From the ArcaMax Publishing, Women Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/women/s-561171-137796
GOTHENBURG, Sweden (UPI) -- In 1968-1969, 36 percent of middle-age
women in Sweden said they experienced stress, but that rose to 75
percent in 2004-2005, a researcher said.
The study, part of the Prospective Population Study of Women in
Gothenburg, Sweden, was initiated at the end of the 1960s, when 1,462
middle-aged women were examined and interviewed about their lifestyle.
Study author Dominique Hange said the women have subsequently been
tracked into the 21st century.
"The level of stress among middle-aged women was stable over a long
period, but we can see that the number of women who perceive stress
rises significantly after the early years of the 1980s. It is the
women themselves who describe that they feel stressed, and other
research has shown that it is the perceived stress that is most
harmful." Hange said in a statement. "The women who stated at the end
of the 1960s that they suffered from nervousness or perceived stress
had a higher frequency of abdominal problems, asthma, headache, and
frequent infections. This is true both at the time they were examined
and nearly 25 years later."
The researchers found the average body mass index of the women was the
same in 2000 as it was in the 1960s. However, mean blood pressure and
levels of serumlipids were lower.
"Only 15 percent of women exercised regularly in the 1960s, while the
figure today is around 40 percent," Hange said.