Stress at the wheel - Verdict

Our ‘control’ office worker averaged 72bpm during his day – higher than Barry on the motorway but much lower than Charles’s mad rush around town. Of course, stress does play its part in office situations but heart-rate spikes could also be explained by mild exertion such as climbing stairs.

Charles’s day was also punctuated by physical exercise but his very high heart rate was mainly sparked by stress energy. This is not healthy over such a prolonged period. Barry was lucky not to have seen any bad traffic, which explains his low average rate.

Find out more about stress at www.hse.gov.uk/stress or ring the British Heart Foundation for a copy the Stress and Your Heart booklet by phoning 01604 640016 and quoting reference G187.