Hard work is enough to make you sick
A recent survey conducted by Chinese Medical Doctor Association, a non-profit professional association of 2.1 million practicing physicians, showed that nearly two thirds of office workers in Shanghai work more than 10 hours a day on average.
Among the 1,000 respondents, 66 percent said long-term overwork, irregular meals and lack of sleep were quite normal. They worked over 50 hours a week and rarely had a day off even at weekends, according to the survey.
Journalists, workers in IT industries, scientists and senior managers are believed to be most prone to overworking. Another survey of 11,121 respondents on sohu.com also showed 56 percent of them worked over 10 hours a day and 82 percent said they felt palpitation.
"People who work so hard are risking their lives. Overwork under great pressure and suspense will certainly cause serious diseases of both body and mind," says Li Yong, director and physician of cardiovascular department in Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University.
Li told China Daily one of his patients got myocardial infarction at the age of 29, and he was the boss of a real estate agency. "But 20 years ago people who got such disease were usually above 50," Li says. Another patient suffered from high blood pressure at 25 and then a brain stroke at 32.
China Daily
(China Daily 08/21/2007 page18)
