CHICAGO – Unemployment hurts more than your wallet – it may damage your heart. That’s according to a study linking joblessness with heart attacks in older workers.

The increased odds weren’t huge, although job losses posed as big a threat as smoking, high blood pressure and other conditions bad for the heart.

The researchers analyzed data on more than 13,000 men and women aged 51 to 75 taking part in an ongoing health and retirement survey partly sponsored by the National Institute on Aging. Since 1992, participants have been interviewed every two years about their employment and health.