Downsizing doubles stroke risk

Workers who lose their job close to retirement age are more than twice as likely to have a stroke, new research suggests.

Researchers compared over 400 workers who had lost their job with nearly 4,000 others who were still working, taking other risk factors into account.

"Involuntary job loss as a risk factor for subsequent myocardial infarction and stroke", William T Gallo and others, American Journal of Industrial Medicine, vol.45, no.5, pages 408-416, 2004.