Overtime Can Overcome Women's Risk of Diabetes

Working overtime can help your salary and give you a head start in the office, but a new study suggests that women who record too much time may have increased the risk of diabetes.

Researchers in Canada found that women who worked overtime increased their risk of diabetes and published their findings in the British Medical Journal Diabetes Research and Care on Monday.

Using medical records, researchers examined the risk of developing diabetes in more than 7,000 men and women aged 35 to 74 who worked a different number of hours per week.

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They found that 1 in 10 people in the study developed diabetes, particularly, if they were men, older and obese. Although women were generally less likely to get diabetes than men, here's the interesting part: Women who worked overtime, more than 45 hours a week, were 62% more likely to have diabetes than women who worked regularly.

This is particularly surprising since the risk has actually decreased in men working long hours.

"The difference between paid and unpaid hours for men and women is probably the reason," said Dr. Mahée Gilbert-Ouimet, principal investigator of the study, at ABC News: "Women tend to do twice as much unpaid work. housework and other family tasks. "

All of this can contribute to the increase of stress hormones, which affect the control of blood sugar.

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But women: All is not lost.

If you can not afford to work less hours to meet the traditional 40-hour work week, you can take other steps to reduce the risk. The researchers have been urging ABC News to talk to your doctor about more frequent diabetes screenings and to increase good habits that help maintain overall good health (exercise, non-smoking, moderate drinking). Alcohol, restful sleep and healthy eating). .

In addition, women should recognize that it is acceptable to seek help for other activities that are not performed at work – even for household chores and family – if they are the main ones.

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Dr .. Petrina Craine is a resident physician in emergency medicine in Oakland, California, working in the ABC News Medical Unit.