The more work, the more alcohol

Working long hours may increase the risk of alcohol abuse, according to a study conducted on 300,000 people in 14 countries.

Researchers found that those who work more than 48 hours a week were 13% more likely to drink excess alcohol than those who worked less than 48 hours a week.

'Although the risk is not really high, research shows that many people often deal with the overload of work with bad habits, in this case, excessive drinking , ' the study author , Marianna Virtanen, Institute of Career Health, Helsinki, Finland.

Excessive limits for alcohol are calculated as more than 14 drinks per week for women and 21 drinks per week for men. Drinking alcohol above these recommended levels is expected to lead to many health risks such as liver disease, cancer, stroke, cardiovascular disease and mental disorders.

Many people come to alcohol as a way to reduce the pressure of hard work.

Virtanen believes that workers who drink more alcohol may be under pressure.'I think many people go to alcohol to reduce stress, depression, fatigue and insomnia caused by their overwhelming pressure.'

However, Virtanen also noted that this study shows the link between overwork on the risk of excessive drinking and not indicating that working long hours causes alcoholism.'With research like this, you can never fully prove the causal relationship between them , ' Virtanen said.

The study was published in the BMJ Journal on January 13.

To conduct research, Virtanen's team gathered data from more than 333,000 people from 14 different countries.

They found that the long hours of work would increase the risk of drinking excessively by 11%. Another analysis from more than 100,000 people from 9 different countries also showed similar results.

Statistics from 18 published studies indicate that those who work 49-54 hours per week have a 13% higher risk of drinking alcohol. This risk is not different from the gender, age or socio-economic status of the country, the study authors noted.

Dr James Garbutt, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Carolina, said: 'The evidence seems very clear that prolonged work increases the risk of excessive drinking.' However, it seems that some other factors have not yet been identified, such as whether or not the nature of work contributes to this risk increase, Dr. Garbutt said.

'However, many say that we need to think carefully before letting workers work longer hours because it can increase their level of drinking , ' Garbutt added.