The influence of occupational environment and professional factors on the risk of cardiovascular disease

The article reviews the recent scientific literature and the authors’ studies on this topic. Occupational conditions and psychological factors have been shown to play an important role in the etiopathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Their effect is often indirect, through damage to the central nervous, respiratory, and neuroendocrine systems. Hot climate in the workplace and intense infrared radiation cause the water and electrolyte imbalance and chronic hyperthermia and manifests as neurovegetative dystonia. The long-term effects of low temperatures condition ischemic lesions in circulatory system, trophic organ destruction. The influence of ultrahigh-frequency electromagnetic radiation on the cardiovascular system is directly related to the central nervous system and neurohumoral lesions. “Microwave disease” often manifests as polymorphic dystonia. Exposure to occupational vibration causes “white finger” syndrome or Raynaud’s phenomenon together with cerebral vascular lesions. Recent studies have confirmed that noise as a chronic stressor causes the imbalance in the central and vegetative nervous systems and changes in homeostasis. Noise increases catecholamine and cholesterol concentration in blood, has an effect on plasma lipoprotein levels, increases heart rate, arterial blood pressure, and risk of myocardial infarction. Psychophysiological changes caused by long-term stress influence constant pathological changes in the central nervous system, endocrine and cardiovascular systems. The long-term effect of psychogenic stressors is very important in the etiopathogenesis of psychosomatic diseases.