Everyone's Health

One more thing to worry about

Last year, more than 1.5 million people age 20 and older were diagnosed with diabetes, joining roughly 20 million other Americans. There are 6.2 million people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who have diabetes, but don't know it.

Several factors play into whether one develops diabetes: genetics, age, diet, lack of physical exercise. Now an Israeli study suggests a new factor: job burnout.

In apparently the first study of its kind, researchers at Tel Aviv University studied 677 workers from 1998 to 2003 to see how their jobs related to diabetes. Almost 77 percent were male; the average age was 43.

Seventeen workers developed type 2 diabetes during the study period. After taking into account other factors, the researchers concluded that the people who had experienced job burnout during the study were 1.84 times more likely to become diabetic.

When researchers examined a second group of 507 workers to statistically eliminate the possible effect of blood pressure levels, they found that burned-out workers were 4.32 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

The study doesn't conclusively prove a link between the workplace and diabetes, the scientists note. Job burnout may be just part of the picture.

“It is possible that these people are prone to diabetes because they can't handle stress very well,” lead author Samuel Melamed said. “Their coping resources may have been depleted not only due to job stress, but also life stresses.”

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