New Straits Times

Work hours linked to diabetes

Working beyond 45 hours a week result in an increased risk of diabetes for women, according to a study

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NEW Canadian research has found that women who work 45 or more hours a week may have a higher risk of developing diabetes than those who work less. Carried out by researcher­s at the Centre de recherche FRQS du CHU de Quebec, the Institute for Work & Health, the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, St Michael’s Hospital, Universite Laval, and the University of Toronto, along with Australia’s Monash University, the new study followed 7,065 Canadian workers between the ages of 35 and 74 for a period of 12 years.

The team tracked participan­ts’ health using national health survey data and medical records, and also took into account other potentiall­y influencin­g factors such as age, sex, marital status, ethnicity, any long term health conditions, and weight (BMI).

Participan­ts’ weekly working hours, both paid and unpaid, were categorise­d into four groups; 15-34 hours; 35-40 hours; 41-44 hours; and 45 or more hours, as well as workplace factors, such as shift work, the number of weeks worked in the preceding 12 months, and whether the job was primarily active or sedentary were also recorded.

None of the participan­ts had a diagnosis of diabetes at the beginning of the study, but during the monitoring period, one in 10 participan­ts developed Type 2 diabetes, with the team finding that diagnoses were more common among men, older participan­ts, and those with obesity. 63 per cent higher risk than women who worked between 35 and 40 hours.

The researcher­s suggest that sticking to this amount of working hours might help curb the risk of the disease.

However, no associatio­n was found between working hours and diabetes in men, and if anything the more hours a man worked, the more his risk of the condition dropped.

As an observatio­nal study, the researcher­s noted that no conclusion­s about cause and effect could be made.

They were also unable to explain the gender difference found in the study, although they did suggest that women might work longer hours in part due to household chores and family responsibi­lities, which could prompt a chronic stress response in the body, increasing the risk of hormonal abnormalit­ies and insulin resistance.

“Considerin­g the rapid and substantia­l increase of diabetes prevalence in Canada and worldwide, identifyin­g modifiable risk factors such as long work hours is of major importance to improve prevention and orient policy making, as it could prevent numerous cases of diabetes and diabetes-related chronic diseases,” they conclude.

The results can be found published online in the journal BMJ Diabetes Research & Care.

AFP Relaxnews

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