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Work stress cancer study _woman working

We’ve all been there. Late-night emails, weekend phone calls, projects that go awry. Work stress is, well, stressful. But new research has found its repercussions could extend far beyond pre-mature wrinkles and grey hair. An overload of work stress could increase your risk of certain cancers.

In a new paper, published in the International Journal of Cancer, researchers from China conducted a meta-analysis of studies related to work stress and cancer. The myriad of studies included 281,290 participants in North America and Europe and over 9,000 cases of cancer.

Their goal was to investigate whether work stress was related to an increased cancer risk and if so, which cancers?

The Study:

Researchers began by looking at over 3,000 studies related to work stress and cancer, then narrowed it down to nine that stood up to certain criteria (i.e. the study was case-control or cohort, the study looked at the incidence of cancer and work stress, the study reported relative risk or hazard ratio, and the study did not use duplicate data).

A total of 16 cancer sites were included, such as lung, melanoma, breast, prostate, bladder, and ovarian.

Work stress was measured using established questionnaires which included job demands, job control, and social support at work. For reference, jobs high in demand, but low in control were considered “high job strain”, while jobs that were low in demand and high in control were “low job strain.”

The Findings:

Researchers found that work stress was associated with an increase in cancer risk for three cancer sites: lung, colorectal and esophagus.

Specifically, the researchers found an increased risk for lung and colorectal cancer was statistically significant in North America and among men, while the increased risk of esophagus cancer was statistically significant in Europe.

Not surprisingly, they found that jobs high in demand and low in control (i.e. “high job strain”) were the most harmful on our health.

There was no statistically significant risk associated between work stress and prostate, breast or ovarian cancer.

What Does this Mean, really?

Does this mean we’re all going to get cancer if we get stressed at work? No. A lot of factors come into play when it comes to cancer such as genetics, lifestyle, and environment.

Which is why the researchers did look at lifestyle factors as related to increased cancer risk and found that after adjusting for these factors work-related stress remained an important risk factor.

“The present study suggested that the relationship between work stress and lung, colorectal, and esophagus cancer might be independent of lifestyle behaviors,” the authors wrote. In other words, even if you don’t smoke, work stress could still increase your risk of lung cancer.

Begging the question, why IS stress so harmful to our lives?

The researchers point to several biological mechanisms, including the release of cortisol (known as the “stress hormone”) and its effect on our bodies.

“Stress has been shown to activate the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the hypothalamic–pituitary adrenal (HPA), which can lead to the secretion of cortisol and glucocorticoids,” the researchers explained. (Glucocorticoids are a class of steroid hormones.)

This activation matters because cortisol has been shown to have a direct effect on “growth and development of some cancers” while glucocorticoids can suppress the immune system which in turn enables tumor cells to “avoid elimination” and aid in tumor growth.

In other words, the more stress you put on your body, the less your body can fight back.

But wait there’s more:

Sadly, this is not the first study to point out the havoc long work weeks and stress can place on our bodies.

A study from 2016 found that women who worked over 40+ hours per week were at greater risk than men for chronic health conditions such as heart disease, non-skin cancer, and diabetes. But not because they couldn’t handle the work.

The researchers hypothesized that since women are often saddled with the brunt of childrearing and housework in addition to their full-time work, the compounded stress and pressure takes a greater toll on their health over time.

So ladies (and gents) I hereby grant you permission to disconnect from your 5,545 emails and take a much-deserved self-care weekend. Your health depends on it.

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