Claims that a stressful life leads to early death dismissed as 'spurious'

People who endure stressful lives are no more likely than those with relaxed lifestyles to suffer from heart disease, a study will reveal today.

A survey of middle-aged men working in Glasgow shows that signs of heart disease and death were lower among highly-stressed men. The research, by a team led by Dr John Macleod of the University of Birmingham, contradicts the assumption of a strong link between stress and heart conditions.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, the researchers conclude: "Suggestions that psychological stress is an important determinant of heart disease may be premature."

The researchers say that most studies linking stress with heart disease have been "spurious". They have related people's own accounts of their health to self-reported levels of stress which could encourage individuals to exaggerate their symptoms.

Dr Macleod's team tracked the health of 5,606 men at 27 workplaces in Scotland for 21 years. Levels of stress were measured twice in the first five years of the study using a short questionnaire. Visits to hospital were recorded throughout the period, plus the causes of any deaths.

The results show that men who thought they were most stressed were also most likely to report ill health, including symptoms of angina. The report adds that individuals who perceived their lives as most stressful were more likely to see a doctor.

"This is the most likely explanation for the positive association between stress and many categories of hospital admissions," it said.