Job stress means police, firefighters more likely to suffer heart attack, NY study says

Police officers and firefighters are up to four times more likely than the general public to suffer heart attack or sudden cardiac death on the job, and research presented this week at the American College of Cardiology's 59th annual scientic session points to the stress of their work as the reason.

Already, cardiac arrests are the most frequent cause of on-the-job death for police officers and firefighters. This new data suggests that's more likely due to the "tremendous physical and emotional stress they face in fulfilling their jobs," and not due to additional coronary blockages, says the lead author of the study, Dr. Zubair Jafar, director of the Cardiac Cath Lab and the Cardiac Research Program, Hudson Valley Heart Center, N.Y.

Jafar and his team used calcium scoring, a type of CT scan that shows plaque in the coronary arteries. They offered a screening program free to New York State firefighters and police officers and got scores for 717 men. They compared those nubmers with those from age-matched men from the general population. Scores were similar in both groups.

But, says Jafar, sudden spikes in stress levels-—which are common when police and firefighters respond to emergencies—-may cause plaque to rupture and result in a heart attack.

"It’s critical that we understand what causes these cardiac events because the approaches to prevention might be very different. We are talking about a high-risk population that needs to be treated differently and more aggressively," he says.

Dr. Zubair Jafar was involved in another study looking at heart attack risk for World Trade Center rescuers from Sept. 11, 2001.