Working too much tied to Overdrinking, Study Reports

People who work long hours have a higher risk of alcohol abuse, a new study reported. According to the researchers, working overtime can increase the number of drinks people have.

"Although the risks were not very high, these findings suggest that some people might be prone to coping with excess working hours by habits that are unhealthy, in this case by using alcohol above the recommended limits," said study author Marianna Virtanen, from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki reported by Philly.

For this study, the team examined more than 300,000 people from 14 countries. They recorded the people's work hours as well as their drinking habits and discovered that people who worked more than 48 hours per week were 13 percent more likely to overdrink when compared to people who worked less than 48 hours per week. The team did an additional analysis on 100,600 people from nine countries and found similar results.

"The paper supports the longstanding suspicion that many workers may be using alcohol as a mental and physical painkiller, and for smoothing the transition from work to home," said Cassandra Okechukwu, author of an accompanying journal editorial. "Many workers are working long hours, and there are many efforts to curtail regulations against working long hours. However, policymakers should think carefully before exempting workers from restrictions on working hours."

Risky drinking behavior is defined as at least 14 drinks a week for women and at least 21 drinks a week for men. This type of behavior can increase people's risk of alcohol-related health illnesses, such as liver disease, cancer, stroke, heart disease and mental disorders.

The study was published in the BMJ.