Employees who struggle to thrive in stressful work situations are more likely to develop diabetes than their relaxed coworkers, Reuters reported this week.
A team of researchers in China found that, after following an initially diabetes-free cohort of 3,730 petroleum workers for 12 years, those who experienced increasing levels of stress at work were 57 percent more likely to develop diabetes. According to the study—published in Diabetes Care—workers who also lacked a strong support system at home or couldn’t find time for healthy habits like exercise were 68 percent more likely to develop the condition.
“Task stressors” like feeling overloaded on the job, physical labor and poor communication with management also boosted that risk.
“Major changes in work may affect our risk of developing diabetes,” researcher Mika Kivimaki, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Reuters. “It is therefore important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a healthy weight, even during turbulent periods at work.”
Read the full report from Reuters below:
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.