Work stress can be a killer if your boss is nasty enough

Your boss really can drive you to an early grave, says a British medical study.

It has found that bad bosses not only make their staff grumpy, but can also increase their risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Scientists recruited 28 female nursing assistants in British hospitals and checked their blood pressure every 30 minutes during their working day to see how it changed when their supervisor was around.

Thirteen of the group had two supervisors - one good boss, one bad boss - who alternated throughout the week.

Fifteen others formed a comparison group: they either had just one supervisor or had two, both of whom were liked or disliked.

Those coping with Ms Nice and Ms Nasty showed an astonishing difference in blood pressure.

Their maximum blood pressure registered a difference of 15mm Hg (blood pressure is measured in millimetres of mercury, or mm Hg) and their minimum showed a 7mm Hg difference, when suffering under a boss who raised hackles.

But when they worked under someone considered fair, everyone relaxed and their blood pressure dropped.

At the same time, the comparison group registered only tiny or no difference in their blood pressures.

Previous research has shown that higher blood pressure is directly linked to coronary heart disease and stroke.

The study, conducted by doctors at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College in southern England, is reported in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, published by the British Medical Association.

Nursing assistants carry out many of the menial hospital jobs, such as changing sheets and cleaning bedpans, under the supervision of nurses.

They are poorly paid, have low social status, "high levels of reported work stress and poor health", the authors say.

A Finnish study published last October found that people who suffer from stressful demands at work, poor rewards and scant career opportunities are twice as likely to die from heart disease than colleagues who were treated reasonably and given regular rewards.