ) Author: Serena Gordon Publication Date: Jan. 31, 2008 Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.