Employees who say their bosses are inconsiderate and uncommunicative are more susceptible to heart attacks, according to a Swedish study.

Researchers from the Karolinksa Institute and Stockholm University collected data from 3,100 male employees ages 19 – 70. From 1992 to 1995, participants had their hearts checked at work. Lead researcher Anna Nyberg and colleagues matched these men with hospital records for heart disease and death up to 2003.

During the follow-up, researchers detected 74 cases of fatal and non-fatal heart attacks, acute angina, or even death caused by ischemic heart disease. Men in the study, which appeared in the Nov. 25 online issue of the journal Occupation and Environmental Medicine, were asked to assess their manager’s leadership style. The findings disclosed that participants who felt their employers were the least competent were 25 percent more likely to have a serious heart problem, compared to the others.

Besides, those who worked for these bosses for at least a 4-year period had a 64 percent higher risk of heart disease.

As stated by Nyberg, from the department of public health sciences at the Karolinska Institute, and Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University, this study is the first one of its kind, providing “evidence of a prospective, dose-response relationship between concrete managerial behaviors and objectively assessed heart disease among employees."

The results also highlight the fact that employees who don’t feel appreciated are more prone to adopt unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol or eating a poor diet.