ABSTRACT
Economic and workplace trends, driven by competition in the global economy, may be having dramatic effects on workers' health. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease and stroke, is the major cause of disease and death in the industrialized world and is projected to become the most common cause of death worldwide by the year 2020. Modern medical science has identified a number of individual risk factors for CVD including cigarette smoking, total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol, hypertension, fibrinogen, overweight, diabetes, and sedentary behaviour. The important role that social mechanisms, such as work stressors and socioeconomic position, play in the development of hypertension and CVD has not yet been integrated into traditional medical theories. CVD and hypertension appear to be epidemics of recent historical origin, developing along with industrialization and urbanization, and now increasing in the context of economic globalization.
