Continuous stress at work can cause cancer

Stress is nothing positive for our body, we already know that. Now, a study carried out by researchers from the National Institute for Security Research (INRS) of France and the University of Montreal (Canada) has found a direct relationship between continuous or prolonged stress at work and the development of certain types Of cancer.

The research confirms that prolonged exposure to occupational stress increases the chances of men suffering from colon, lung, stomach, rectal and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

According to the work, the most dangerous professions are: firefighter, industrial and aerospace engineer, foreman, automobile mechanic and railway equipment mechanic. Responsibilities, interpersonal conflicts, traffic problems, insecurity in employment, financial problems or working conditions are among the main causes of stress.

On average, the study participants had four jobs and some of them even completed a dozen jobs during their working life. Among the conclusions of the investigation, it is worth noting that men who had been exposed between 15 and 30 years of work stress or more than 30 years were more likely to develop certain types of cancer. Of course, if the work stress was less than 15 years, this association between cancer and stress at work did not occur.

"One of the major limitations of previous studies on cancer is that none has evaluated the stress linked to work throughout the professional history, preventing estimating the role of duration to exposure to stress at work on the appearance of cancer. Our study shows the importance of measuring stress at different times in the work history ", the authors comment in a statement.