If you needed any more proof that surviving a high stress job is bad for you, look no further than this new study by Harvard University researchers.  The scientists analysed job strain in 17,415 participants in the US Women's Health Study and found that women with high-stress jobs face about 88 per cent more risk of a heart attack.

Stressful positions were defined as those with demanidn tasks and ittle authority or creativity, and were also associated with a 40 per cent greater chance of getting any kind of cardio-vascular disease.

"Our study indicates that there are both immediate and long-term clinically documented cardiovascular health effects of job strain in women," said Michelle A. Albert, M.D., M.P.H., the study's senior author and associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass. "Your job can positively and negatively affect health, making it important to pay attention to the stresses of your job as part of your total health package."

For some tips on how to boost your brain and maintain your health and your career, you might like a refresh of the key points from Dr Helena Popovic's methodology in her guest blog on the topic.