Stress tends to be expected in a work environment, regardless of one’s occupation or role in the workplace. Everyone has experienced it, perhaps some more frequently than others.
However, a new study explained on the health website Medical News Today reveals that too much stress at the workplace can be correlated to the development of type 2 diabetes in women. Type 2 diabetes is when the body doesn’t respond well to insulin, which regulates the movement of sugar into cells.
Mentally exhausting work
Guy Fagherazzi, a senior research scientist at a research institute in Paris, began this study. Along with his colleagues, he wanted to examine whether there existed a link between “mentally exhausting work” and the chance of developing type 2 diabetes in more than 70,000 women between 1992 and 2014. 75% of women in this study were teachers while 24% admitted to having work that was extremely tiring. Throughout the study period, 4,187 women developed type 2 diabetes. The severity of diabetes was higher among the women who voiced that their jobs were more mentally draining.
Researchers adjusted other factors within the study, such as unhealthy lifestyle habits and high blood pressure. However, the correlation between diabetes and work remained the same. According to the study, greater emotional support for women in a stressful work environment could help to prevent a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes.
Stress as a risk factor
The American Heart Association explains how psychological stressors should be taken just as seriously as physical risk factors when concerning Type 2 diabetes. Evidence suggests that psychosocial stress and how people cope it impact their cardiometabolic health.
Researchers conducted another study which has led to the recent linkage between diabetes and stress. According to The American Heart Association, “data included 22,706 female health professionals participating in the Women’s Health Study, who did not have heart disease, and whose average age was 72. They collected information on acute and chronic stressors and then followed the women for an average of three years. Acute stress included negative and traumatic life events, whereas chronic stress was related to work, family, relationships, finances, neighborhood and discrimination. Women with the highest levels of acute and chronic stress had nearly double the risk for diabetes.”
Identifying strategies targeted at psychosocial stressors can decrease the type 2 diabetes risk in women, says Dr. Albert at The University of California.
Make sure to set aside time and decompress, ladies!
Sources:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324692.php
https://eje.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/eje/180/4/EJE-18-0804.xml
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2018/11/06/stress-may-increase-type-2-diabetes-risk-in-women
