News Lifestyle Long working hours put women at cancer, heart risks but protects men, study shows

Long working hours put women at cancer, heart risks but protects men, study shows

Ohio: Women who work long hours have increased risk for health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer, a new study has shown. Those women, who work more than 40 hours a week for 30

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Ohio: Women who work long hours have increased risk for health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer, a new study has shown.

Those women, who work more than 40 hours a week for 30 years could be increasing the risk of diabetes, cancer, heart trouble and arthritis for them, according to new research from The Ohio State University.

"Women - especially women who have to juggle multiple roles - feel the effects of intensive work experiences and that can set the table for a variety of illnesses and disability," said lead author Allard Dembe iin a research.

"People don't think that much about how their early work experiences affect them down the road," he said. "Women in their 20s, 30s and 40s are setting themselves up for problems later in life."

Although men working long hours had higher incidence of arthritis, none of the other chronic diseases could be linked to long hours at work, however a strong link was seen in women between long work hours and heart disease, cancer, arthritis and diabetes.

Women may face more pressure and stress than men when they work long hours, previous research shows. 

The study is published online in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.