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March 2, 2007

You have a stressful job ...

.... and, as a result, may be almost twice as likely than others to develop Type 2 diabetes. According to a study published in the Psychosomatic Medicine journal:

... a team of researchers at Tel Aviv University found that those who experienced job burn-out are 1.84 times more likely than others to develop the condition - even when factors like age, sex and obesity are taken into account,

The study of 677 mostly male, middle-aged workers also found that when the possible effect of blood pressure levels was eliminated, the risk was more than four-fold higher.

According to the researchers, their findings show that stress can be added to other factors such as high blood pressure, fat deposits around the waist and lack of exercise, which are all known to increase risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the condition.

Yes, we knew this. But how did the researchers separate their variables? Was it the long-hours and systematically unhealthy lifestyle or the very presence of stress -- or both?

Posted by Diabetologica at March 2, 2007 7:06 AM