Your job may be good for your health.

A new study suggests that people who work have a 24 per cent lower chance of having coronary heart disease or stroke than people looking for employment.

Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control say they also have less than one-third the chance of having these problems compared with adults not in the labour force.  Lead scientist Dr. Sara Luckhaupt says “it may be that the stress of unemployment and the lack of access to health care may be contributing to their health problems.” Dr. Luckhaupt also says what’s not known is whether these workers have health problems because they are unemployed or if they are unemployed because of health problems.

For the study, published in the Aug 1 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the researchers compiled data from the 2008-2012 National Health Interview Survey.

Dr. Gregg Fonarow is a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.  He says, “there is increasing interest in workplace-based disease prevention, health promotion and wellness programs as a means of improving health.”