Job strain can significantly boost the risk of developing diabetes. This conclusion was based on prospective data from the population-based study conducted by scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen. The findings have been published within the scientific journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
Workplace stress can have a range of adverse effects on health by having an increased risk of cardio-vascular diseases in the first line. However, up to now, convincing evidence for a strong association between work stress and incident Type 2 diabetes mellitus is missing.
As they of scientists headed by Dr. Cornelia Huth and Prof. Karl-Heinz Ladwig has learned that people who are within higher level of pressure at work and also at the same time frame perceive little control over the activities they perform face an about 45 percent greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who are subjected to less stress in their workplace.
The scientists in the Institute of Epidemiology II (EPI II) at the Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen (HMGU) together with Prof. Johannes Kruse in the University Hospital of Giessen and Marburg examined data prospectively collected from a lot more than 5,300 employed individuals aged between 29 and 66 who taken part in the population-based MONICA/KORA cohort study. At the outset of the study, no participants had diabetes, while in the post-observation period, which covered typically 13 years, almost 300 of these were identified as having diabetes type 2. The rise in risk in work-related stress was identified independently of classic risks such as obesity, age or gender.
According to the data, roughly one in five individuals employment is impacted by high amounts of mental stress at the office. By that, scientists do not mean ‘normal job stress’ but rather the problem in which the individuals concerned rate the requirements made upon them as high, and at the same time they’ve little scope for maneuver or for making decisions. We covered both these aspects in great detail within our surveys,” explains Prof. Ladwig, who led the research. “In view of the huge health implications of stress-related disorders, preventive measures to prevent common diseases such as diabetes should therefore also begin at this time,” he added.
Environmental and lifestyle factors play a vital role in the growth and development of widespread diseases in Germany such as diabetes. The aim of the Helmholtz Zentrum Mnchen, a partner of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), would be to develop new approaches to the diagnosis, treatment and protection against the most common diseases.
