Middle-age women more stressed

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 8 (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.