Having a Job Helps Heart Health in African-American Women 

Study comparing employment to homemaking finds no benefit for Caucasians

It is widely believed that one reason men die sooner than women is because of the stress working for a living puts on their hearts. 

The opposite may be true for African-American women, new research has found.

The study says African-American women who work outside of the home are less likely to have a heart attack than African-American women who are homemakers.

Interestingly, the same connection between employment and protection against heart attacks was not found among Caucasian women, however.

Researchers are not exactly sure why this is, but it is possible that African-American women benefit even more from employment than Caucasian women because African-American women tend to start out with less financially, says April Perry, lead investigator on the study and a doctoral candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Better finances from working could give African-American women greater access to medical care. African-American women who work might also have greater social support than African-American women who stay at home. Previous research has shown strong social relationships can help ward off heart disease.

The study was presented at a recent American Heart Association annual conference on cardiovascular disease epidemiology and prevention in Miami.

Perry and her colleagues analyzed health and employment information of 6,855 women aged 45 to 64 taking part in a study of 16,000 middle-aged people called Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities. About 26 percent of the women were homemakers and 74 percent had jobs at the time.

During the next 11 years, 302 women had a "coronary event," including fatal and nonfatal heart attacks and surgical procedures to clear blockages in the heart.

After adjusting for age and socioeconomic status, researchers found that African-American homemakers were twice as likely as employed women to have a coronary event. There was no statistically significant difference among Caucasian homemakers or workers.

Risk Factors Have Large Impact

One of the reasons for the difference is that African-American homemakers had more physical risk factors for heart disease than African-American women with jobs. African-American homemakers had higher rates of hypertension and diabetes, higher body mass indexes, higher cholesterol, and were more likely to smoke and drink alcohol, known risk factors for heart disease.

Even after controlling for those factors, African-American working women still had a 33 percent less risk of a coronary event than African-American homemakers. While the difference was not statistically significant from a research perspective, Perry says is still bears a closer look.

"More studies are needed looking at the employment situation of women, and physicians need to make sure that there is monitoring of the risk factors among these homemaking women," Perry says.

Richard A. Stein, a professor of clinical medicine at Cornell Medical Center and chief of cardiology at Brooklyn Hospital Center, both in New York, calls the study results "intriguing."

However, Stein, an American Heart Association spokesman, says discussing the reasons why is "pure speculation." African-American women with jobs might get more exercise than homemakers. Employed women might have more money to buy healthier foods."

"All I can say is that concerns that African-American women in the workplace are going to have a higher incidence of heart disease because of the demands of juggling the responsibilities of home and job are not borne out by this study," he says.

Perry acknowledges that one weakness of the research is that the employment information was limited to whether or not the women were working at the time of the study. It is unknown if their employment status changed during the 11 years they were followed.

Women are expected to make up just under half of the US labor force by 2010, Perry says.

"These findings should encourage additional research into the labor force experience of women and how these experiences may affect their cardiovascular health," Perry says.

Always consult your physician for more information.

Online Resources

(Our Organization is not responsible for the content of Internet sites.)     

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

American Heart Association

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

DES Web Site, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

National Institutes of Health

National Women's Health Information Center

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

April 2003

Study Comparing Employment to Homemaking Finds No Benefit For Caucasians

Risk Factors Have Large Impact

Lower-Dose Version of HRT Drug Approved

New Resource on Dangers of Synthetic Estrogen  

Online Resources

In Other Women's Health News:

Lower-Dose Version of HRT Drug Approved

Prempro treats menopausal symptoms 

In the wake of last fall's study that found a link between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and a higher risk of cancer and heart disease, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a lower-dose version of the popular drug Prempro.

The combination of hormones is commonly used to treat menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness. When compared to the traditional composition of Prempro, the new formulation includes 28 percent less estrogen (0.45 mg.) and 40 percent less progestin (1.5 mg), the drug's two active ingredients.

Both formulations are produced by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which says it began work on the lower-dose formula years before the results of last fall's study were announced. The new formula was tested in a multi-center trial of 2,805 healthy postmenopausal women between the ages of 40 and 65.

The company says it expects the new product will be available in the United States in early summer.

Always consult your physician for more information.

New Resource on Dangers of Synthetic Estrogen 

Web site has information about DES, once used to prevent miscarriage, premature delivery 

There is a new resource for people seeking information about diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure and how it may affect them, their family and friends.

The DES Update Web site, created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), offers a self-assessment guide for people who think they may have been exposed to DES, along with information about health risks associated with exposure to DES, a synthetic estrogen.

The site also provides DES case studies, presentations, and self-study materials for physicians and other healthcare professionals.

DES was once prescribed to prevent miscarriages or premature delivery. An estimated five million to 10 million people in the United States were exposed to DES between 1938 and 1971.

In 1971, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised physicians to stop prescribing DES to pregnant women because it had been linked to a rare vaginal cancer in girls and young women exposed to DES in the womb.

Additional research found an increased risk of breast cancer for women prescribed DES while they were pregnant. Women exposed to DES in the womb have lifelong increased risks of rare vaginal and cervical cancer, reproductive complications, and infertility.

Men who were exposed to DES in the womb are at increased risk for noncancerous cysts on the testicles.

Always consult your physician for more information.